There are many ways to light your briquettes or charcoal.
The absolute best way is to use a chimney starter.
There are several different versions on the market, and most of them work perfectly well.
The chimney starter consists of a steel cylinder with a handle and a grate inside.
Do this when you’re lighting your briquettes.
Make sure you have a fireproof surface.
The easiest way is to take the cooking grate off your grill and light it there, but it also works fine if you have, for example, a stone patio.
Place 3 paraffin cubes (firelighters) on the grate.
Set the chimney starter on top.
Fill with the amount of briquettes you want.
Light the paraffin cubes through the holes in the chimney starter.
After about 10 minutes the charcoal has started to burn.
It takes another 25–35 minutes or so before the charcoal or briquettes are ready to use.
It also works to put newspaper under the chimney starter, just keep in mind that it smokes a lot more and gives more flying ash.
When the bottom briquettes start to burn, the heat travels upward and ignites the unlit briquettes.
When the top layer is covered with a fine layer of ash, the briquettes are ready to use.
Carefully pour the briquettes onto the charcoal grate.
Keep in mind that it usually throws off a lot of sparks when you pour, so make sure there is nothing and nobody around you.
If you happen to have a gas grill with a side burner, it works perfectly for lighting your chimney starter.
Just fill it with briquettes, turn on the side burner and put the chimney starter there for about 10 minutes, and then the rest takes care of itself.
It also works to put a few firelighter cubes directly on the grate and build a pile of unlit briquettes around them.
Light the paraffin cubes. When the briquettes in the middle are burning, add more unlit briquettes using tongs.
Another good product is an electric starter.
It is both effective and environmentally friendly. The downside is that you need access to electricity where you are.
Place the electric starter on the charcoal grate, add briquettes and start the starter.
When the top briquettes are covered with a layer of fine gray ash, the grill is ready to use.
The last and by far the worst way to light briquettes or charcoal is lighter fluid.
This is not something we at BBQLovers recommend, other than as a last resort.
Lighter fluid is not environmentally friendly and gives off a lot of smoke and odor that can make your meat taste bad.
Soak the charcoal or briquettes in lighter fluid.
Let it sit for about 10 minutes, then light it and wait until the flames have died down.
Sometimes it isn’t possible to use lighter fluid to get briquettes going.
For example, Weber’s coconut briquettes are too compact for it to work.
As said, only use this option in an emergency.
