Does chimney brand matter?


 
B

Blake in OK

New member
So I like using a chimeny but the one I have takes about 30 minutes to get all my coals lit. Problem is the bottom half are half way used up by the time I put them in my grill and it can be a pain keeping my grill hot and at temp. I see videos and people talking about charcoal lit in 10-15 minutes. That has never happened with mine. Its some off brand from Ace hardware. Do I need to upgrade? Any tips on keeping my coals from burning down before my food is done? I have been using Royal Oak or Kingsford and both have same problem.
 
Blake in OK said:
So I like using a chimeny but the one I have takes about 30 minutes to get all my coals lit. Problem is the bottom half are half way used up by the time I put them in my grill and it can be a pain keeping my grill hot and at temp. I see videos and people talking about charcoal lit in 10-15 minutes. That has never happened with mine. Its some off brand from Ace hardware. Do I need to upgrade? Any tips on keeping my coals from burning down before my food is done? I have been using Royal Oak or Kingsford and both have same problem.
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Get a Weber Chimney Starter. How are you starting your cooks?
 
Yes, IMO, which brand/style/construction matters. Get a starter that has a welded wire bottom, not perforated sheet metal. The perforated bottoms don't let enough airflow. A Weber branded chimney starter is a good one.
 
Welcome to TVWBB, Blake. Any brand of chimney starter should work. It sounds like you are waiting too long to dump your chimney of coals into your grill. If you wait until the coals on top are completely greyed over to dump, then the coals in the bottom half of the chimney will be used up as you have seen. Look for a little bit of graying at the edges of the coals on top. That's an indication they are lit and it's time to dump.

Chimneys are relatively cheap and don't last forever, so I bought a second one. I generally fill my two chimneys half full to speed up the process.
 
Just get a Weber branded chimney. It's only $20 and they are definitely the best. Also, they say to wait until the top coals are white, but ignore that. I pour mine when the smoke stops and the flames can be seen over the top edge and the top coals are getting a bit of white on the edges. It really takes about 10-15 depending on your wind situation.
 
I think the Weber Chimeny Starter is just fantastic. Plenty of airflow, slight greying on the top coals after about 10 min or so, ready to go. It probably won't last forever, but maybe close to that. Relatively cheap too.
 
Hi Blake. I can't say I'm always ready in 10 minutes with my Weber chimney and it depends on what I'm doing as to whether or not I wait until the top coals begin to ash vs dumping the chimney in the grill before I see ashing. Also, depending on my cook I sometimes add some coals mid-cook or use 2 chimneys and fill each halfway; that way--unless I'm being clueless here--fewer coals are mostly spent once dumped into the grill.
 
When grilling on my Weber Performer Deluxe Grill I use "Kingsford Matchlight Charcoal(KMC)". I have both the Regular and Mini Weber Chimneys which are excellent. For a quick Grill I measure a full amount of the KMC in the Mini Weber Chimney and when fully lit, in around fifteen(15) minutes, I dump it into my SlowNSear and add a few more unlit Kingsford Bluebag Charcoal or some unlit Lump Charcoal. I am able to main a temperature of around 400F for at least one(1) hour using this system.

Also, I read somewhere to fill your Chimney with a half-full amount of regular charcoal used on a previous cook and top-it-off with some New Kingsford Blue Charcoal; then, also light-up a Small Chimney full of the Kingsford Blue at the same time to add to the above mix.
 
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Richard Garcia said:
When grilling on my Weber Performer Deluxe Grill I use "Kingsford Matchlight Charcoal(KMC)". I have both the Regular and Mini Weber Chimneys which are excellent. For a quick Grill I measure a full amount of the KMC in the Mini Weber Chimney and when fully lit, in around fifteen(15) minutes, I dump it into my SlowNSear and add a few more unlit Kingsford Bluebag Charcoal or some unlit Lump Charcoal. I am able to main a temperature of around 400F for at least one(1) hour using this system.
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If you are using Matchlight you don't need a chimney at all. Just pile and light. The whole point of the chimney is so that you don't have to use Matchlight or any starter fluid of any kind.
 
