Your Ashes

RyanStl

What do you all do with your ashes after cleaning up?  I've always struggled trying to find a place in the yard to dump them.  My routine is  cleanup ashes before my new cook, so everything is totally cold.

nolaegghead

Garbage can.  Be careful where you put them on soil.  It has a lot of good nutrients but it also raises the pH, increasing alkalinity. 

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/wood_ash_in_the_garden

Mickey

I’m 73, thinking wrong ashes. 

TechsasJim

Yep I have one little 2’ patch in my yard where grass has never grown (right against a fence and gets no sun).   Perfect little dumping ground, been using it for 20yrs.   

FlyOverCountry

My parents wanted theres buried in the backyard.  So that’s where we put them right next to gramamma and popo.

lousubcap

I'm with @Mickey here.  After my trip to the human BBQ oven, I'm off to feed the fish in the waters of the Pacific.  

JohnInCarolina

lousubcap said:

I'm with @Mickey here.  After my trip to the human BBQ oven, I'm off to feed the fish in the waters of the Pacific.  

You have a particular spot in the Pacific picked out, Frank?  

bobroo

 I throw mine in the neighbors yard.

lousubcap

@JohnInCarolina - I will save the reveal for Friday night, 12/3 if asked!  

JohnInCarolina

lousubcap said:

@JohnInCarolina - I will save the reveal for Friday night, 12/3 if asked!  

That’s worth the price of admission all by itself there, Frank.  Looking forward to it!

EggNorth

We can put ours in the ‘Green Bin’ which has food waste for pickup each week.   If I have too much, then the trash.  I figure it’s not the worst thing to go to the landfill.

lkapigian

I keep an ash bucket half full under the drain of my offset (clumps up the grease)  , other ash goes in the green waste 

Ozzie_Isaac

You empty after every cook?  I empty when ot gets close to the bottom of my charcoal grate.

Depending on what I need, I either put in the trash, or in the garden.

Mr1egg

I empty every cook, like to keep my airflow perfect!! I just throw it in the trash. 

Fred19Flintstone

HofstraJet

I keep a small one near the eggs and just pull everything out and vacuum them up.

kl8ton

I put ashes in a galvanized bucket that has a lid.  Once that fills, I transfer to a garbage bag.  That happens maybe 6 times a year.   

JohnInCarolina

Fred19Flintstone said:

such a great movie, lol

Gulfcoastguy

I open a lid and aim the leaf blower at the air intake.

Langner91

Galvanized bucket, for at least 24 hours. 

Had a near-disaster once, so they live in a metal bucket for 24 hours, then they go in the trash.

Ozzie_Isaac

I like a good layer of ash.  Here is my thinking:

The extra ash insulates the bottom from the radiant heat and limits the transient temp spikes.  It also slows down the the thermo response so reduces the likelihood of a thermo shock causing cracks in the base.

Foghorn

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I like a good layer of ash.  Here is my thinking:

The extra ash insulates the bottom from the radiant heat and limits the transient temp spikes.  It also slows down the the thermo response so reduces the likelihood of a thermo shock causing cracks in the base.

I also use this line of thinking to justify my innate laziness.  

RyanStl

Gulfcoastguy said:

I open a lid and aim the leaf blower at the air intake.

I like it. Let the wind do its thing.  It's also a good way to deal with leaves.

RyanStl

Anyone see a problem dumping them under pine trees? The new place has two pines and nothing but honey suckle grows within them.

RRP

Like some others have already said I use a 10 gallon galvanized garbage can with tight lid…Ithen annually I will dump it underneath the root area of an OLD uprooted tree that spans a ravine behind us.
and if this thread really mean to address dumping HOT, still burning coals…THEN  WHY would you be doing that???

alaskanassasin

I spread them in the grass with the sweep of the bucket. Even better with a tail wind

Ozzie_Isaac

RyanStl said:

Anyone see a problem dumping them under pine trees? The new place has two pines and nothing but honey suckle grows within them.

I had a buddy who dumped his ash beneath a stand of pine trees.  One night the trees caught on fire.  That became a problem.  Luckily, the fire department got them under control.

Hansm

I always dump my COLD ashes in the garden. I also put coffee grinds around the rose bushes

Yno

I don't Egg every day, so I let the ashes cool until the next cook. I also like a layer of ash in the bottom for the reasons above. When I am ready for the next cook, I pull out the Kick Ash basket and shake it in a Rubbermaid Roughneck garbage can, refill the Egg, and fire it up. Those ashes go in the regular garbage every few weeks. Once or twice a year I pull out the innards and vacuum up the ashes hidden there. 

FATC1TY

I throw them into my flower bed. It’s a knockout rose I can’t even kill, so I don’t care. 

I usually leave some, it helps insulate and I also think it prolongs the base too. 

RyanStl

I like the galvanized can idea.  Ron, yes talking cold ashes.  I made a mistake once putting day old ashes in a compost pile.  Got home from work and the wood box was smoking like crazy.  I was able to hose down before it got out of control.