How to Put Out a Charcoal Grill

Do you have a hard time putting out your charcoal grill after you are done grilling? If left unchecked, an untended grill fire can cause an accidental fire, especially during summer, when the grass is dry. Flying sparks can lead to a lawn fire during a breezy night. As a prevention measure, you should always extinguish a charcoal grill.

Here are some ways you can use to put out a charcoal grill

Fire Suffocation

This method is used when you put out the charcoal grill for reuse. If you intend to reuse the charcoal briquettes later, then this method is your best bet. It entails starving the fire of oxygen by restricting airflow.

You need to close the grill lid and block off any other airways to stop the fire from going. You can also use sand to put out the fire by covering the hot coals until they stop burning due to lack of oxygen.

Use Some Water

This entails spraying the charcoal briquettes with water to kill the fire. Ensure you are standing a few steps from the grill while doing this. The reason being the water will cause the production of steam when it comes into contact with the hot coals. This can scald you if you are standing to close to the fire.

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You can use a spray bottle or a hose with a spray nozzle that can produce a fine mist of water. This will help put out the fire without the coals becoming soaking wet, particularly if you want to use them again in the near future.

If you want to be extremely sure that the fire is entirely out and you do not intend to reuse the charcoal, you can dunk every piece of hot coal in cold water to put them out. This will do a thorough job of putting out the fire. It will also render the coal unusable in the near future until they are thoroughly dry since they will be hard to light up even with the best charcoal grill firing tools.

How to Cool Down a Charcoal Grill

To reduce the temperature of your charcoal grill, you can reduce the fire’s intensity by semi-suffocating the fire. This entails closing the vents in the grill partially so that the fire is still getting oxygen but not enough to keep the roaring fire burning.

Some people will sprinkle or spray fine droplets of water onto a section of the grill hence extinguishing the embers temporarily and bringing the temperatures down. This works but be ready to clean your grill immediately after using it as the approach leaves it dirty and susceptible to rusting.

This will cause the charcoal fire to die down partially but still keep burning at a lower intensity. You can also spread the charcoal inside the grill to reduce the concentration of the fire at one point.

How To Stop a BBQ Fire

If, by accident, you get a barbeque fire eruption, the most effective way to stop it is by suffocating it of oxygen. The best solution is using a fire extinguisher. That’s why it’s advisable to always have a fire extinguisher by your side when grilling.

If you don’t have a fire extinguisher, you can quench the fire by covering it with sand to curtail the oxygen supply. This will put out the fire in seconds. You can also drown the affected area in water to kill the fire.

Ensure you do this using a hose to prevent getting scalded by the steam. Use water as an alternative method as it is risky due to the steam as compared to using sand. When using water in a metal grill, ensure you drain the excess water or dry the grill before storing it to prevent rusting.