I barbeque exclusively with charcoal. I used to have a Weber kettle grill, but we wanted something bigger and got a Blue Rhino Uniflame grill. It’s nice, but when you’re done grilling and close all the vents, it doesn’t smother the coals. There are just too many holes and gaps in the shell.
This is a problem for a few reasons. First of all, the faster the coals are extinguished, the faster the grill cools off and can be covered. If a storm is coming, time is of the essence. Secondly, I want to preserve as much charcoal as I can and reuse it next time, rather than have it burn to ash. It means less ash to dispose of and less charcoal to buy.
Oh, and by smothering the coals, I also cut greenhouse gas emissions and singlehandedly save the world. You’re welcome.
Covering the grill’s myriad holes and gaps while hot coals were inside didn’t seem practical. Instead, I envisioned making something like a large metal dustpan with a lid. As an electronics hobbyist, I thought of using an enclosure commonly used for electronics projects. I found an aluminum box on Newark’s web site that had the right basic shape.
To turn it into a charcoal scoop, I first unbent the bottom tab so that the whole bottom was flat. I bent two short aluminum bars and riveted them to the back of the box. These would form struts onto which I’d put a wooden handle.
I tried cutting slots for the struts into a wooden dowel using a Dremel router, but it was too difficult to do a clean job. I ended up putting a router bit into a drill press and cutting the slots at lower speed with more control.
I cut a couple of inches from the lid and permanently fastened it to the enclosure. I attached the rest of the lid with hinges.
When we’re done with grilling, we push the scoop like a shovel to get as many coals as we can into it. We use a garden trowel to corral any stragglers. We close the lid and the fire goes out in a matter of minutes.
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