Who Has Gas Assist But Chooses to Use Another Method to Light Coal (and why)?


 
Here in the Peach State (GA), we’re seeing a lot more of CA and NJ license plates around.

For years I used to pile up coals in the kettle with a bunch of lighter fluid. Boom! I actually really liked the ritual of brief high flames but I transitioned to a chimney ignited with junk mail and old newspapers which is much less exciting but faster & cheaper.

Now I use the gas assist with chimney on my SSP. I updated SSP’s ignition to Gen 4 Performer‘s quiet electric start. The SSP’s 5lb tank costs a few bucks to refill at Costco about once a year. Starts faster with less smoke and ash than when I used to ignite the chimney with paper. I use the SSP to start coals for other kettles too. Not turning back now.
 
Mike-GA said:
Here in the Peach State (GA), we’re seeing a lot more of CA and NJ license plates around.
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My sister and brother in law moved from New York City to North Carolina in the early eighties.

When they would come back to visit, my brother in law always had a slew of anecdotes, stories and jokes people would tell him that he would pass on to us.

Q: “What’s the difference between a Yankee and a damn Yankee?

A: “A Yankee goes down south to visit, a damn Yankee goes down south to live”.

Not me, I like four seasons.
 
When I bought my Q 2200 I added the hose that hooks up to a 20# tank.
I'm going to add male quick connect fittings to the Q and my performer and 22" griddle.
Put the end on the hose and I can plug and play and no more 1# tanks unless I need to go mobile.
 
timothy said:
When I bought my Q 2200 I added the hose that hooks up to a 20# tank.
I'm going to add male quick connect fittings to the Q and my performer and 22" griddle.
Put the end on the hose and I can plug and play and no more 1# tanks unless I need to go mobile.
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Smart way to go. I don't use my performer daily but quite frequently and my 20# tank I have hooked up to it seems about half full, not bad seeing it's been on there for about 5 years.
 
John_NJ said:
My sister and brother in law moved from New York City to North Carolina in the early eighties.

When they would come back to visit, my brother in law always had a slew of anecdotes, stories and jokes people would tell him that he would pass on to us.

Q: “What’s the difference between a Yankee and a damn Yankee?

A: “A Yankee goes down south to visit, a damn Yankee goes down south to live”.

Not me, I like four seasons.
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Q. What's the difference between and damn Yankee & a good Yankee?

A. A good Yankee is a damn Yankee that moves down south and falls in live with another damn Yankee and they both decide to move back north.





BD
 
I have the Weber Performer Deluxe which has the gas assist, however, here in Costa Rica the "Kingsford Brand Match Light" is the best bang for the buck, thus, I generally use the Weber Candles or other Costa Rican Brand Candles in lighting up the "Matchlight". I been using the "Matchlight Charcoal in most of my grilling sessions for the last couple of years and when fully lit there is no foul oder or gas gas taste on our bbq eats.
 
Richard Garcia said:
I have the Weber Performer Deluxe which has the gas assist, however, here in Costa Rica the "Kingsford Brand Match Light" is the best bang for the buck, thus, I generally use the Weber Candles or other Costa Rican Brand Candles in lighting up the "Matchlight". I been using the "Matchlight Charcoal in most of my grilling sessions for the last couple of years and when fully lit there is no foul oder or gas gas taste on our bbq eats.
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You shouldn't need any other starter with the Matchlight. You are just wasting your candles. That's the point of matchlight. Just light the coals and they will start on their own.
 
