Why Use a Chimney Starter?

by Jeff Jones

I will take a moment and confess something to you all.  This next tip I didn't even know about until about 5 years ago.  I'd never seen anyone of my family and friends use this until I got married and saw my brother using it.  It didn't take long to sell me on this little piece of ingenuity. 

 I know what you're thinking - get on with it already, so I will.

Lighter Fluid

This curious item is a chimney starter.  As simple as it looks it solves several problems we charcoal grill fanatics face.

For one, you will no longer need lighter fluid. You heard me right - no more lighter fluid!

To use this little gem, you simple perform the following steps:

1.  Turn the starter upside down so the shallow compartment is on top.   

2.  Stuff newspaper into the shallow end until it's tightly  compacted.

3.  Flip the unit upside right and fill the deeper compartment with your charcoal of choice.

4.  Lift up by the handle and light the paper on the bottom on fire.

5.  Set it back down and let it burn until the coals are white.

6.  While wearing your Grill mitt, grab the handle and poor the white coals into the bottom of you kettle grill.

7.  Add your grill grate. Let it warm up and start cooking!

Alright, I know some of you pyromaniacs out there like the smell (and taste) of lighter fluid and singeing the hair off your forearms, so using a starter doesn't sound so great, but there are other benefits to consider as well.

Flames

Flames just aren't bad while you are cooking, they are actually bad before you cook as well. Let me explain.

When you stack you charcoal in your kettle grill, dowse with fluid, then light it up - what happens? Huge, tall flames, right!

These flames lick the sides of your grill and the lids if you have hinged tops that don't come off. The flames can cause your paint to blister and pop off. These spots will lead to rust over time and shorten the life of your grill.

By starting your fire outside your grill, you can save wear and tear on your favorite charcoal pit and extend the life of your precious charcoal grill.

Indirect Heating

One of the best benefits of having a chimney starter around is for indirect grilling. If you are unfamiliar with this process, go to my indirect grilling page and read more.

We've all heard that slow cooking our meat is best for tender smokey flavorful food.  This is a lot of work when using a charcoal grill.  You'd have to light your fire then spread the charcoal around the perimeter of your grill before replacing the grill and setting your meat in the center. Not so bad, until your charcoal needs replaced. 

You'd have remove your meat, then your grill grate, add more charcoal, relight if needed and wait 15 minutes for the fire to be even, then respread the charcoals, replace your grill grate and lastly your meat.

I barely wanted to type that all out, let alone do it for real!

With a chimney starter, you can have hot coals at the ready as soon as you need to recharge your grill. Simply lift the grate, dump and spread the coals and you are ready to keep cooking!

From smoked potatoes to beer can chicken, I've come to love indirect cooking and my chimney starter has made is sooo much easier.