Quick, clean and cost effective charcoal lighting

scooter

Moderator
Staff member
This has been the question for pitmasters using charcoal to fuel their pit since charcoal was invented. How to light charcoal quickly, cleanly, cost effectively and not leave any chemical taste on the food being grilled/BBQ'd. The choices when my Dad used to grill for us was lighter fluid or one of those electric heating coil things which was my Dad's choice. The electric coil starter is clean, cost effective but not very fast.
For years lighter fluid was pretty much the choice for most backyard pitmasters. Cheap, somewhat fast but not very clean as critics would argue. The argument being it's a petroleum product which leaves a residue behind that can add an unpleasant chemical flavor to the meat being cooked.
There are a few more choices now in this generation than in my Dad's. lighter fluid and electric starters are still aroud but now there's a chimney starter and just recently another electric option appeared, a Looftlighter. At $80 a Looftlighter is a bit pricey but clean although from what I've seen, slow. The chimney however is faster, cheap and clean (except for the ashes left from newspaper ashes to start it) so I chose the chimney.

Since a chimney was the logical choice for me to light the charcoal, the next choice became what's the best way to light the chimney? Using a wad of newspaper leaves all those flakey paper ashes flittering about which is not preferrable to me. That left fatwood and Weber Firestarter Lighter cubes. Fatwood being pine wood taken from the most resin impregnated parts of the tree. Firestarter cubes are made of some sort of combustable material that are non toxic and smokeless. They only leave behind a very small cube of ash about half their original size.

I tried fatwood which was pretty good but found the Weber Firestarter Lighter cubes to be the clean and inexpensive choice (not very fast though) and used them for quite awhile until I found the Cadillac of charcoal lighters below!
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A propane fueled turkey deep fat fryer base! Truly the Cadillac of chimney starters, IMO! It allows you to start cooking with charcoal in approx the same time as a gas grill takes to come up to cooking temp.

Pros
  • It uses clean propane so no chemical taste on the food
  • lights instantly
  • Is at peak heat instantly
  • Lights charcoal faster than anything short of a weed eater blow torch
  • Leaves no ashes

Cons
  • Not easily portable
  • Equipment cost: Turkey deep fat fryers cost between $50-$100 new. Much cheaper if used.
  • Propane cost, a 5 Gal tank costs $24 to fill but will last me approx one year
  • Can be somewhat dangerous if misused

Since I have it on my redwood deck I wrapped it with aluminum flashing to contain the sparks from hardwood briquets or lump. As a base I use a thick masonry paver to insulate the deck wood from lit briquets falling through the chimney and almost setting the deck on fire. Don't ask... :)
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Takes about 5 minutes of propane to get the briquets blazing
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This is 12 minutes after lighting, 7 minutes after turning the gas off.
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I'm always on the lookout for clean, fast, efficient ways to light charcoal. How do you light yours?
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
I use the chimney or a weed burner. I move around a lot and so I usually use the paper or part of the charcoal bag
 

jimsbarbecue

Moderator
Staff member
I use a oversize outdoor burner, not as big as a turkey burner and it works well. I do us the weber starter cube also. Just put it in the drum charcoal basket, cover as much of the cube without overdoing it. This is a slow way to start, but if I am looking for a low temp and running the Stoker it works fine. I also use the Loft Lighter at times for the start up.Normally when going for higher temps as it starts the pile from top to about 3 layers down. And Last the Snow Peak torch.
 

Greatscott!

New member
I really like the Rutland Safe Light fire starters. They're fiberous squares that come in sheets and break apart for use. They light similarly to the Weber starter cubes, but cheaper. They leave behind a tiny little compact nugget of ash and are water resistant, so they still work great even if you keep them outside. Each square is maybe an inch and a half square. I usually push one corner in between two bars on the charcoal grate of a grill so it's standing upright in a diamond shape and set the chimney on top. Never had one fail to light a chimney. Very cheap at Ace Hardware, among other places.
 

Nafle

New member
I use something similar to what Greatscott uses. leaves no taste or smell. but I stack two or three on top of each other. But still cheaper than Weber cubes. I think I pay 6 dollars for 72 peaces (Y)
 
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