Weber Kettle Club Forums

How do you dispose of your charcoal ashes?

I know it's a pretty basic question but I was wondering what everybody does with their spent cooking fuel.  I used to dump burnt out ashes into the grass compost pile in one of the back yard corners that was started by the person who used to live here but most often now put the cold ash in the garbage unless it's gotten wet and muddy and it's easier to pour onto that compost pile than into a garbage bag.

It usually goes straight into the garbage can (after it's been sitting for days) or into a bag then the can. KBB has a lot of limestone in it which may change your compost ph- in case you use it for gardening.

I dump mine in the green yard waste container with my grass clippings and such. Never had a prob with pickup from local waste company.

Metal can then creek


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 After the ash is completely cold to the touch .

Bag and trash most of the time

Winter - I use it for ice melt in the driveway once in a while


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First few times in the back yard garden. Now, in the Reg. Garbage bin.

It's amazing how fast that stray tiny hot coal will go straight through a bag without even slowing down. 


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Green waste - just like JordanW says

I dump mine into a 5 gallon metal bucket.  After letting them sit for 4 days, I dump them in in paper bags for either the trash or green recycle bin.

Please, please for your safety, let them sit in a metal container for at least 3 to four days before putting them in your trash.  I have had two neighbors have their garbage container catch fire due to charcoal ash dumped in them to soon.  The first incident was 25 years ago.  It was my next door neighbor and I saw the flames reflecting in my bathroom though the window late at night when getting  up to pee.  The garbage container had melted and caught his back porch on fire.  Thankfully, I was able to wake him, get everyone out of the house and then we both were able to extinguish the fire. 

The second incident was three years ago and the neighbor was not as fortunate.  After dumping charcoal ashes in the garbage container, it caught fire, igniting juniper trees next to the house. It then melted the plastic framed windows and the fire entered the downstairs family room.  Again, everyone was asleep but the smoke alarms woke everyone and all 5 escaped safely.  The house did not fair as well and suffered significant damage.  It took over a year for them to repair the almost $400,000 damage to the home.

I like to throw mine on the GROUND!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAYL5H46QnQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAYL5H46QnQ)

@MikeRocksTheRed
I cried!!


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five gallon can, let sit fir a week  then bag it and into the garbage bin

Now that's some funny stuff. Good one.

The video that is.

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Once the ashes are cold they get tossed out in the woods.

Green bin.

If you want to encourage flowers in your vege garden, spread the ash under mature plants. Great for (nightshades) tomatoes, peppers, chillies, eggplants. Also works for strawberries

Edit: lump only

Spent lump goes in the compost/veg. garden. Spent non-lump gets spread out back in the corner near the brush pile.

Overboard after a day or so.

I also let is sit for quite a while and then into a paper bag then into the green bin.

Over the fence into the neighbor's yard,

And i'm not a dickweed about it, I rotate which fence. South fence, northfence, east fence. Lather, rinse, repeat.

It will be even more fun once my ash trebuchet is finished.

Quote from: Jon on December 16, 2016, 02:49:37 AM
Over the fence into the neighbor's yard,

And i'm not a dickweed about it, I rotate which fence. South fence, northfence, east fence. Lather, rinse, repeat.

It will be even more fun once my ash trebuchet is finished.

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I didn't know that ashes could go into the green bin so I'll have to consider doing that instead of the garbage.  They usually sit for several days before the ash catchers on the barbecues get emptied or the bottom of the smoker gets cleaned out.  Same with ash from the fireplace in my living room (every house my parents had when I was growing up had a wood burning fireplace and my own house has one; I can't imagine living in a house without one), so fire safety is something I do take very seriously; Burning Down The House is a Talking Heads song, not something I want to do for real.

As for the video, I had a good laugh.  Reminds me of the downtown Toronto condo crowd...

dump at edge of the yard.

Since they are pretty much like a powder, I just spread them at the edge of the yard.  After a few days of the dew or a rain, they're gone.

I use a small galvanized bucket with lid that I got from Home Depot.  Once they are cool, I use them to soak up the liquid from the water pan in the WSM. Or just throw them out once the bucket is full.


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