Grilling season is in full bloom in Australia. Backyards are filled with the intoxicating aroma of food cooking on Charcoal BBQ grills – the wonderful fragrance watering your mouth. But what comes next after you have grilled your food and need to put the coals away? How do you stop the burning? One thing is clear: you don’t put water on your coals to put them out!
There are three basic ways to get it done. However, only one of these methods is recommended by experts and that’s smothering.
Sometimes you’ll want to put a charcoal grill out slowly.
This is a good idea if you’ve been grilling for hours and the coals have burnt down to embers. If that’s the case, here are some tips on how to go about it:
• First, let the coals cool down until they are no longer glowing red. You can do this either by covering them with ashes or sprinkling a very tiny amount of water over them as they burn down.
• Then rake all of them into a pile in one spot on your grill grate and place some dry wood chips or newspaper over the top of it—not too much! The goal here is not for everything to be smothered by an avalanche of ash or paper; we just want enough to take up most of our coals’ space so that there isn’t room for oxygen getting through directly from underneath (which would cause flares).
• Finally, carefully pour water over the top of this pile using a watering can with a long spout – just enough so that it flows through any gaps between wood chips/newspapers/ashes/etc., but doesn’t completely submerge everything beneath them.
To put a charcoal grill out quickly, seal the vents.
This is the most effective way to put out a charcoal BBQ grill. After sealing all of the vents, you will be able to suffocate the fire and extinguish it completely. You should use an oven mitt or thick glove to close all of your vents (the top vent and bottom vent). You should apply equal pressure on both sides of each vent so that air does not enter or leave your grill. It may take a few minutes for oxygen deprivation to occur, but once it does, you can feel confident in knowing that there will be no flare-up or rekindling of flames from leftover coals.
• Covering your grill with heavy-duty aluminium foil will reduce oxygen flow to the coals and cause them to go out faster. Make sure that no smoke can escape from under the foil or else you might be in for an unpleasant surprise.
• The temperature of your charcoal should not exceed 700°F before sealing it, so keep an eye on it while you’re sealing those vents!
Smothering your coals is a great method for putting it out.
If you are unable to seal all of your vents with an open flame, then smothering is considered the next best thing when putting out a charcoal grill. This will require dampening down any embers left behind by spraying them with water until they go out completely (you should wear gloves when doing this). If any embers remain after wetting them down, simply pat them out with some ash until they no longer glow red hot at all times!
• Put a large piece of metal over the coals.
• Use a lid. If you don’t have one, use an oven mitt or towel instead.
• Turn off the gas and open your grill’s lid only when you know that all the coals are out, otherwise it may reignite!
The bottom line is that you should be careful when you extinguish the fire. Instead of pouring water on it, which can be your natural instinct, you should follow any of the three methods given above.
Kankay Grills have the perfect portable charcoal BBQ grills for every event and you can put out your coals after grilling easily in them!
Now that you know how to put out a charcoal grill, go and enjoy your barbecue!
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