Posted: 4/7/2005 10:57:50 AM EDT
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Last weekend I fired up the grill for the first time this season, grilled some nice T-Bones and baked potato's. Anyway, over the winter I had some taste changes and I really became aware of the taste of the lighter fluid I was using (Kingsford). I was at the store today and found a Chimney Charcoal Starter. It looks something like this.  I was wondering how they work, if they work well and if the food tastes any different. The concept of it seems simple enough. Place some paper in the bottom, charcoal on top and light the paper. Hell, even I can do that. Also if anyone has some tricks on using it I would be most thankful. |
+1. I have used one for years. They work as advertised. Since the metal in them is kind of thin, they don't last forever. But then again, they're pretty cheap too. I usually get 2-3 seasons out of mine and leave it out in the weather. |
| Another happy customer. Fastest method to light a mess of briquettes too. Once the paper burns, continue to add cold briquettes on the top. Its also great if you are doing a roast/brisket and need more fire after hours of cooking because you can start fresh briquettes outside of the pit, keeping the nasty smoke away from the meat. |
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One tip: Sprinkle or spray a very small amount of cooking oil onto the newspaper before you crumple it up. It'll basically turn it into a wick. It'l burn longer, and you'll have sure-fire ignition every time. And don't put it on a wooden surface or anything that can conduct to a wooden surface. That thing will get HOT! |
+1 Find the right amount of paper. Too much and they don't work well. Too little and they don't stay hot enough long enough. Use regular pages, the highly printed color pages (comics, etc) leave too much ash. |
+1 on the cooking oil, the only problem I've found is trying to keep the paper burning, especially comics and/or want ads. 
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