Why I stopped letting charcoal get white hot

We all make mistakes and using a charcoal chimney can be a bit of a learning curve and getting the timing right for dumping your lit charcoal takes some practice and experimentation.

In this video, I delve into the age-old question: when is the optimal time to dump your coals out of a charcoal chimney? Many grilling enthusiasts swear by waiting until all the coals are ashed over, but is that really the best approach?

Equipment I used to make this video:

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[RonOnTheGrill]

Facts! I have NEVER waited until all the coals at the top are ashed over. You will have almost spent all the coals at the bottom. As soon as it stops smoking and you see those flames it's go time.

[uP-v]

I found by time the top charcoal ash over, the bottom ones are almost gone.

[michaelmurray]

I couldn’t agree more. As soon as you have clean smoke in the chimney and you see some flames starting to show it’s time. Also when I dump I distribute the barely lit coals evenly. By the time the grills finished preheating you are good to go👍🏻

[sugar_peas]

I actually never heard of waiting until it was ashes over. I always just waited until there is no more white smoke coming out of the chimney, which is about 15 minutes. Glad I've been doing it right the whole time 👍

[joshbaker]

Once the flames start to hit the top pieces of the chimney, I dump in the slow and sear. Hot coals end up on top and they eventually get the rest. By the time I dial in the vents to my desired temp the white smoke is done and we are ready to grill.

[Aphotic_Ktulu]

I recently got a chimney and started using it. I would wait until the top was ashed over but would notice my coals would burn out sooner. Essentially because I used some of it's cook time to wait until the top is ashy. Was going to start pulling it earlier and this just reaffirms my thinking! Thanks for the video!

[AnontheGOAT]

Awesome, I’ve always waited for the top ones to get white before dumping them out of the chimney. Takes forever. Now with your demonstration, I don’t have to do this. Thanks.

[Acts-]

Usually by the time that I'm starting to cook, I'm already starving and I cannot wait until all of those briquettes are lit completely. I figured that they will catch on as I pour them in, and so it's usually just half of them that are totally lit. I have waited once or twice for it to go all the way up and be completely ashed over but it did seem like a waste to me. I've never had any trouble really just letting it get mostly lit and feeling extremely hot. Everything cooked well and I think it lasted a lot longer for me.

[Damon]

If saving time is your goal, use your leaf blower at the lowest setting to increase the airflow to the chimney and it will cut your wait time exponentially.

[donaldales]

When you grill out in the winter months in the mid west, I always wait and let them all ash up. Plus I use royal oak charcoal chunks for the most optimal heat. Damm right, I have steaks on the grill in a snow

[davidpaylor]

Excellent vid, very scientific. I'm a lumpwood man myself but I do use a starter chimney and dump it out as soon as the thick smoke starts to drop off, not when it's completely gone but when I can see it's starting to settle down. That way all the dust and stuff has a minute or two to settle and for the kettle to warm up before I start to load in the goodies . If you can see visible ash on the top of the coals before you dump it out you're just wasting fuel.

[djtruedomination]

I use a chimney starter. I generally start cooking when I start seeing the top coals become white, but not completely white.

[adb]

Yeah, I stopped doing this years ago for several reasons, but the main reason was that the completely ashed-over charcoal didn't burn as long. However, I also don't use briquettes - only lump charcoal, which typically burns hotter and cleaner than briquettes.

[BrianF.]

When I first started I used to wait for the charcoal to be mostly ashed over. I now do as you do and as long as they all appear to be partially lit, I pour them in the kettle baskets.

[nategibbons]

That is why the higher quality stuff is worth the money. BnB burns longer because the "drop" when fully lit is very minimal. Kingsford, has a lot of "drop" so you are wasting more. That is why I found that I get more cook time with less BnB vs Kingsford, so the cost is actually the same if not less for the BnB.

[gleichg]

I have a small Smokey Joe. So I only use 1/2 a chimney. When I can see glowing orange on the bottom briquettes and flames licking up the side of the chimney I dump. Its really close to what you're doing.

[phil]

Waiting until charcoal is ashed over is like waiting until your tank is half empty before backing out of the garage and driving off

[ccsmooth]

Yep! If you wait until theyre all ashy you lose a lot of cooking time. I dump as soon as I see clean flames coming out the top of the chimney.

[chriswalters]

Yes your right. I always dump the charcoal when the top ones in the chimney are just barley catching. My logic is if I wait till there all white then the bottom ones will be partially gassed out and therefore less cooking time.

[fernandovillagomez]

i agree w everyone saying the coals on the bottom would be done, so a good middle ground works for me. i try and arrange my fuel once i dump it in to where to the unlit coals are underneath and optimal for the type of grilling. cheers everyone