Weber Chimney Starter No Ash


 
M

M Strickland

TVWBB Member
I absolutely LOVE my WSM and my other Weber grills! With the Minion Method, my WSM gives me incredibly steady temperature control.

The only thing I did not like was the floating newspaper ash left after using the Weber Chimney starter. I just didn't like it floating and blowing around.

I discovered a better way to start my coals in the chimney starter one day when I didn't have any newspaper. I grabbed a few feet of paper towels and used them instead of newspaper. Worked great, and there was no ash left from the paper towels!

About six feet of paper towels burns completely and does a great job!
 
For some strange reason, I get no ash issue when I use a brown paper grocery bag, but then again, I don’t have a problem unless I really wad it tightly.
If I’m “sidewinder” Minion method smoking (my preferred method) I’ve taken to torch ignition on the “door” side, no muss, no fuss.
 
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I got a couple boxes of weber starter cubes for Christmas, so I'm using those right now, but before that, I just coated a few(3) cotton balls with vasoline. It always worked like a charm and you can make a few hundred for just a few bucks.
Tim
 
Wow...6 feet is a lot of paper towels to use up (says the cheapskate who is appalled at how quickly his family goes through paper goods). Personally, I'm luck enough to have a Performer with gas assist for when I'm at home. Even if I'm cooking in a (Camp) Dutch Oven, I use the Performer to get the coals lit. When I'm camping, I bring the Weber cubes or homemade starters (toilet paper tubes stuffed with dryer lint) or use a camp stove. I have a couple old propane camp stoves (the cheap kind you screw onto the top of 1# propane bottle) that I've often thought of using to build a propane-powered chimney. Stability and falling ash would probably be an issue (you don't want hot ashes falling onto a propane bottle, I suspect).
 
I cheat, and use the chimney over the gas starter on my Performer. No ash for sure. See others using hand held torches.
 
I thought that the chimney over the performer igniter was how is was supposed to be used, no? When I use a buddy’s that’s what I do too!
 
Apparently this propane starter didn't go over well enough to still be in production.
I bought one a few years back for my Santa Maria grill since it's down on a patio with all my other grills, etc up on the deck. It works well.
edit, found a video for it.



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Bob, you’re a cruel one! Show us a great idea, tell us YOU have one and then tell us it’s out of production!
If you weren’t so generous,with all the rest of your help I’d have to learn to hate you!
That looks like a great idea! I would love to have one, how long had it been a “collectible”?
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Bob, you’re a cruel one! Show us a great idea, tell us YOU have one and then tell us it’s out of production!
If you weren’t so generous,with all the rest of your help I’d have to learn to hate you!
That looks like a great idea! I would love to have one, how long had it been a “collectible”?
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Sorry Charlie. :)
Poked around to see if any were still being sold, no dice.
But I did find you a nice pre-owned Weber chimney on eBay for only $9.00, and $9.37 shipping. :rolleyes:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Weber-Rapi...702903?hash=item33e7778937:g:I0kAAOSw3h1ZOxOc

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I've never liked the veg oil on paper. It always looks like you're lighting old tires on fire.

The vaseline on cotton balls is an interesting idea. I recall seeing that suggested as an emergency heat/light source. You can stash a lot of them in an Altoids tin and they'll keep forever. Alcohol on cotton balls should also work and be easier to light.

Since discovering the trick of rolling the newspaper into a donut in the bottom of the chimney I've stuck with that method. If I'm lighting a full chimney and want to give it a little boost I'll roll up some charcoal dust in one of the sheets of newspaper. That seems to get things going even quicker. It also gives me something to do with the stuff at the bottom of the charcoal bag.
 
Some of you please start using cubes so they won't become obsolete; I'm far too lazy for any other method :p
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I used to do the newspaper thing, but I hated dealing with the mess from the ash.
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Yeah, when I started out a little over 2 years ago I used filler paper that Amazon used in packaging. But they stopped using it, and I don't have any print subscriptions, and once I tried my first cube I found it simpler for my personal preference.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Maybe it’s because my local paper is mostly horse poo, it burns up pretty well.
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Same here. Biggest problem is finding an edition that has enough paper in it to light a fire. When this town was less than half its current size this paper always had at least three decent sized sections. Today it's not worth going out to pick up out of the driveway. Lighting charcoal is about all it's good for.
 
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