What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have been
throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for it?

On Aug 20, 12:39 pm, "bob" > wrote:
> What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have been
> throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for it?

Mine goes in the trash as well.

Pierre

bob wrote:
> What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have
> been throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for
> it?

Can you not mix it in with soil to help?

--
Moe Jones
HVAC Service Technician
Energy Equalizers Inc.
Houston, Texas
www.EnergyEqualizers.com

"bob" > wrote in message
news:Nlkyi.3842$563.1196@trndny08...
> What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have been
> throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for it?

See balow;

Dimitri

Step 1 Make Lye

How to Make Lye
The first step to making soap is making lye. You could easily pick up soap at
the local supermarket, but you'll probably find great satisfaction in doing it
all yourself.
Steps [edit]
Start a rain barrel to catch soft water. This is a key step. Depending upon how
much lye you want to leach, make sure that you have 2 or 3 gallons of soft water
before you proceed.
Find a local brewer's supply house and pick up a wooden barrel and a cork about
3" long. You can use a cask-sized or waist-high barrel.
Take the barrel home and drill a hole in it approx. 2" above the bottom. Make
sure that the cork will fit snugly into the hole.
Find a place that the barrel will be undisturbed. Lye is caustic. Take the
necessary precautions. Put some bricks down and place the barrel on top of them.
The brick base must be stable. It raises the barrel up so that you can easily
drain off the lye into a container when it is ready. Give yourself room to work.
Cover the bottom of the barrel with some palm-sized clean rocks (e.g. river
rock). Cover the rocks with approximately 6" of straw (this can be hay or
grass). This will filter the ashes and help your lye drain cleanly.
Gather branches and/or logs of oak, ash, or fruitwoods. Remember that the best
lye is made from hardwoods. Avoid pine, fir, and other evergreens.
Burn it outside in a pile, or better yet, use it in your fireplace.
Scoop the ashes out and put them in the prepped barrel. (Make sure that the ash
is completely cold, or you'll set your barrel and anything around it on fire.)
You can put in whatever amount you need.
Put a pan under the hole and remove the cork. Pour the soft water in until you
see it start to drain into the pan, then put the cork back in tight. The water
level should be about 6" from the top. After a day, the first ash should settle
and you can add more ash.
Let it sit for at least 3 days. You can add ash all week and drain it regularly
on a specific day of the week.
Check to see if your lye is ready. For what are you leaching this lye? Body soap
or heavy cleaning? Lye concentration gets stronger with each leaching. For
average soap making, you can use these measures: Drop a fist-sized potato or a
raw egg into the barrel. If it floats enough for a quarter-size piece to rise
above the water, it is ready. If it doesn't, you need to add more ashes or drain
all the water and re-leach it (pour it back into the cask and let it set one
more cycle).
Make sure that you have a wooden crock or glass container to catch your lye when
it's ready. Put it under the tap, gently pull the cork, and fill your
containers. Leave enough head room that they will be safe and easy to pour. Make
sure that you have tight fitting lids.
Store your lye in a cool dark place until use. (The sooner the better.)


Tips [edit]
Do not start this project until you have collected 2-3 gallons of rain water and
have purchased or scavenged all of your supplies.
Make sure that your lye barrel has a stable foundation and is in a secure place
where it cannot be knocked over by, for example, roving children.
If you run a dehumidifier its collected water is an alternative to rainwater.
To dispose of old leached ashes, dig a hole away from everything and pour the
muck into it. Don't cover it until the ashes dry thoroughly.


Warnings [edit]
Lye is a base, also known as an alkali. Both acids and bases are caustic; they
"burn" anything that they touch. Please use common sense and follow the tips
provided.
Wear rubber gloves and eye protection when draining off or handling your lye, it
can burn your skin and blind you!
If you do get lye on yourself, rinse with vinegar - rinsing with water will
produce heat and cause conventional burns.
Adding concentrated acid or a base to water has a "heat of solution" and causes
all of that heat. Adding a base to acid (vinegar) will have the "heat of
solution" and a "heat of neutralization". If you are worried about the heat
burns, vinegar will only make it worse.
The safest way is to brush off the solids you can and what every you rinse it
with, make sure there is a lot of it to absorb the heat of solution. Then five
minutes of constant rinsing. MINIMUM. Especially if it is basic. Base will cause
nerve damage as it works away and you may not feel the effects right away as it
eats though your skin (very painful and disfiguring).
For all backyard chemists, gloves (the yellow kitchen ones will do), glasses
(sunglasses are fine in a pinch) and covering up is a must. There is a reason
for wearing the white coat and the goggles.

