Charcoal Starter - Chimney Offers Smart Choice to Starting your Fire!

One of the cleanest/safest ways to start your charcoal barbeque grill is to use normal briquettes and a charcoal starter. Designed to light the coals beforehand in a small hand held chimney tube, coal starters are the first step to starting your fire. With one you won't need to rely on toxic lighter fluids or instant light briquettes. If you are price conscious, normal coal briquettes are cheaper than the instant lighting ones.

No more lighter fluids

To get started, place dry newspaper in the chimney starter's bottom and add charcoal ontop; don't overstuff the newpaper because it will make it more difficult for the fire burn properly. If there's not enough paper, repeat the process: the idea is to get a fire started in the bottom of the chimney and have the heat of the started charcoal help start the rest of the charcoal.

When the coal is first lit, the fire starter will produce a small amount of white smoke, coming out of the top of the charcoal. After a couple of minutes this smoke will increase. Most of this smoke is caused by briquettes that are not completely started. As more of the charcoal is lit and reaches higher temperatures, the smoke will taper off and stop. This does not mean that the fire has gone out. The fire is just starting to burn efficiently.

If you are looking to buy a charcoal fire starter for your grill, expect to spend around $20 or so. You can shop online at the many barbeque stores or locally at an Ace Hardware Store. Another option is to make one yourself using a large coffee can.

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