Lighting Charcoal

[John Ford]

Like many of you I use a charcoal chimney to light charcoal.
Over the years Ive used a lot of things as the fuel source.
Wadded paper, cheap always around , usually works, the ash is a mess & sometimes gets on your food.
Oiled paper towels, less mess, cheap, somewhat messy to make.
Weber lighter cubes , no mess , very easy, pricy , but locally about $0.26 / cube in season. I've gotten lazy , so I've been buying the W cubes & stocking up. My Garage ate my stock of 4 boxes
Got online & the weber cubes are ridiculous with shipping
Instead bought a box of RUTLAND FIRESTARTER SQUARES, box of 144 cost $10.20 & shipping $5.80.
Cost is $0.11 / cube , they work great with a charcoal chimney, no mess , 1 cube does the trick!
Very happy!

 

[Erik Slager]

Have to try that John, your right paper makes a mess. Where do I find them?

 

[John Ford]

Link to amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ..._o03_s00_i00_details

 

[Brian_S]

Good find, thanks for the link. Might have to give the a shot soon.

 

[George Curtis]

i've been using something similar. looks like they are made by the same company. i can find these all over and many times i find them less than $3. i just cut up each stick into 3-4 pieces. this is what i use

http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-...id=1326946457&sr=8-6

 

[Mike P.]

I'm a Weber cube guy but these look great. Thanks for posting. And thanks for the link.

 

[Mike Purnell]

I use these in Canada and 1 cube does the trick. Works out to .12/cube or on sale sometimes for ,09/cube. Zip Firestarters

 

[Milt DuCharme]

I have found that one half of a Rutland square will start a chimney. Cut it on the diagonal and stand it up on the long side.

 

[Steve P. (Timmee)]

I fold a paper towel so it fits into a ziploc bag, then pour a little bit of oil into the bag, close it up, and work the paper towel around until it absorbs enough oil. It's a little less messy, and a little less wasteful than just pouring the oil onto the towel over the sink. If I pour too much oil, I just fold up another paper towel and put it in the bag for next time.

 

[A Cleland]

Here is a very simple way to enable the use of "Starter cubes" with your chimney starter without having to cut, alter, wedge, or worry, about the chimney lighting. Props go to my wife, Rhonda for this simple, yet easy and effective way to start your coals.

Take a small piece of aluminum foil and a regular 12 ounce can of soup, or any thing about that size. Form the foil over the top of the can down to about 2 or 3 inches.

A look at the gadget upside down after the can is removed.

Turned upright with a "Starter cube" on top, ready to light, then set chimney with coals on top until ready.

After the chimney is removed and the foil gadget cools, just wipe the top and store inside of your chimney until next time. The cubes leave little, if any, residue unlike newspaper or paper towels, and no odors like the oil-soake paper towels do. Hope this helps with your next cook.

 

[LarryR]

Alan, your approach seems interesting, however, maybe I'm being dense and not following something here; What issue does this method solve when using a cube and a chimney?

I'm always open to improving a technique or process. That's what's great about this site, you can always pick something up.

 

[Larry D.]

I think it puts the cube closer to the charcoal, which should make for quicker lighting.

 

[A Cleland]

I use a weber chimney, and the height from the bottom of the chimney to the bottom of the charcoal holder is quite substantial. I use this device to raise the height of the cube underneath, assuring the cube lights the coals....especially useful when only lighting a small amount of coals for a wsm cook, or an indirect cook on a kettle.

The chimney is made so that several pieces of crumpled newspaper will fit underneath, and that area is quite large.......this just brings the cube closer to the coals.......

I have read where some cut the cubes, wedge them into the coils, and other methods. This is just an easy alternative that works like a charm.

 

[LarryR]

Larry and Alan: Thanks, makes sense. Never had an issue with cubes when using my Weber chimney, even when I'm starting only 6 briquettes for a MM cook, but, I'm going to give this a try and see if it improves what I'm currently doing. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[John Ford]

If you use cubes flip the charcoal grate over.

 

[RD Hauch]

I use these. I break them in half so it's about 13 cents per start.
http://www.amazon.com/Fire-101...id=1327299153&sr=8-1

 

[Larry Corall]

I'm old fashioned and still read a newspaper every day - never run out of fuel to light my chimney. I don't like the paper ash in my grills or smokers. I have a couple of cinderblocks stacked in the corner of my small garden, just off of my deck, and light my chimney on those. I don't worry to much about the paper ash - just brush it into or let it blow into the garden.

 

[Michael G. (Canada Mike)]

I'm a newspaper person too, but I have found that the flavour of newspaper from Kansas City is best for starting a chimney for Q.

 

[Larry Corall]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm a newspaper person too, but I have found that the flavour of newspaper from Kansas City is best for starting a chimney for Q. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Is that KC Masterpiece or Arthur Bryant's flavored?

 

[G.Siek]

Local menards here had sale on fire starter cubes 24 pack 2 for a dollar i bought $20.00 worth im set for awhile. not as nice as weber cubes but cheaper. weber cubes which is what i usually use i buy them at Mejier (off season)3.28 for the 24 pack. sale is still going on at Menards i think