Which type of charcoal?

[skilletlicker]

chunk charcoal with a chimney in my Weber...does me right for grilling and hot smokin' ... and my barrel barbeque for low and slow. Yes you need both! Aren't we all obsessive cooks?? lol

Robo summed it up pretty well for me.

In my neck of the woods, I hear (but don't participate in) arguments about the best land for deer cabins and que fuel harvest. I think the rule is you have to be native born (meaning within the county) to engage in these discussions.

 

[sattie]

I did not realize that is what the chimney did.... ok, gonna have to try this because I am a Kingsford charcoal lighter fluid gal! Thanks for the info!!!!

So the chimney... just put some wadded np in the bottom, pile the charcoals on top and light? When the coals are ready, remove the chimney and wha-la?

 

[sattie]

Ignore my last post, I read page 2 of this thread and got all the info I need..... I am off to get a chimeny.... chminey... cheminey... what ever the heck you call it!!!

 

[MJ]

chunk charcoal with a chimney in my Weber...

Same here.

 

[sattie]

Same here.

I will be able to say the same thing soon!!! Love my Weber!!!

 

[buckytom]

a little warning for any new chimney users. (i'm a chimney/lump/weber guy as well, but will use regular kingsford if lup isn't available)

chimneys will smoke a lot for the first several minutes, after you light the newspaper. and i mean A LOT. it can be a little disconcerting at first, making you think it's not burning, just smoldering. but don't get discouraged. it is working, getting the lowest pieces lit, which will spread upward.

lighter fluid is fun, and trims your bangs, eyebrows, and nose hair for free, but the flavor never goes away, and you'll taste it in your food.

 

[KellyM]

Charcoal with lighter fluid or match light? I only ask because we tried both with different results.

I'm not sure what people mean by "lump" charcoal, but if they mean real wood charcoal as opposed to briquettes, I'm with 'em. Briquettes have a lot of fillers to make the actual charcoal stick together, while real wood charcoal is just wood that has been heated to the burning point and denied the oxygen that would let it actually combust. Therefore, when you cook with it, you get the flavor of the wood, not the fillers. (And with cheap briquettes, some of those fillers can be pretty nasty.)

To light either, a chimney starter is the way to go, if you are cooking on a regular BBQ and don't have a gas burner to get it going. Put the charcoal in the top, then take some newspaper, put some cooking oil on it, scrunch it up, put it in the base of your chimney starter, and light it. By itself, the newspaper burns up rather quickly, but with the cooking oil it acts more like the wick in a lantern. The fuel burns long before the wick does.

Another major advantage of the chimney starter is if you are cooking something that is going to require a refill of coals, like a turkey, you can get your coals ready to cook in the chimney, and just pour them in ready to go when you need them.

 

[KellyM]

a little warning for any new chimney users. (i'm a chimney/lump/weber guy as well, but will use regular kingsford if lup isn't available)

chimneys will smoke a lot for the first several minutes, after you light the newspaper. and i mean A LOT. it can be a little disconcerting at first, making you think it's not burning, just smoldering. but don't get discouraged. it is working, getting the lowest pieces lit, which will spread upward.

lighter fluid is fun, and trims your bangs, eyebrows, and nose hair for free, but the flavor never goes away, and you'll taste it in your food.

Bucky,

I find that by putting cooking oil on the newspaper, the smoking is minimized.

I agree, lighter fluid is evil!

Kelly

 

[Lizannd]

You can make a chimney instead of buying. I made

mine out of a large coffee can. I cut off the top and bottom, and with a key type can opener put holes all around the bottom. You can also make a really large one with a potato chip can.

 

[KellyM]

mine out of a large coffee can. I cut off the top and bottom, and with a key type can opener put holes all around the bottom. You can also make a really large one with a potato chip can.

I don't think I've ever seen a potato-chip can, aside from the cardboard "Pringles" variety. I'm not being a smart-aleck here. Is this a regional thing? I'm really curious.

Kelly

 

[buckytom]

thanks for the tip kelly, will try it.

and thanks also lizaand. i've never seen cans that big (giggle, man, i'm immature ) for chips, but i have seen other canned food products like tomatoes that would work. you may need to use a pair of cans to be able to satisfy your grill.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

There's nothing quite like listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn doing "Voodo Child" while responding to posts.

Another great starte that requires vertually no equipment is to take a coffe or juice can, cut it in half, and stuff it with corrugated cardboard and a candle whick. You just jelly-roll the cardboard as tight as possible and stuff the circle into the can. Next, melt some paraffin and pur it into the can. It will soak into the cardboard and provid lots of fuel to start the charcoal either in the grill, or in the chimney. And it can be reused many times. This also creates an emergency fuel for disaster preparedness kits. You can also use it in place of Sterno for a pan warmer, or to cook over.

My wife taught me this neat little device.

If using under the charcoal grill, make sure you have a way for extracting the fuel can from under the hot charcoal if you plan on re-using it.

Another absolutely phenominal fire starter is wax covered paper cups. Just rinse out the paper cups after they are used, and stack them together. Save them up. When lightling the charcoal, place the cups under the fire grate and light them. The was causes them to burn completely and for a good amount of time, sufficient to completely light the charcoal. And you don't have to worry about removing the homemade fuel canister.

This of course is for crazy do-it-yourselfers like me.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[buckytom]

Another great starte that requires vertually no equipment is to take a coffe or juice can, cut it in half, and stuff it with corrugated cardboard and a candle whick. You just jelly-roll the cardboard as tight as possible and stuff the circle into the can. Next, melt some paraffin and pur it into the can. It will soak into the cardboard and provid lots of fuel to start the charcoal either in the grill, or in the chimney. And it can be reused many times. This also creates an emergency fuel for disaster preparedness kits. You can also use it in place of Sterno for a pan warmer, or to cook over.

My wife taught me this neat little device.

hmmm, i wonder goodweed. did you first discover these strategically placed under your "6" when there's work to be done?
women are good for that, ya know.

 

[sattie]

Ok, I got me one of those chimney things and it worked great. I will never use lighter fluid again. The food did taste different, almost purer. It did smoke to high heavens, but I like the fact that the flames were much more contained than just lighting them up in the grill. Great idea, great thread, I learned something new and useful!

 

[hdianesu]

I like using the new Kingsford charcole with the mesquite pieces in the briquettes.

 

[Gretchen]

Natural hardwood charcoal and a chimney starter. No lighter fluid.

 

[thymeless]

Another chimney tip

Use a piece or two of fatwood instead of newspaper. Costs more. But it works every time. I sometimes have to load the chimney with newspaper twice because of wind, or bad crinkling of the paper. But fatwood just lights up and burns. Puts out dark smoke to start, but that dissipates quickly.

Fatwood can be purchased at most any hardware store, Walmart, Homedepot and so on. This link gives a good description, but it's not a consumer sales point.

http://www.fatwood.com/

thymeless

 

[buckytom]

that's interesting thymeless.

is there any residual pine taste from the sticks? i'd think there would be since you're burning off pitch.

 

[Andy M.]

that's interesting thymeless.

is there any residual pine taste from the sticks? i'd think there would be since you're burning off pitch.

Good point, bucky. I've always seem fatwood being sold for strating fires in fireplaces or wood stoves, never for cooking fires.

 

[Gretchen]

Good point, bucky. I've always seem fatwood being sold for strating fires in fireplaces or wood stoves, never for cooking fires.

I don't think there would be because it is not in with the charcoal. But I don't think it is at all necessary either. I have had to stick another wadded up newspaper underneath from time to time.