Chimney & Paper Towel w/ Veg Oil


 

Marc P.

New member
I just wanted to give a blanket Thank You to all that recommended this method for lighting a chimney. I know I readu it numerous times here and it worked better than my expectations.

A little veg oil on the paper towel, into a couple sheets of newspaper, ball it up and stand back. I had a full chimney of flaming coals in 20 minutes.

Thanks again to all who posted this method!
 
Pam...I've tried that it works good. But a bottle of cheap cooking oil will last 100 times as long as the big can of Pam and cost probably 100 times less.

The great thing about the oil and paper towel business is that there is no ash--none to float around, none to smear on your patio stones...none. Newspaper, however, does leaves ash even when soaked in oil.
 
With cooking oil, I always end up with some where I don't want it-- me, the floor. Even over the sink, I end up having to wipe up a drip. PAM is easier, and I figure 3 seconds worth can't cost that much.
 
Pam works great...don't get me wrong...but if you are concerned with spills using the oil, simply pour the oil on the paper towel on top of your cooking grates. Or your wood table. Any excess that is not on the paper gets wiped up by the paper and at the same time spread on the wood or metal.

Or...if you've got a Chargriller with a sfb place the paper towel on the top of the sfb--where the paint is burned off. Seasoning the outside of the sfb works much better than repainting every couple of months.

I don't know about anyone else but keeping oil on surfaces that rust is one of the little maintanence chores that has to be done one way or the other.

Of course, Pam works great for that too.
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Easy solution to the messiness problem - pour your oil into a small bowl or cup first, THEN wad your paper towels into the bowl to soak up the oil whilst you get your chimney and charcoal in position. No oil anywhere except where you want it that way.

Pam works, but watch it if you try to use a store brand of non-stick cooking spray. Some of the cheap brands have a high water content which makes them not exactly conducive to making fire. I learned that one the hard way.
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Keri C, still smokin' on Tulsa Time
Hot Wire BBQ
 
I drizzle the oil straight from the bottle on to the paper towels. If any gets spilled I just use a paper towel to wipe it up and add the towel to the chimney. Has anyone tried putting the oil in a cheap plastic spray bottle?
 
Or do the Steven Raichlin "keep it hot, keep it clean, and keep it lubricated" thing: use a paper towel with vegetable oil to wipe down the grates (so the food doesn't stick), then light the chimney with it... recycling on a small scale.

Has anyone tried wax paper to light the chimney? I doubt it would be cost effective unless you recycled it, too, but I bet the wax would give you a nice, hot little fire to get the charcoal started.
 
Not meaning to start a feud, but I tried PAM/oil a couple times and didn't really see any benefit...

By far (IMHO) the easiest way to light a chimney (for me) is to use two hand fulls of shredded paper. Ya know the thin strips out of a paper shredder? Take those and form loosley into a softball sized ball, light it and poof... walk away. The thinner strips also leave less of the huge black flakes floating around.
 
I've used the pam/paper towel method all this season and what I like most about it is, you can pick up the remnants of the paper towel as a whole piece where as news paper will be in a billion pieces blowing every where. It also seems to work quicker than the parifin cubes.
 
Homemade starter cubes for me...much better than the Weber cubes, Paper egg carton, a few wood chips, melted parrafin in poured in each depression. Cut apart and you've got a dozen custom firestarters with zero ash.
 
Same idea but slightly different recipe...
. Paper egg carton
. parrafin or candle stubs
. lint from the dryer
My brother told me about these starters. They work great!
 
Where do you buy parrafin? I haven't had much luck with simply balled up newspaper. I bought this firestarter product from Sprawl-mart. It comes in these bricklike shapes. I believe it's parrafin with sawdust mixed in. I break off a small 2X2 inch piece and light it. I can get my charcoal ignited within a couple of minutes. It may not be as cheap as the other methods though. It was about $2, but I estimate that I can get about 30-40 lights out one pack.

Has anyone tried cotton balls saturated with vaseline?
 
Vaseline is, like parrafin, a petroleum based product (vaseline is mineral oil...as opposed to vegetable oil)...but then so is lighter fluid...I guess you've got a choice of poisons.
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If I was gonna pay extra for charcoal starter--even buying parrafin and making my own...I might just throw some Everclear in the chimney and strike a match--pure corn...or potato...
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You can generally buy parrafin at the hardware store or anywhere that sells home canning supplies.
 
I used to soak one briquette in KEROSENE and use it to start my chimney (made out of a coffee can.
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By the time the fire/flame reached the top, the kerosene was GONE - no taste at all.
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Being a complete philistine, I would use kerosene that I had previously used to clean engine parts
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- still no taste or ash
 

 

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