Fire Starters - what are you using?


 
For starting under the full size Weber chimney, I've started to use a 5 ounce paper Dixie cup to hold my flammable material.

Some paper towel wads, a douse of cooking oil or starter gel, a fire starter (cube, square or tumbleweed), and anything else laying around that will catch fire.

The Dixie cup holds it all together nicely, sits nice and stable on the grill grate, and fits perfectly under the chimney grate close to the coals. The cup seems to make the flame go up vertically. It all burns up with little to no ash.

Depending on how much stuff you pack into the cup, you can get a pretty big/long burn. Which is good for getting the coals going. And just fun pyromaniacally speaking.
 
Few fallen twigs from the mature trees in the backyard, few shredded sections from corrugated Amazon and Walmart boxes used for the wife’s last online order atop coals used from the last cook.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Man, y'all must be able to buy newspaper cheap.

The lowest price deal I can get from our only print newspaper is $11 a month. For $11 I can buy 144 Rutland fire squares.
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I get a neighborhood newspaper once a month. I'll usually keep two months worth and rotate them out after a while to make sure they haven't gotten any moisture to them. That hurt me one time trying to get a fire started.
 
Got about 12 boxes of Weber cubes last winter for $2.74 at target. Wonder how they will hold up over time,
I’m not exactly burning through them like I did before the SmokeFire.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
I used to use the Kalamazoo Gazette but, it got more expensive than it was worth to even simply burn!
I’ve been using basic brown paper bags lately.
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I also used to use the local rag to start my chimney. (That was all it was good for). But I stopped using it as I found that the blatant lies & general b/s contained within its pages actually tainted my food. True story. :unsure:
Oh, yeah. Tumbleweeds or cubes. (I also hate those little white flecks).
 
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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've been using the Royal Oak tumbleweeds.. very happy with them. Not too happy with the wax cubes.. a real PITA to open and once done, there little flecks of wax all over the place. I have a box of these Grill Trade...haven't used them yet.
 
Roger that on the wax cubes. I stopped using them. Difficult to open and if you accidentally break the seal on one you're not planning to use, it will dry out and won't lite/burn the way it should if you wait a day or two to use it. Also had it with the little white flecks.
 
Bacon Fat wrapped in paper towels under a chimney.

I usually make three wraps, each one with about 2 TBS of bacon fat in a half-sheet sized paper towel.
 
Ya the wax cubes do make a mess, just started trying these out.

Amazon.com: Camerons All Natural Firestarters- 50 Pack- Lightning Fast Lighters for Barbecue Grill, BBQ Charcoal, Campfire, Fireplace and More- Unique Design Lights Faster Than Cubes, Square or Nuggets : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Buy Camerons All Natural Firestarters- 50 Pack- Lightning Fast Lighters for Barbecue Grill, BBQ Charcoal, Campfire, Fireplace and More- Unique Design Lights Faster Than Cubes, Square or Nuggets: Charcoal Starters - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

So far so good.
 
Mario said:
Ya the wax cubes do make a mess, just started trying these out.

Amazon.com: Camerons All Natural Firestarters- 50 Pack- Lightning Fast Lighters for Barbecue Grill, BBQ Charcoal, Campfire, Fireplace and More- Unique Design Lights Faster Than Cubes, Square or Nuggets : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Buy Camerons All Natural Firestarters- 50 Pack- Lightning Fast Lighters for Barbecue Grill, BBQ Charcoal, Campfire, Fireplace and More- Unique Design Lights Faster Than Cubes, Square or Nuggets: Charcoal Starters - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

So far so good.
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Like Bruno shared early on in this thread I got tons of Weber starter cubes at Target last fall for way cheap. However, I just opened my second to last box and know it is time to start think about what is next, I am really thinking about getting a box of these. Do you use one or two of these to light a full Weber chimney?
 
Michael Richards said:
Like Bruno shared early on in this thread I got tons of Weber starter cubes at Target last fall for way cheap. However, I just opened my second to last box and know it is time to start think about what is next, I am really thinking about getting a box of these. Do you use one or two of these to light a full Weber chimney?
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I use 2 or 3 Michael. But I use a small baked bean tin to elevate the tumbleweeds closer to the wire grate of the chimney. Stops those pesky flames making a run for it out the lower side vents if it's a bit windy.
 
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Michael Richards said:
Like Bruno shared early on in this thread I got tons of Weber starter cubes at Target last fall for way cheap. However, I just opened my second to last box and know it is time to start think about what is next, I am really thinking about getting a box of these. Do you use one or two of these to light a full Webe
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When lighting a full large chimney I place one rolled piece of newspaper around the chimney bottom; light one weber cube and place the chimney at an angle for the Weber cube to light the rolled newspaper and then lower the chimney which fully lights in around 20 minutes. For me using one piece of newspaper eliminates the need to use 2 Weber Cubes for 1 cook which are somewhat expensive here in Costa Rica.
 
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