How to Extinguish a Charcoal Grill
Cooking food on a charcoal grill is a great way to cook out, but making sure the coals are out when the food is finished is a bit harder. Charcoal can continue to burn for hours after the meal is done and poses a fire risk if the grill is overturned. Follow these steps to be sure that the charcoal is fully extinguished. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hot coals
- Something long and made of metal like a spatula or grill fork
Instructions
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Cook the food using the correct amount of charcoal when grilling. This can go a long way to help when it comes time to extinguish the fire. If too much charcoal is used, it is much harder to put out the embers since some of the interior briquettes are most likely just getting started. Check the charcoal bag for proper amounts of charcoal, or follow the three-row pyramid rule: enough charcoal, loosely placed, to form a three-tier pyramid the width of the food being cooked. Cook the food completely and take it off the grill.
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Lift the food grate to expose the coals and using a long metal spatula, spread the coals around the bottom of the grill, allowing air to get in between them and breaking them up a bit. Do not fling, hit or otherwise move the charcoal around too violently to avoid flipping embers out of the grill.
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Check the coals. If all of the coals were heated through and completely gray, breaking them up should extinguish them enough by simply closing all vents and putting the lid on the grill. Without getting the required oxygen, the coals will extinguish themselves in a short while. If the coals are too hot to be extinguished within 30 minutes or there is a rush to extinguish the embers move on to the next step.
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Close all the vents on the grill and slowly spray water over all of the coals. Be careful not to stand directly over the coals because the hot steam will rise and can cause burns.
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Continue spraying water until all of the embers are out or until the coals are covered. Allow to sit until completely cooled and dispose of the ash.
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References
- Photo Credit www.sxc.hu: Usernames: Piku, Schwab, Pixx, Nahpets
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Comments
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My gas grill is down and so as not to disappoint the family I bought an inexpensive charcoal do it yourself and had a new lease on Memorial Day. The article above is most helpful since it has been years since I cooked on a charcoal grill.
