Weber Chimney Starter


 
Charles H. said:
I bought some starter cubes as a throw in to get free shipping on an Amazon order.
Used one just to try it out.
Threw a few briquettes on the grate to keep the cube from melting through and sat the cube on top, lit it and dumped a bunch of briquettes on top. Pretty much had a blazing inferno in no time.
Can't imagine needing more than one.

In regards to the question about the side burner flame needing to touch the briquettes.... I never thought about that before.
I just sit the chimney on the burner grate and light it.
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It sounds like you are not using a chimney starter? 1 cube will start a full chimney but two gets you there a lot quicker in my experience!
 
Rub some vasoline on a cotton ball. Cheap, easy, and works every time. I use 2 to light my Webber chimney.
Tim
 
Lots of helpful advice here on starting a chimney but no one seems to have addressed the original concern: How does the OP generate sufficient hot coals with his small-ish chimney. Looks like Rusty figured it out anyway. Next time: It's slower than having two chimneys, but you can pour the hot coals on top of unlit coals in the WSM charcoal ring and wait until they all light well enough. Leave the top and middle sections off the bowl for this, then assemble when ready.

Rusty James said:
EDIT: Had a little trouble extinguishing my coals. I let the WSM sit for two hours with closed vents, but when I removed the stack and stirred the coals, the center was still lit. I also noticed a crack of daylight at the top of the door (actually had it inverted with the latch on the bottom). I assume that tiny crack may have been responsible for the still-lit coals. On the other hand, the 18" model has a lot of air volume inside, so maybe my situation is not unheard of.

Outside of heavy seasoning, is there an economical way to better seal the door without investing in a seal kit? Seems like the home centers should have some kind of hi-temp substance to remedy this.
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My WSM has a small leak around the door too but coals extinguish quicker than you experienced. Did you close the lid vent?
 
Carl H. said:
Lots of helpful advice here on starting a chimney but no one seems to have addressed the original concern: How does the OP generate sufficient hot coals with his small-ish chimney. Looks like Rusty figured it out anyway. Next time: It's slower than having two chimneys, but you can pour the hot coals on top of unlit coals in the WSM charcoal ring and wait until they all light well enough. Leave the top and middle sections off the bowl for this, then assemble when ready.
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I did just the opposite.

After pouring the hot coals out of the chimney onto the bare grate, I then poured fresh coals straight out of the bag until the ring was over half full (sort of like pouring fresh coals on top of a half-load already burning in a chimney starter). I guess I should have measured the proper amount, but I figured I could reuse the leftovers for later.


Carl H. said:
My WSM has a small leak around the door, too, but coals extinguish quicker than you experienced. Did you close the lid vent?
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Yes, the top vent was closed. I don't know why the fire was still lit one to two hours later.
 
When doing "Quick and Hot" Chicken I normally just use one chimney full of lit (both the 14.5" WSM and the 18.5" WSM). If I was doing a larger cook than normal (for me) like the O.P., and wanted a chimney and a half (Weber chimney) I would simply spread out 1/2 chimney of unlit on the charcoal grate and dump a full lit chimney on top and immediately assemble with all the vents wide open. Everything would SOON come up to heat. No problem whatsoever, folks! That's a lot simpler, too (and I LIKE simple).

If my Performer with the gas starter is unavailable, I simply use an empty tuna can turned upside down on the charcoal grate and place ONE Weber lighter cube in the center. This raises the flame up to the coals and will efficiently light the chimney EVERY time. I always plan to dump the chimney at 20 minutes and do so. Never had a fail and it is economical of the lighting cubes. If I find a sale (end of season) I load up with boxes of cubes. Frankly, their normal price gives me 24 lights for $3.29 or so and THAT'S pretty dern cheap, huh?

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
Robert McGee said:
If my Performer with the gas starter is unavailable, I simply use an empty tuna can turned upside down on the charcoal grate and place ONE Weber lighter cube in the center. This raises the flame up to the coals and will efficiently light the chimney EVERY time. I always plan to dump the chimney at 20 minutes and do so. Never had a fail and it is economical of the lighting cubes. If I find a sale (end of season) I load up with boxes of cubes. Frankly, their normal price gives me 24 lights for $3.29 or so and THAT'S pretty dern cheap, huh?

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
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Cost me 4.00 of late (Walmart).

Who sells them at a discount this time of year?

Thanks for the tips.

Frankly, I'm sold on Royal Oak lump for smoking. I'll certainly use it on my next chicken smoke, and especially for our Thanksgiving turkeys as it seems to produce higher heat than briquettes. That will be an added plus in cooler weather.
 
I maintain that newspaper and some veggie oil is all you need. Good way to get rid of junk mail too.

Having said that, if you have a source for sawdust, use an egg carton for a form.

Method 1:

1)Mix sawdust and melted candles and pour into form. Let dry/solidify. Cut apart. Voila! instant cubes

Method 2:

2)Dip pine cones in melted wax. Let solidify. Voila! instant starters

This isn't rocket science. The chimney does all the work. Getting that fire going, a boy/girl scout can do it.
 
Len, does oil-soaked paper produce less ashes than dry paper?

In my haste to get started on a long cook, Saturday, I created a doughnut with two pages of (dry) newsprint to ignite my charcoal, but I may have rolled it up too tight because I had to relight the paper more than once. It finally caught, but never really burned that well, so I had to resort to a starter cube. Leftover (paper) ashes attacked me with abandon, however.
 
I agree with Len. I take a couple of pages from those junk mail flyers that come every week, crumbled with a paper towel that I've drained bacon on and it works every time. Be sure to use the newspaper-like ones and not the oily plasticky feeling kind of fliers though, that's the only caveat.
 
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Two paper towels squirted with a little vegetable oil leave next to no ash. They've even work to get coals going in the wind and rain.
 
Rusty James said:
Len, does oil-soaked paper produce less ashes than dry paper?

In my haste to get started on a long cook, Saturday, I created a doughnut with two pages of (dry) newsprint to ignite my charcoal, but I may have rolled it up too tight because I had to relight the paper more than once. It finally caught, but never really burned that well, so I had to resort to a starter cube. Leftover (paper) ashes attacked me with abandon, however.
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I get ashes using the newspaper method but once the chimney is lit/dumped/cooled, the ashes are really a non-entity. They crumple up to nothing. Using oil gives you a hotter longer fire (think about grease fires on a stove, that's what you've created in the bottom of the chimney, just more controlled).
 
Len Dennis said:
I get ashes using the newspaper method but once the chimney is lit/dumped/cooled, the ashes are really a non-entity. They crumple up to nothing. Using oil gives you a hotter longer fire (think about grease fires on a stove, that's what you've created in the bottom of the chimney, just more controlled).
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Guess I have HFAS, Hate Flying Ashes Syndrome.
Back when I used paper for a starter, for a short time, I hated that crap floating around everywhere.
Too many better options, IMO.
 
holey SMOKES! all this convo for lighting a chimney of coal?
it'll take ya two weeks to read and understand everything...

sheeeesh, I got a headache
Headache.gif
 
Rusty with all this talk of drillin holes and high temp paint, I would think the value of your time and the cost of paint , ya'll could just buy a Weber large chimney
 
I am big on repairing stuff, and I am a fabricator at heart.

I spent $150.00 on parts to tear my washer apart and rebuild it two years ago instead of buying a newer energy-efficient model.

I'll eventually get a larger chimney in time to come.
 
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