Step 2 make lye soap.
Getting Started

There are several things you need to know before you begin your soapmaking
experience.
Lye which you can either make yourself from woodash, or purchase at a grocery
store,is very irritating to the skin and can do severe damage to eyes and
throats. Use extreme caution when using lye, aways keeping it away from
children. You should use rubber gloves and saftey glasses when using lye. Follow
the directions on the back of the lye box on how to handle lye. Red Devil is a
popular brand of lye.
You can also make your own lye by pouring water over wood ashes and saving the
biproduct--lye water. The lye water is then added to fat to make soap.
Although lard is the main ingredient in soap, one can successfully substitute
other oils to use in its place. Possible substitutions for lard can be
sunflower, canola, or just vegetable oil.(I have found that soap made from oil
is greasier than that made of lard.) Lard can be purchased at a grocery store or
a butcher shop.
The utensils you use in soapmaking should be saved for soapmaking use only and
should not be use thereafter for food purposes. This goes for the kettle you
cook the soap in too, although I have used my enamelware canning kettle to can
in after using it for soapmaking...I gave it a good scrubbing, of course.
You must not use metal pans and utensils,like aluminum,iron,tin,or teflon for
soap making. You can use cast iron (as in a kettle, if you are making it outside
over a fire)or enamelware,stoneware,wood, glass or plastic.
Always add lye to cold water. Not vise-versa.Remember to stir slowly to avoid
splashes. The water will start heating up once the lye is added, due to a
chemical reaction.Afterwards, pour the lye solution into the fat, once again
stirring slowly.
Chunks in your bar soap is caused by the separation of the lye and the lard. The
chunks are the fat. If this happens, melt the mixture and add a cup of water at
a time, until the mixture is thick and syrupy again.
You can make your own soap molds out of a rag-lined box or glass cake pans or
casseroles. Simply slice the bars with a knife after the soap has cured for a
week.

Soap Recipes
I know the trend right now is to add wonderful smelling scents and beautiful
tints to homemade soaps. I have given up doing this because both the scents and
the colors fade after a very short time, and to me it isn't worth the extra
expense and effort. You are suppose to use essential oils when adding scent to
your soap, but I cannot tell a diffence between it and any other scent.



Boiled Soap No.1 For cooking outdoors in a kettle.
32 pounds lard
16 quarts soft water
8 cans lye
Boil 2 hours and then add 1 more gallon of water.Stir and remove fire from
kettle and pour into molds.



Boiled Soap No.2
2 gallons of soft water
1 can lye
5 pounds lard
Heat the fat. In a separate container, add lye to water. Add the lye water to
the fat and cook for 2 hours.



Cold Soap No. 1
6 lbs melted fat
1 can lye
2 1/2 pints water
Add lye to water and dissolve. When container which holds the lye water is warm,
add the fat and stir until cool. Pour into a cloth lined box, or a box that has
been dipped in cold water, and cover. Cut soap into squares when set.



Cold Soap No.2
1 cup fat
1/2 cup cold water
1 1/2 T. lye
1 T. powdered borax (optional)
1 T. ammonia (optional)
Melt fat. In a separate container,add borax and ammonia to lye. Add lye( with
the borax and ammonia in it) to water. Then, add the lye solution to the fat.
Beat with an egg beater for 20 minutes.



Cold Soap No.3
1 can lye
2 1/2 pints of cold water
5 1/2 pounds lard
Dissolve lye in water and set aside until temperature is less than 80 degrees.
Melt the fat and set aside until temperature is 115 degrees. Very slowly pour
dissolved lye into fat. Stir until it thickens, and pour into mold.

"bob" > wrote in news:Nlkyi.3842$563.1196@trndny08:

> What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have
> been throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for
> it?

I just dump it in the garden or in a hole in the yard.


--
Ask Me Why I support Stem Cell Research
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/faqs.asp

It depends on the existing soil pH and what's planted there. Ash increases
pH, so alkali loving plants would take to the ask well, but acid loving
plants would pretty much be killed off.

"Moe Jones" > wrote in message
...
> bob wrote:
>> What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have
>> been throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for
>> it?
>
> Can you not mix it in with soil to help?
>
> --
> Moe Jones
> HVAC Service Technician
> Energy Equalizers Inc.
> Houston, Texas
> www.EnergyEqualizers.com
>

bob wrote:
> What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have
> been throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for
> it?

If the ash has no grease on it from cooking, put it out in your yard or
garden. If it's got grease in it, hello trash can.

-frohe

"bob" > wrote in message
news:Nlkyi.3842$563.1196@trndny08...
> What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have been
> throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for it?
>

Charcoal ash is trash. Wood ash is good for the compost pile, mixing in the
soil or spreading on the lawn.

"bob" > wrote:
> What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have been
> throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for it?

Good soil amendment.

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !
~Semper Fi~

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
>
> "bob" > wrote in message
> news:Nlkyi.3842$563.1196@trndny08...
> > What does everyone do with the ash left from charcoal grills? I have been
> > throwing it away but was wondering if there is another use for it?
> >
>
> Charcoal ash is trash. Wood ash is good for the compost pile, mixing in the
> soil or spreading on the lawn.

Charcoal ash (lump charcoal at least) *is* wood ash.