Keep the Coals - Get Rid of the Ash

As the wood in your stove burns, it turns into hot coals and ash. 

The hot coals are great. They're exactly what you want. They are literally red hot and provide good consistent heat. They will quickly ignite new logs to keep the fire going too! 

But the ashes aren't so good. They are a nuisance that seem to get everywhere in the house and will often get caked onto everything, like pots and pans, that are kept near the stove.

They can also make it difficult to add more logs to the fire since they take up more and more space as they continue to pile up. 

And getting rid of them isn't easy either. You end up tossing away many of the hot coals along with them.

And Then Came the Sifter and the Scoop!

I discovered the ash scoop a few years back, and it has changed the way I clean my stove. 

In the past I would shovel the ashes into a bucket and then dump them in my metal ash canister outside, but this would make a horrible mess.

A literal ash cloud would form all around my stove and bucket which would leave everything nearby completely covered in a dull gray, powdery mess.

The mess aside, I also wondered what it was doing to my lungs. I doubt that breathing in ashes can be anything other than bad.

The ash scoop changed all of that because of the simple, yet ingenious, design of having a lid that keeps the ashes enclosed inside.

Since using it I don’t make anywhere near the mess that I used-to, and I love the thing, and so will you! In fact if you take away anything from this blog, for your own good, it should be to buy the ash scoop. It will make cleanup many times cleaner, and easier.

What About the Sifter?

I came across this interesting looking ash shovel on Amazon.

It had slits on it that would supposedly allow the ashes to fall through while keeping the nice hot coals on the shovel.

It doesn’t cost that much and I thought it might work so I figured I’d give it a try.

So How Did It Go?

For my first time using it, the stove was filled with hot coals and a bunch of spent ashes resulting from a long overnight burn, 

At first I wondered how I would separate the two?

But it was simple enough. I scooped up some coals and ashes, shook out the ashes into one corner and then dumped the hot coals on the other side.

I did this until there were no more coals left on the side that I was dumping the ashes too.

Easy Does It?

It was pretty quick and easy. Its a simple task after all.

My only complaint is that the front edge of the sifter is curled upward a bit. It is probably designed this way to make it less likely for the good coals to fall out while you’re shaking it.

It can make it a bit tough to scrape the ashes off the bottom because it can ride over them, but you can remedy this by holding the sifter at a steep angle.

So overall, it was very easy to use, and it did a good job at moving most of the coals and ashes to one side or the other.

I do say most of the coals intentionally.

Smaller coals will end up in the same pile as the ashes, but it's unreasonable to think that every single hot coal will be saved, so that is no problem for me and it was expected. 

The Sifter and the Scoop are a Great Team

After mostly separating the ashes from the coals, I used my small shovel to dump the ashes into the scoop. 

This prevented a mess from being made since the scoop has the previously mentioned lid that keeps the ashes contained. 

And since this scoop has such a high capacity for ashes, I'm able to shovel all the ashes into it so I only have to go outside to dump them into the canister one time!

The Best Combo

This combo worked really well for getting rid of the spent ashes, while keeping the hot coals, and all while not making a mess!

I recommend buying both the scoop and the sifter, and if you don’t already have a small shovel for your wood stove then get one of those too.

If you appreciated the advice then please click the affiliate links and make your purchase. 

I won’t recommend anything that I don’t use myself!

Thank you and happy wood stoving!