Hello fellow smokers...My Weber smoker is in route and will arrive by end of week. I have been reading on a daily basis all of your methods and have a couple of simple questions. My first is in regards to lighting the fire using the Minion method. Can you light without a chimney starter and do you recommend using one? If yes, best place to get one. What types of wood would you recommend and the best place to get it? I was going to wait for the weather to warm a little before starting but can't wait any longer. A little shoveling of snow in the backyard and something to block wind will be needed first and then we will attempt to fire it up.
Getting ready
- Thread starter KARL K
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Doug D
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Definitely get a chimney, and a Weber one at that-- it's 33% bigger than most and well-made. Lighting charcoal without fluid is very tedious, and chimneys work well, unless you happen to own a blowtorch.
Wood: You can get hickory almost anywhere-- grocery, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, sporting and outdoor stores, grilling specialty stores. Most of mine I get from an Ace Hardware that carries full-line Weber products. You want chunks, not chips. You'll also want to try to find apple, pecan, oak, and cherry if possible.
Wood: You can get hickory almost anywhere-- grocery, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, sporting and outdoor stores, grilling specialty stores. Most of mine I get from an Ace Hardware that carries full-line Weber products. You want chunks, not chips. You'll also want to try to find apple, pecan, oak, and cherry if possible.
Mike Provance
TVWBB Super Fan
Karl,
As Mr. D sez, you really do need to get a chimney. Weber has the best one. If no one in your area carries Weber supplies and u r just itching to get started, u should be able to find one at Home Depot. The one here carries the Char Broil brand. Good luck /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
As Mr. D sez, you really do need to get a chimney. Weber has the best one. If no one in your area carries Weber supplies and u r just itching to get started, u should be able to find one at Home Depot. The one here carries the Char Broil brand. Good luck /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
Tom Raveret
TVWBB Pro
Many ace hardware stores carry a pretty good supply of Weber products and accesories you may want to try there for a chimney starter.
Congrats and have fun
Congrats and have fun
G
Guest
Guest
Absolutely get the chimney starter. I got mine from wally world for about $8 bucks and it works pretty darned good (ain't much too one of these so it's hard to screw up). First time I ever used one was yesterday morning. I loaded it up about 3/4 full, crumbled some newspaper to go underneath and sat it on the firebox grate on my smok'n pit (gotta have some reason to keep it around) and it was ready to roll in about 15 mins. Poured it on the charcoal ring and it held 235 for 8.5hrs without any help (would've went 9.5hrs but I knew I was going to be longer so I added some more fuel at that time) and it was about 12* most of the day and the wind whipped about pretty good in the afternoon.
Larry D.
TVWBB Emerald Member
A suggestion (somebody else's idea, not mine): I find that twisting the newspaper into a thick "rope" and then coiling it into a donut shape works better than just balling it up. When you light the paper donut, the hole in the center allows the flames to go up through the middle of the chimney, contacting more of the charcoal. Balling the paper up into a solid piece causes some of the flames to exit through the vent holes in the side, not touching the charcoal at all.
Doug D
TVWBB Hall of Fame
A link to a recent thread, including an illustration of making the "doughnut". (Be sure to scroll down to Jim Clay's post for the coolest chimney picture ever.)
Kevin Taylor
TVWBB All-Star
KARL....
Skip the paper and go get yourself some Weber fire starters. I pay $2.00(Lowe's) for them and you get 24. 1 of these will ignite the entire chimney and you don't have any burnt paper flying around.
Matter of fact, if you use the MM, I no longer even use a chimney! Simply fill the charcoal ring, throw a cube into the middle of the briqs and once you see several lit, assemble the cooker. Leave the unit UN-assembled as the extra air flow will help ignite things faster.
NOTE: This will NOT work in cold or real windy conditions.
Skip the paper and go get yourself some Weber fire starters. I pay $2.00(Lowe's) for them and you get 24. 1 of these will ignite the entire chimney and you don't have any burnt paper flying around.
Matter of fact, if you use the MM, I no longer even use a chimney! Simply fill the charcoal ring, throw a cube into the middle of the briqs and once you see several lit, assemble the cooker. Leave the unit UN-assembled as the extra air flow will help ignite things faster.
NOTE: This will NOT work in cold or real windy conditions.
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