Yes, You Can (And Should) Reuse Charcoal — Here's How To Make The Most Of It

"Waste not, want not" is sage advice for many aspects of life, and it certainly doesn't stop at the smoker or grill. Too often you wrap up a barbecue session to find you've got a bed of coals that are just reaching their prime with plenty more burning to do. Just letting them burn themselves out seems like it would be a tragic waste of good fuel. Because — it would be. The truth is, it's quite simple to preserve some of those coals for next time, saving your lumps or briquettes, and in the process, money.

Obviously, burning coals offer diminishing returns, so you're not likely to get a full cook out of only leftover coals, and these will likely only get up to around 250 degrees Fahrenheit. You can, however, use fewer fresh coals by supplementing with used ones. The first step is to stop your coals from burning. In a grill or smoker, the simplest way to do this is to close all air vents to choke the coal by depriving it of fresh oxygen. You can leave this to take as long as it needs, since you don't want to handle the coals until they're no longer hot anyway. If you've got a metal container with a lid, you can also place coals in that to suffocate them, but do so with caution, and make sure that container (and whatever you rest it on) can handle the heat.

Whether you're planning on storing them or using them soon, you need to sort the usable coals from those that are truly spent. Once they're cool, you can inspect your coals. Assess their integrity with a firm squeeze (with tongs if there's any chance they're still hot). If briquettes crumble, or lump coals crunch into an ashy mess, they're done. Take the coals that are large enough to burn well. If they're still in the grill, you can take only coals large enough to stay on the bottom grate and let the rest fall through. Separate your usable coals and discard the spent ones along with the ash. To store the leftover coals for next time, you can place them in an airtight container with a lid; just make sure they're completely cooled.

To use the coals, there are a few approaches: Using a chimney starter to relight the coals is advisable and will make the process easier, as it does with lighting fresh coals. Some people place the used coals on the bottom, others prefer to place them on top or create a "sandwich" of old between new. You can, of course, also reuse coals without a chimney by stacking your coals in the same arrangements. Note that because pre-burned coal pieces tend to be smaller, this can result in fewer gaps between them, meaning less airflow, so stack them mindfully. Then, you can light your grill, whether you've got lighter fluid or an alternative.