Weber fire starter cube question


 
J

J Hoke

TVWBB Pro
For those of you that use the cubes, how many would you use to replace the Minion method? I normally use 12-13 lit coals spread over the charcoal.
 
I just use one to start my chimney instead of newspaper. I typically use about 12 coals for minion method. I don't think anyone actually puts them in the grill but I could be wrong.
 
I don't understand the question? Starter cubes like the brown ones ore the white ones? Lit in the smoker or kettle ? It doesn't sound good to me! But maybe i don't understand!
 
Tom Golden said:
Just curious - why would you pay extra when a little bit of scrap paper will do the same thing??
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For me, my paper would go out every once in a while from wind or whatever. I never had the problem with the cubes. Plus, the newpaper ash is a mess. It's only about 4 or 5 bucks a box. Plus they say Weber on them!
 
I use a mini chimney for the mini wsb so the cube works great, neat, no ash. gets the coals going quickly.
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J Hoke said:
For those of you that use the cubes, how many would you use to replace the Minion method? I normally use 12-13 lit coals spread over the charcoal.
Click to expand...

Do you mean not using a chimney? Then just place one under a bed of coals and light it.
I always use a chimney cause I can control the amount of lit from the get-go, but you can do similar with the cubes by placing them under the edge.

Tim
 
I meant not using a chimney and was hoping to just use a cube or two and not have to start the chimney, wait till lit all over, then place lit coals in smoker. I've seen UDS people just putting the cube in the basket to start but they cook at way high temps.
Always looking at how to shorten the process.
 
J Hoke said:
I meant not using a chimney and was hoping to just use a cube or two and not have to start the chimney, wait till lit all over, then place lit coals in smoker. I've seen UDS people just putting the cube in the basket to start but they cook at way high temps.
Always looking at how to shorten the process.
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Gotcha.
I would just start out with one in the smoker on the edge of the coals and see how that goes.
Without a chimney how are you placing lit coals in the smoker? ( shovel) ?
Tim
 
J,where were you planning on lighting the coals that you weren't gonna use the chimney for? If you just wanted to light a handful of briqs without a chimney,I'd make a pile of briqs,and partially bury 1 or 2 cubes in the pile,maybe one on each side. Light them and then move to the smoker when fully lit.
But if you use a chimney,it'd only take the one cube and you could dump them out all at once,instead of moving them one at a time. That's my thinking,if I'm picking up what you're laying down!
 
I use one weber starter cube is all you need. I also use my performer to start my chimney.
 
When doing a Minion Start in my Mini or 14.5, I use an IKEA silverware caddy as a small chimney (that kind of looks like what Rich is using):

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30011832/

Before I got my CL Performer (which I now use to start the IKEA and my chimneys) I would drop one lit Weber's cube in the bottom of the IKEA caddy, and then carefully place 8 briquettes on top of the flame. In just a few minutes it was time to dump them in the tin can for a "Tin Can Minion" start.

The IKEA caddy works really well with a small number of briqs whereas the chimneys don't do so well.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I smoked some home made jerky last week and I used one starter cube in the middle of the charcoal. I was only trying to achieve 160ish degrees and it worked just fine. I smoked for about 10 hours and was amazed at how little charcoal was used. It might be doable but it might also take a while to get up to temp to smoke the wood.
 
I tried slightly burying a Weber starter cube in some unlit KBB in my WSM instead of externally starting some coals on another grill for a LNS cook. This is how I prefer to start my Akorn kamado so I wanted to try it in the WSM. I was not impressed. If you think the Minion method can be slow, try burying a starter cube. I'm sure I could probably play with adding more cubes or trying it with lump instead of KBB, but given the ease of doing the Minion method it isn't worth it to me. Might be worth it for someone with only a WSM as their single grill or smoker but not too many people are out there like that.
 
I love the weber cubes, but recently I found my supply to be non-existent. I had to think fast as I am not a fan of all the ash burning paper leaves behind. I tried coating a few cotton balls with gasoline and I must say, I was really impressed! Will i stop buying the weber cubes, certainly not, but to take along camping or use in a pinch, the coated cotton balls are (IMO) another good option.
Tim
 
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