MikeLucky said:
If you are using Matchlight you don't need a chimney at all. Just pile and light. The whole point of the chimney is so that you don't have to use Matchlight or any starter fluid of any kind.
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When using the Matchlight I use my Weber Chimney as a measuring cup.

A while back I posted a question regarding using Kingsford Matchlight only when grilling as the Kingsford BlueBag is somewhat hard to find here in Costa Rica. Sometime ago my Cosco-like Store called "PriceSmart" quit selling the Kingsford Bluebag and replaced it with the KingsFord Matchlight. To my surprise, once fully lit it has not left a starter fluid-type taste or oder in my many grilling(s) of steaks, hamburgers, chicken, etc. In accordance with the instructions, if more charcoal is needed in a particular grilling session you add the regular Kingsford Blue or lump charcoal and not the Kingsford Matchlight.
 
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I have three chimneys A large Weber and a large no name along with a small no name one. Living at 5600+ feet the air is a little thin. The weber with a full load takes about 20 minuets to get to where the coals right below the top are starting to ash over. The large no name takes about 30-35 minuets to get to the same point. The little one takes about 15 minuets.
 
Without reading all the above. I've had a cheap one and now a Weber. The coals start faster in the Weber but you still get the lower burning up more then the upper, just makes sense it would.
 
I have actually worn out probably five Weber chimneys over the decades, they are superior to anything else!
DIL just gave me a “charbroil” chimney, shorter, large perforated bottom, tried it for the first time last week, it worked pretty well to be honest. I needed to fill one basket and it did exactly that so, I think it has found a place in the tool inventory.
Probably just about right for the Smokey Joe.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I have actually worn out probably five Weber chimneys over the decades, they are superior to anything else!
DIL just gave me a “charbroil” chimney, shorter, large perforated bottom, tried it for the first time last week, it worked pretty well to be honest. I needed to fill one basket and it did exactly that so, I think it has found a place in the tool inventory.
Probably just about right for the Smokey Joe.
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That's exactly what I use my small one for filling a basket for the SJ.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I have actually worn out probably five Weber chimneys over the decades, they are superior to anything else!
DIL just gave me a “charbroil” chimney, shorter, large perforated bottom, tried it for the first time last week, it worked pretty well to be honest. I needed to fill one basket and it did exactly that so, I think it has found a place in the tool inventory.
Probably just about right for the Smokey Joe.
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I assume this one?

www.charbroil.com

Canister Charcoal Starter | Char-Broil®

Get charcoal burning hot faster with this charcoal chimney. Get hot coals in less than 15 minutes without lighter fluid or electricity.
www.charbroil.com www.charbroil.com

Actually looks decent
 
Blake in OK said:
Thanks for all the replies. Guess I will be picking up a Weber chimney asap.
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You meant to say "2 Weber chimneys ASAP", right?;) I was in the hardware store today and noticed the little Weber for around $15 IIRC, so I picked one up to keep my bigger one company.

That Char-Broil Half-Time chimney looks interesting.
 
Yep, that’s the one Mike! Someone gave me a tiny chimney that holds about twenty five coals, mostly useless since I use a torch for lighting a sidewinder minion method.
 
I have both a small and original size Weber chimneys. Just cooking fo r2 I've found the smaller one is adequate for small cooks , but recently got the larger one to do a full complement of coals for a bigger cook. It helps that my wife works at a local Ace;)
 
The weber chimneys are the best IMO. As has been mentioned, they don't last forever. How often you need to replace them depends entirely on how often you use them. I find that I have to replace the Regular size one about every 3-4 years. I think I bought the mini starter about 5 years ago and it's still going strong. No need to replace it anytime soon. What seems to wear out on them is the rivets that hold the canister together, especially the one near the top. At roughly $20 replacing it every few years isn't a big deal.
 
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