I have used a Weber Performer with gas assist for 15+ years. I love it. I have added a 5lb propane with adapter hose to avoid having to deal with disposable cylinders. I only need to use the gas for 5-10 minutes per start so a 5lb propane fill is good for 3 years or so at 1-2 uses per week. I live in California where I can grill year-round. In the few times where I had no propane, I used a chimney with wax based starters. They work well. Better than plain newspaper. Butcher paper wrap with some oil on it also work great.
The adapter hoses to go from 1lb disposables to a refillable tank are inexpensive. Available on Amazon or many local hardware stores. Get a steel braided model. The squirrels chewed through two rubber hoses before I discovered the metal braided hoses that only cost a little bit more than the rubber hoses.
I did replace my Weber igniter and linkage wiring after 13 years. Weber has the parts on their site for every model. The igniters have several generations, but you can find one that fits your model. If in doubt, call Weber support and they will help you find the parts you need. One wonderful thing about Weber is that they support their products with spare parts for decades. I rehab older Webers sometimes. I can always find the parts I need although the spare parts have gone up in price by a lot in the last couple of years since the crazy metal tariffs went into effect.
Webers are fun.

P.S. Don't use matchlight charcoal unless you enjoy the aroma of kerosene. But if you must, and have no other options, use just a few matchlight briquets to light the rest of the non-matchlight briquets. Let them burn until they are all well greyed over with ash. That will let most of the kerosene stink burn off.
 
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I use gas assist in the WSK only when using the Vortex because for regular cooks, with the charcoal grate in the high position, the flame is anemicly far from the charcoal. Easier to throw an oil soaked paper towel in and call it a day.

Andy P said:
I’m just really not a fan of buying the 1lb containers and then having to find a way to get rid of them.
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You can refill them from a larger 20lb bottle.. reuse the same 1lb bottle endlessly
 
Had a performer with gas ignition, I did use it some but not all the time. Im used to the chimney start now with weber cubes or paper towel-veg oil method
 
David-B said:
Had a performer with gas ignition, I did use it some but not all the time. Im used to the chimney start now with weber cubes or paper towel-veg oil method
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It's still designed to be used with the chimney too. It's not an either/or. I've seen several people say this. I always use a chimney and always use the gas start. Works better than any other method to start the chimney.
 
MikeLucky said:
It's still designed to be used with the chimney too. It's not an either/or. I've seen several people say this. I always use a chimney and always use the gas start. Works better than any other method to start the chimney.
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Same here.

Its already part of the grill- I just refill the one pound can from one of the 20’s I have on hand occasionally, and good to go.

No fuss, no muss, and no additional materials needed.

That makes me happy, to each his (or her) own.
 
Bill D-NC said:
Q. What's the difference between and damn Yankee & a good Yankee?

A. A good Yankee is a damn Yankee that moves down south and falls in live with another damn Yankee and they both decide to move back north.





BD
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I'm an adherent of @Brett-EDH in one of the first posts -- oil-soaked paper towel with chimney starter. (BTW, my wonderful daughter just gave me a baby starter to go with my 14.5 -- love her til death!)

As for Bill D-NC, I'm a "former" Yankee (CT) who moved south to NC, met and married my love and stayed for life. The best Yankee is the one who follows the plaque she gave me, "I wasn't born in the South, but I got here as soon as I could!" :ROFLMAO: (15 in my case.)
 
Richard Garcia said:
To those that use the Gas Assist; what tools do you use to clean the gas tube and how often do you do this cleaning?
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Too new to be an authority, but I just happened to be using one of these last night on the drip tray of my Genesis 1000.

I use them all the time on the WSC.

A good balance of rigidity and softness to attack grill gunk.

I’ve used it on the gas assist also.

Pretty sure @Brett-EDH posted them, but I definitely found out about them here:

IMG_6330.jpeg
 
I have a pre-2004 Performer in stainless steel and when the 5-lb bottle ran out, the place that reflled them had moved. Eventually the tank got outdated. I've been lighting with Weber starter cubes since.

I could buy a new bottle from Ace, I suppose, then see if the other components still work, but why bother? I'm hoping to get a new Weber 22" premium on sale at the end of season from Target, and I'll gift my Performer to a member in the Philly area who wants to restore it. I figure the igniter is probably shot from non-use, and the regulator hose is pretty dried out. I don't see motivation to rebuild the system as the starter cubes work just fine.
 
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