Grilling Basics: Lighting Your Charcoal Grill

Believe it or not, there are actually numerous ways to light the charcoal when you are ready to grill. Many novices, however, tend to have problems at times. First, you need to mound your briquettes on the grate. A good rule of thumb is to use about 30 briquettes for each pound of meat to be cooked. Then you light them, leave the lid off, and wait about 20-30 minutes until the coals turn ashy gray. Seems easy enough; however, frequently newbies seem to have trouble getting the coals to ignite. Following are a few methods that you might consider to make grilling easier.

Chimney Starters
This is by far mine and my husband's favorite way to light charcoals. It is a large cylindrical pipe with vent holes in the bottom and a grate near the middle of the tube. Fill the upper part with charcoal and also wood chips if you like. Place the chimney on your grill grate and fill the bottom of the chimney with paper. Light the paper. Once the coals are ready, just dump them onto the grate. Chimney starters produce viable coals quicker than most other methods. In addition, you do not have to worry about any taste that is sometimes left and transferred to you food by fire starters. There is also not a chance of a flame flashing into you face that can happen at times with other fire starters. Be sure to look for a heavy-duty chimney. We have found that the cheaper, flimsier ones just do not last as long.

Instant-Lighting Briquettes
These types of briquettes are saturated with a petroleum product. All you have to do is dump them onto the grate and light. They are supposed to produce viable coals within 20 minutes. Personally, I have had mixed results with these. Usually, we have had to go back and relight them a few times. They will do in a pinch, though.

Liquid Fire Starters
We have all seen these cans of fluid placed on shelves conveniently near the bags of charcoal briquettes. You grab one, take it home, and liberally douse your coals with it before lighting. Sometimes I think people are taking their lives into their own hands as they try to stand back to avoid the flames that will jump up when a match is tossed on the coals. I have also known people, who use just too much of the fluid and the taste is transferred to the food. This method does seem to be awfully popular, though. Keep in mind, however, that you are also putting pollutants into the air -- and onto your food.

Gels and Paraffin Fire Starters
For more environmentally-friendly methods of igniting your charcoals, you might want to try either a gel or paraffin. Gels are alcohol-based. Just drop some on your coals and light to create a low flame. Within just a few seconds, the gel will be gone, leaving no odor. Paraffin fire starters are smokeless and nontoxic. Just place a couple of pieces under the coals and light. They light quite easily and burn for up to about 12 minutes, which is plenty of time to get your coals going.

Happy grilling!

References:

Fuller, Kristi M. The New Grilling Book. Des Moines, IA: Meredith Books, 2000.