Where to light a charcoal chimney?


 
T

Tom Guschausky

New member
I've been using my old propane grill as a place to fire up my charcoal chimney. It worked great for catching ash, and keeping the mess to a minimum. In steps my wife....I never used my propane grill for cooking anymore, so now it's gone:-( Now everything I use sends ash and burnt newspaper flying everywhere, including towards my house! Any thoughts for containing the mess, and not burning down my house?
 
I don't use newspaper to light my chimney for that exact reason.....hated stuff flying around......now I just use some sort of fire starter and set the chimney over the top.....
 
Or soak a couple paper towel in vegetable oil and use those. I use old oil from fried chicken and fries.
 
I use my Weber kettle's charcoal grill to start the chimney with a Weber starter cube under it. When it's ready, I dump the lit coals on the unlits in the WSM....
 
Mike Willis said:
I use my Weber kettle's charcoal grill to start the chimney with a Weber starter cube under it. When it's ready, I dump the lit coals on the unlits in the WSM....
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Ditto what Mike said... Starter cubes cost 3.29 for a 24 pack I think..
 
Mike Willis said:
I use my Weber kettle's charcoal grill to start the chimney with a Weber starter cube under it. When it's ready, I dump the lit coals on the unlits in the WSM....
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I've seen those, do they burn out by the time you're ready to dump the charcoal? Any funky smell or taste like lighter fluid? If not this sounds like the route to go!
 
Tom Guschausky said:
I've seen those, do they burn out by the time you're ready to dump the charcoal? Any funky smell or taste like lighter fluid? If not this sounds like the route to go!
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I use the Weber starter cubes all of the time. They burn out to a tiny pile of ash before the coals are ready to dump. I put a starter cube on a piece of foil big enough to catch the ashes from the chimney, light it, and set the chimney on top of it. No mess, quick clean up, and no bad smell or taste. Definitely the way to go.
 
Weber starter cubes do not leave any taste that I've ever noticed and yes, by the time the starter cube burns out, the coals are usually going well enough to pour into the wsm for a Minion start. If you want all the charcoal lit, it will take longer than the starter cube will burn. The paper towel soaked in cooking oil works very well too. Bottom line - stop using newspaper. It is messy. Also, you didn't ask but never start your chimney directly on any concrete that you care about. The heat will make the concrete pop. I start mine on an old patio block.
 
Tom,

Haven't tried the starter cubes, yet. Using a hand held propane torch on the chimney for approx a minute works for us. Of course, we still have our Genesis to set the chimney on while heating...

Bob
 
The weber starter cubes work good. One is plenty unless you're in a big hurry. I have an octagon concrete paver to set the chimney on when I'm using the WSM. On the OTG I just use the charcoal grate on the grill.
 
Dan Quinlan said:
I use the Weber starter cubes all of the time. They burn out to a tiny pile of ash before the coals are ready to dump. I put a starter cube on a piece of foil big enough to catch the ashes from the chimney, light it, and set the chimney on top of it. No mess, quick clean up, and no bad smell or taste. Definitely the way to go.
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Dan had the right idea I think, The foil will give quick cleanup and my wife will not complain about the mess from the newspaper. I guess a home depot run is in my plans for tomorrow morning. Also have never had a problem with lighting on my concrete patio but it is about 50 years old and cured long ago, but a better idea would be to light the chimney on my Performer grill grate. No problem with cleanup that way.
 
I used to light mine on my concrete driveway with the starter cubes till one day I leaned over to grab the fully lit chimney and a load pop went off and a piece of concrete flew past my face... Never again!
Now I always light it on the charcoal grate of my OTG using a propane torch stuck into one of the ash ring holes.
Takes a few mins for lump a few more for briqs.
Tim
 
Bob Sample said:
Or soak a couple paper towel in vegetable oil and use those. I use old oil from fried chicken and fries.
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I save the oily paper towels from when I clean my cast iron skillets in a gallon ziplock bag. Half a paper towel gets it going with no ash/mess whatsoever. I used to do it like Bob says here with the same exact results.
 
Prior to getting my Performer and using the gas assist to start my chimney, I was using the cubes and was quite happy. No smell and they burnt through completely in the appropriate amount of time.
 
The starter cubes everyone else has mentioned plus, buy a round patio stone to heat the chimney up on. saves you getting anything else black with soot.
 
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