Ashes from grill/smoker

DrunkleJon · Sep 2, 2015

What do you all do with yours? Make sure they are cool and dump them somewhere in your yard? Do the same, bag them up and throw them in your garbage? Mix them with water and build a ash/mud fort?

I use my woodstove a lot in the winter and smoke and grill with charcoal whenever I can and have yet to figure out what to do with my ashes. So my question again is how do you dispose of your leftover ash from smoking, etc.

GilaMinumBeer · Sep 2, 2015

DrunkleJon said:
What do you all do with yours? Make sure they are cool and dump them somewhere in your yard? Do the same, bag them up and throw them in your garbage? Mix them with water and build a ash/mud fort?

I use my woodstove a lot in the winter and smoke and grill with charcoal whenever I can and have yet to figure out what to do with my ashes. So my question again is how do you dispose of your leftover ash from smoking, etc.

I toss mine in the garden and compost. Same goes for the ash from the fireplace.

Brian77095 · Sep 2, 2015

I dump mine in the garden compost too. One time a long time ago my dad and I used ash and water to take the hair off of a skin to make raw hide....but that was a long long time ago..

NickTheGreat · Sep 2, 2015

Garden compost here. Not really sure why but it seems to work

dryboroughbrewing · Sep 2, 2015

I put them into mason jars label them 'Uncle Jeb' and give them to passerby on the street.

GilaMinumBeer · Sep 2, 2015

NickTheGreat said:
Garden compost here. Not really sure why but it seems to work

Potash. Ashes from burned wood have potassium.

Hello · Sep 2, 2015

You can dump ashes in a garden or do you need an actual compost garden?

Anyway, I wait for them to cool and dump them in a bag, tie it up and toss it in the garbage can.

bbohanon · Sep 2, 2015

GilaMinumBeer said:
I toss mine in the garden and compost. Same goes for the ash from the fireplace.

Same here. I have also used this to fill holes in the yard the dogs have dug out.

Auger · Sep 2, 2015

I dump them into the outside fire pit. Once that fills up (maybe once a year) they get tossed into the woods or used to fill low spots in the yard.

Brian77095 · Sep 2, 2015

Hello said:
You can dump ashes in a garden or do you need an actual compost garden?

Anyway, I wait for them to cool and dump them in a bag, tie it up and toss it in the garbage can.

You can dump away. As long as you dont over whelm the area you should be fine. Coffee grounds, ashes, spent grain all decomposes into good stuff!

If you dont like seeing it just take a rake and mix it in. Or dig a small trench and put it in and then bury that...

JonM · Sep 2, 2015

I put it in a one of those galvanized metal buckets (with an airtight lid) that you can get at Home Depot. When it's mostly full, I carefully dump it into a plastic garbage bag and toss it in the trash.

GilaMinumBeer · Sep 2, 2015

Hello said:
You can dump ashes in a garden or do you need an actual compost garden?

For garden, you sprinkle. Wood ash can be very alkaline (twas/is used to make Lye) so you don't want to just dump a pile and leave it.

I do however pour a ring of ash around my Lilac tree each year.

DrunkleJon · Sep 2, 2015

Good responses. I have been dumping mine on top of a large stump that I am trying to encourage to rot out faster for the past few years sue to the alklinity. It now is heaped rather high so I figure i need a new disposal method. I really should start a compost heap somewhere but my yard is small and I am lazy, dont think about it, would probably not turn it, and it would get stinky.

GilaMinumBeer · Sep 2, 2015

DrunkleJon said:
Good responses. I have been dumping mine on top of a large stump that I am trying to encourage to rot out faster for the past few years sue to the alklinity. It now is heaped rather high so I figure i need a new disposal method. I really should start a compost heap somewhere but my yard is small and I am lazy, dont think about it, would probably not turn it, and it would get stinky.

I built mine in a corner of the yard from old railroad tie landscape timbers stacked lincoln log style.

I am lazy, I don't think about, I do not turn it, it does not stink, and it still makes dirt.

NickTheGreat · Sep 2, 2015

GilaMinumBeer said:
Potash. Ashes from burned wood have potassium.

Yeah I get that. I've just never really tested the ph of my compost or especially the stuff I'll eventually put it on! :drunk:

CGVT · Sep 2, 2015

Don't put it on your azaleas.

PlexVector · Sep 2, 2015

sling it out into the woods. Makes a nice gr[e,a]y cloud that drifts with the wind.

GilaMinumBeer · Sep 2, 2015

CGVT said:
Don't put it on your azaleas.

Or, at least, don't let her know you put it on the azaleas.

Melana · Sep 2, 2015

We compost the ashes at my house also.

drchris83 · Sep 7, 2015

Turns out wood ash is great for cleaning pans amd pots as well as the window of my fireplace. Gets burnt on stuff off real quick, everything looks as good as new afterwards. And way less toxic than aggressive cleaners.

GilaMinumBeer · Sep 8, 2015

drchris83 said:
Turns out wood ash is great for cleaning pans amd pots as well as the window of my fireplace. Gets burnt on stuff off real quick, everything looks as good as new afterwards. And way less toxic than aggressive cleaners.

Lyer!

"A lye is a liquid obtained by leaching ashes (containing largely potassium carbonate or "potash"), or a strong alkali which is highly soluble in water producing caustic basic solutions. "Lye" is commonly the alternative name of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or historically potassium hydroxide (KOH)."

Remmy · Sep 8, 2015

Hello said:
Anyway, I wait for them to cool and dump them in a bag, tie it up and toss it in the garbage can.

x2 What she said.

Peruvian802 · Sep 8, 2015

Goes in the garden.

passedpawn · Sep 8, 2015

I dump ashes from my grill and smoker (both coal) on top of the rotting barley grist pile to kill the fly eggs and larvae. It's a festering sour mash in the woods behind my house. I'm sure the neighbors get whiffs of that and wonder what died.

drchris83 · Sep 27, 2015

GilaMinumBeer said:
Lyer!

"A lye is a liquid obtained by leaching ashes (containing largely potassium carbonate or "potash"), or a strong alkali which is highly soluble in water producing caustic basic solutions. "Lye" is commonly the alternative name of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or historically potassium hydroxide (KOH)."

I was unaware of this. Good to know, but I have handled ashes without gloves and never incurred any of the unpleasant things one commonly associates with NaOH or KOH. But I guess it would be prudent to advise "use with caution"?

GilaMinumBeer · Sep 28, 2015

drchris83 said:
I was unaware of this. Good to know, but I have handled ashes without gloves and never incurred any of the unpleasant things one commonly associates with NaOH or KOH. But I guess it would be prudent to advise "use with caution"?

The lye produced from this is a very weak solution. Pioneers would make a much stronger solution by boiling the wood ash in water, separating the solids, and then boiling it down more.

drchris83 · Sep 29, 2015

Very cool, thanks for this bit of useful information!

MFWINZLOW · May 28, 2016

Roll them up in ciggertte paper and smoke them?

Ashes from grill/smoker

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