When I first started on my
journey to making exceptional BBQ, one of the first BBQ grilling accessories that I bought was a simple charcoal chimney starter. I was using a drafty, cheap offset smoker and
didn’t yet know a lot about BBQ but I knew enough that I wasn’t going to put
lighter fluid into my smoker.
I have learned a ton about BBQ
since then. I’ve learned new techniques, how to perfect my craft, and cook on
much nicer equipment now. But to this
day, when I use charcoal grills like my Kettleman,
Performance
Charcoal Grill 780, or our competition trailer pit, I still use a chimney
charcoal starter to get my coals fired up.
I like the chimney starters because they don’t impart any off flavors to
my fuel, they are fast, and they give me a quick way to estimate quantity of
fuel.
The only difference these days is
that I use a better designed chimney that starts faster – The Char-Broil Half TimeCharcoal Chimney Starter . The original chimneys were just big cans with
holes cut in the bottom. The Char-Broil
Half Time Chimney Starter
is designed to optimize air flow and get your coals started much faster than
the original ones did.
Here’s how I use mine:
What to use for starter fuel
The typical fuel that goes in the
bottom section of the chimney starter is leftover newspaper. But you can also use a paraffin wax starter
cube under the chimney. Lots of people
just tear off pieces of the charcoal bag as starter fuel. If using newspaper, you’ll need about 4
sheets of it – start with two sheets and then add two more about 2-3 minutes
after the first batch.
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| Don’t just crumple up the paper and jam it in there. That will work but it has unpredictable airflow and can make it take longer. |
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| Instead, take 2 sheets and staring in one corner, roll towards the other corner to form a tube. |
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| Then roll that up like a doughnut like this. Doing it like this will provide better airflow and quicker starts. |
What to use for cooking fuel
Most folks use charcoal
briquettes but you can also use your Char-Broil Half Time Chimney Starter for
lump coal, wood, or a mixture of lump and wood.
If using wood with briquettes, I prefer to get the coals started and in
the grill before adding wood.
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| A fully loaded Half Time Chimney Starter will have about 60-70 briquettes so you can use the chimney to estimate your quantities of cooking fuel. This would be about 40 or so briquettes. |
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| When using lump coal or lump and wood mixed, I overfill it slightly because the lump will break down and reduce in volume while starting. |
How to light the Char-Broil Half Time Chimney Starter
You can use just about anything
to light the fuel – matches, wand style lighters, or even a torch. One of the design features that I LOVE about
the Half Time Chimney Starter is that it has 3 access ports at the bottom that
accommodate most wand lighters and even my torch. For the previous brand that I had you had to
lift the chimney up to light it and sometimes that lets the newspaper spring
out.
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| It is small design features like the access ports and plentiful venting that make the Half Time Chimney Starter the easiest, fastest, and cleanest way to start your fire. |
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| It should take about 8-12 minutes to get your coals hot and ready, depending on weather conditions, fuel used, and quantity of coal. |
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| Your coals are ready when they are ashed over and glowing. Wearing heat resistant gloves, carefully pour the hot coals into your grill’s charcoal tray and you’ll be ready to grill in minutes. |
So up your grilling game this
Summer with new grilling
accessories and
make the switch to the Half Time Chimney Starter.
[Standard FTC Disclaimer] I received compensation for this post as part of a sponsorship from Char-Broil.
