Fire Starters - what are you using?


 
Extra capacity I can see.

When I don't use my Smokey Joe to light the coals, I put my chimneys on a flat stone beside the kettle. On that stone is another small flat stone on which I put one or two Tumble Weeds; about an inch high and large enough to fit inside the bottom of the chimney with room to spare. Guess that's not much different than the flipping the grate as far as 'closer to the heat source' is concerned, except it doesn't offer greater capacity.

I'm reluctant to flip mine. When Apple sends me an IOS update, I do it because I am sure they know better than me, what works best. Same for a recall on my car (sadly, I feel the opposite about Big Pharma and vaccines :confused:). I have to figure with something this simple Weber has tested it both ways and found that the upward pointing grate works better.

Maybe I'll try it with the compact chimney...
 
Leftover newspaper or grocery store circulars! Just wrap in a circle and put in the bottom of the chimney, light with a stick lighter. Takes about 15 minutes in my camper chimney.
 
I use whatever is on hand. I do have an electric wand starter, but the handle is a bit melted, and it takes a long time.

I also pick up some weber cubes or other store-bought firestarters sometime too. Definitely my preferred method.
 
J Hasselberger said:
Jim, I'm not too terribly far up the road from the Texas State campus, so maybe I'll go down and apply for a study grant (although A&M might be a more appropriate institution of higher learning for a study of this magnitude). This is, after all, a burning question. :)

It seems to me that Weber raised the grate and pointed it up so that you had room to stuff a wad of newspaper in the space below. Since I'm lighting this on a Performer gas assist, the flame is farther away than a flaming local pennysaver would be. And you are correct -- it is a better tool for lighting smaller numbers of briquettes. Until Constable Weber comes along and forces me to flip the grate back to its original intended position, I'll continue to operate outside the law.

Jeff
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I'm afraid Constable Weber may be on to you...chimney constable.png
 
I have both the large and small chimney as many of you do. I used to light with cotton balls,dryer lint, and newspaper before I got my gas assit performer, and gas grill with side burner. Now I do not need the room for newspaper so I read about flipping the great over to get the coals closer to the flame and it works great.
Tip it is much easier to accomplish this on a new chimney than one you have been using for a few years.
My first chimney was a 3 lb coffee can that had holes added around the lower flange using a can opener( church key) this idea was given to me by my dad back in the 60's. But had to use a pair of plumbers pliers to dump it , the Weber handle is much safer.....
 
John K BBQ said:
Tim's recent post on his neighbor's pyromania ( https://tvwbb.com/threads/nooooooooooooo.84490/#post-937201 ) gave me the idea for this post. I switched from using Weber's paraffin cubes for chimney lighting earlier this year to using these little "tumble weed" style lighters from Grill Trade. I stopped using Weber's cubes because I didn't enjoy getting them out of the foil, and also didn't like the little flecks of white paraffin making a mess around my grill.

I'm on my second box of these. These guys are slightly cheaper per unit than the Weber paraffin cubes, and have been working great for me. The box is a little flimsy but it would be easy enough to dump them all into a different container or storage bag. Some of the little shreds come off of the nuggets once in a while, but all in all I enjoy using these a lot more than the paraffin cubes.

Have you tried this projduct? If so, what do you think/? What are you using to light your chimney?


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i bought those on Amazon a couple weeks ago after using Royal Oak Tumbleweeds this summer. The RO product was great. I have not been as impressed with this brand. They light right away, but don't seem to flame as tall as RO did. They also leave more of a melted wax residue. I have started lining the bottom of my chimney with newsprint after lighting 2 of these. That has worked well for me.
 
I've started using a tacklight to ignite whatever i'm using as kindle.

It's much better than a match or lighter, especially in the cold weather. Only needs to be charged via microusb once in a while.
 
JungWoo said:
I've started using a tacklight to ignite whatever i'm using as kindle.

It's much better than a match or lighter, especially in the cold weather. Only needs to be charged via microusb once in a while.
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Interesting, but I can't find any info about tacklight.
 
I generally use newspaper, but empty charcoal bags work, too. I always light the chimney in one of my kettles, so I don't have a problem with the ashes getting into the WSM.
 
Brian Lee said:
I have a Smokey Joe kettle that use exclusively for getting the chimney started. I use a propane torch and light up a few small branches and twigs collected from my yard. I find the branches burn longer and put out more heat than crumbled newspaper.
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Those twigs from the yard are also useful when grilling steak, chicken, burgers, even hot dogs. I always toss a few on the coals when I cook anything hot and fast, to add just a touch of smoke flavor. I had oak trees at my last house, but only maple where I live now. Both worked well.
 
Well, I'll be able to save my Rutland Fire Starters . I saw a deal for on-line sub to the Wall Street Journal, $8 a month for a year. And after subbing, they offered me the Saturday print edition for gratis. So I should have a plenty of paper for my chimney's.
 
Mark Silver said:
Two paper towel squares sprayed with vegetable spray. No flying ash like when using newspaper.
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I had two dogs that would chase down the ash. It was great sport for them. They're gone now but I still miss them.

What's the problem with flying ash ? This is a new one for me.
 
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