How to Use a Charcoal Grill in Your Community Park This Summer

You’ve probably seen them in a public park, surrounded by picnic tables. Like monuments to summer get-togethers and shared meals with friends and family, public charcoal grills belong to the community, including you. Here’s how to use them safely and respectfully for other grillers.

How to Take Over a Community Grill

Get out early. In Brooklyn, I go for a run around 8 a.m. on weekends and see entire tents and chairs already taking up space for the grill. People like to get out early, which is a good idea considering summer mornings are a little cooler, so you can get some shade and send friends off on errands if you forgot something.

Ideally, you should find a free charcoal grill and come prepared with marinated meats, kebabs, fruits, vegetables or burgers.

What you will need for grilling

In addition to food, you’ll need a few supplies to prepare you for your grilling adventure, including:

• Coal scoop, rake or paper bag

• Forceps

• Foil

• Coal fireplace if preferred

• Charcoal

• Bottle of water

• Aluminum saucepan

In a perfect world, whoever last used this grill would have cleared away the ashes and coals. In reality, you’ll probably pull up to a grill that looks like this.

How to Prepare a Community Grill for Use

First, sweep up any old charcoal. If you plan to grill in public parks often, consider investing in a special tool, such as a charcoal scoop . Otherwise, use a paper bag to scoop out dust and debris from your grill and place it in a trash bag.

Now it’s time to light the coals. You might be thinking, “Wait, clean the grate first!” But I left that for the next step because the grease will come off easier once it’s a little hotter . I like to use a charcoal fireplace , but my dad prefers the pyramid method. (The pyramid method requires charcoal briquettes to be stacked in a pyramid and lit from the bottom.) Use whichever method works best for you. Once the coals are covered in ash, you can spread them out under the grill grate.

Allow the coals to preheat the grill grate for about five minutes. This is similar to preheating the oven, but it removes any burnt crust from previous grilling sessions. Now it’s time to clean the grate. Roll the aluminum foil into a ball and grab it with long metal tongs. Using the tongs, scrape the grill grate by running the foil along each bar.

Now your grates are hot, clean and ready to cook. Enjoy grilling and socialising with friends. Add coals as needed to continue cooking.

How to Clean Up After Grilling.

I like to follow the old adage, “Leave the place better than you found it.” If you notice that your picnic guests are dropping off less often and the food isn’t flying off the plates as quickly as it once was, it’s time to put the grill away. Stop cooking on it and let the coals burn out. Roll up some more aluminum foil and scrape it off the bars while they’re still warm to leave the grate clean for the next user.

Depending on how many coals you used or how big your grill is, you may have to wait a while for the coals to die down. This may be okay if the party is going to continue for a few hours after the grill is turned off. If the coals are still hot, be sure to douse them with a bottle of water. The ashes will be dirty and a little cloudy, but once they stop smoldering, you can collect them in an aluminum container and throw them in a metal trash can. (You can reuse the aluminum container if you plan on doing this again.)

Most parks with grills have a special charcoal container — it’s all metal, like the one pictured. Don’t throw your used charcoal in the container with the plastic or paper liner in case any of it doesn’t burn out completely. Great! Your grilling day is over. Pat yourself on the back for throwing the perfect summer picnic.

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