Nothing can ever beat the feeling when you grill your food, and as any grilling expert will tell you, the best smoky flavor comes only from a charcoal grill. However, starting a charcoal grill can be a long and complicated process that can only be made easier with a charcoal chimney Trusted Source Chimney starter - Wikipedia A chimney starter or charcoal chimney is a device for igniting charcoal lumps or briquettes. It consists of a metal tube with a grate to hold charcoal. A lighting cone is a similar, conical, device placed over an existing grate. The tube is typically cylindrical, but may also have other cross-sections. en.wikipedia.org . Using a charcoal chimney may seem intimidating at first, but with this guide, you will soon learn how to use a charcoal chimney.
Once you master the art of using a charcoal chimney, then you will be able to fire up your favorite charcoal grill and have a cookout of a lifetime. Your summer days will definitely be made with numerous barbeque and grilling events.
When it comes to using a charcoal chimney, you always have to be careful and take as many safety precautions as you can.
Charcoal chimneys are absolutely essential for grilling and barbequing as they make the lighting process so much easier. However, there are numerous ways to start a charcoal chimney, so even if you can’t master one, you can easily use some other method. Here are some of the methods that can help you use and start a charcoal chimney.
Lighter cubes are odorless, non-toxic fuel cubes that can light up very easily. In order to use them, you will first need to take out the cooking grate from your grill. Place lighter cubes on the grill and light them up. Then, you make use of a charcoal starter. We recommend the Weber Rapidfire Chimney Starter. You would need to fill up your chimney starter all the way to the top with charcoal. Set up the chimney starter on top of the lighter cubes. The lit-up cubes will help light up the charcoal on fire.
Since the charcoal is in a chimney, the flame will grow upwards, and eventually, all charcoal will catch fire. Depending on the weather conditions, this process will take between 10 to 15 mins. During this time, ensure that you are taking all safety precautions. Once the coals have been heated up, you carefully pour them onto the charcoal grate and arrange them accordingly. Once this has been done, you can start grilling up your food and enjoy your meal. In the meantime, also ensure that you place your charcoal chimney somewhere safe.
The great thing about lighter cubes is that they will light up even when wet. They are an ideal companion for any charcoal grill as they light up very fast and are smokeless as well.
If you are unable to buy lighter cubes because you are too far away from the stores, then you can even use an everyday item such as newspaper to light up your grill. First, ensure that you have the best portable charcoal grill that can be used anywhere easily. Once you do that, get a charcoal chimney and flip it over. Scrunch up some newspaper and push it into the bottom of the chimney. Then, you fill up your charcoal starter with charcoal. Once you have prepared the starter and positioned it over the grill, you can set the newspaper inside on fire.
Since it is made up of paper, newspaper lights up very easily and quickly. This helps surround the charcoal with fire. Once your charcoal has turned into a white ash color, you know that it has been lit up. Using fire-resistant gloves, dump the charcoal on the grill and arrange them accordingly. Once this is done, you are ready to cook.
The great thing about using a newspaper is that you don’t only get to build up a fire quickly, but you also don’t have to use extra chemicals while lighting it up.
Another way that you can help burn your charcoal quicker is to use vegetable oil along with a newspaper. For this purpose, you use the same method as mentioned above. However, this time you spray your newspaper and chimney with some vegetable oil. The oil ensures that the newspaper lasts longer, and you won’t have to keep lighting it up. The newspaper does not burn away until all of the oil burns, which can take some time. During this time, your charcoal can light up pretty evenly in your charcoal chimney.
After you are done grilling, you will see that you have some leftover charcoal. That leftover charcoal does not have to go to waste as you can save it and use it in a charcoal chimney the next time you want to fire up your grill.
In order to use leftover charcoal, you need to first make sure that you have removed as much of the ashes as you can. Once you do that, you put fresh charcoal in the charcoal chimney. However, do not fill the chimney completely up with new charcoal. Instead, top it off with the leftover charcoal that you had saved up earlier. This helps increase the airflow as old charcoal can be packed up closely. This helps the fresh charcoal catch fire easily. Once you do that, you can light up the charcoal and release it into the grill as soon as it starts turning ashy white.
You do not have to limit yourself to the methods listed above. You can also use the following alternatives to use a charcoal chimney:
Once you have learned and figured out at least one way of using a charcoal chimney, you will be able to light up your charcoal with ease. As soon as your charcoal light up and starts changing color, you know that they are ready to use. Taking all the necessary precautions, you dump the charcoal onto the grill. After that, arrange the charcoal accordingly and start grilling up your food.
Although it may seem intimidating and dangerous at first, charcoal chimneys are pretty easy to use once you figure out how to use a charcoal chimney. Charcoal chimneys will reduce the time it takes to fire up your grill as they will help you light up your charcoal in a short amount of time. There are numerous ways to use a chimney starter, so even if one method fails, you can always use another one.
