I don't use lighter fluid. That being said, the only reason people may taste it in the food is if the coals were not properly lit before cooking. The coals should be ashed over, no more flame and about completely gray before cooking on them. Lighter fluid will burn off well before then.

I now only use a BGE. When it's hard starting because the lump charcoal is in small pieces, or has absorbed moisture from the humid air, I get it going a little, then break out the leaf blower through the draft hole. Instant blast furnace. It's a bit loud and messy, but it never fails, and get's lots of hot right now.

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Originally posted by Flash-LB:

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Originally posted by PASig:

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Originally posted by maxxpower:


douse with lighter fluid and light

Me too. I've gone to peoples houses and eaten their barbecue and can always tell when lighter fluid was involved.

Use paper and a chimney or an electric lighting device.

Meeco's firelighting squares for me. Compressed wood squares. Easy peasy.

i cant use it charcoal gives me wicked heartburn, i only cook over hard wood now.

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Originally posted by PASig:

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Originally posted by ArtieS:
Best of both worlds is the Weber Performer.

Has a 5 lb. bottle of propane attached to a burner that starts your charcoal, has a stainless "shaker" basket underneath to clean out used coals.

These things are the bomb. All the flavor of charcoal, with most of the convenience of gas, with the quality of a Weber. Pretty good option.

https://www.weber.com/US/en/gr...ill-22/15501001.html

This is what I have and used for this, the propane assist lighter is great, I liken it to built-in blowtorch, which is what I USED to use.

I put a couple chunks of old lump in my large Weber chimney and got them going nice and hot, then dumped that out onto the charcoal grate and poured in about a 1/3 of a bag of Kingsford Competition briquettes on top of that and arranged all the briquettes into a pile with the lit lump underneath. That took much longer than I had planned to get to the hot white ashed over stage which is why I think I can't do this much anymore for anything other than special occasions or parties.

While here is your problem. Use the chimney next time if your in a hurry. Fill it to the top and make sure coals are > 50% white.

I have 2 Weber Performers, I load up my chimney and stack an empty chimney on top to help it draw faster. Typically 10 minutes and it's screaming hot, dump into the baskets and grill. I gave up propane entirely about 3 years ago and don't miss it.

My wife does several things on our gas grill, I do franks and burgers on the Weber Kettle. I have the chimney and use the Weber Starter Cubes, works great. For a while Weber had charcoal and it was amazing, burned very hot!! It takes 20 minutes from match to ready.

I'm using Kingsford Briquettes, should I be using lump charcoal? I do soak Mesquite chips and add to the fire before putting the burgers on.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
Best of both worlds is the Weber Performer.

Has a 5 lb. bottle of propane attached to a burner that starts your charcoal, has a stainless "shaker" basket underneath to clean out used coals.

These things are the bomb. All the flavor of charcoal, with most of the convenience of gas, with the quality of a Weber. Pretty good option.

https://www.weber.com/US/en/gr...ill-22/15501001.html

I also have the Performer and you are right about it being the best of both worlds. I can get to cooking in 15-20 minutes max with Kingsford blue and a little longer with lump coal. I haven't used lighter fluid in 30 or more years and never will again.

Jim

I haven't used charcoal in years but when I did, used an electric device that got hot and a hair dryer. I'd leave the briquets on the device for 15 minutes or so then use the hair dryer to get air moving. That got everything moving along quickly.

Same technique might work with a chimney

Pile up charcoal like a pyramid, douse with lighter fluid, light and then have a beer. Spread out charcoal, throw on hamburgers, hot dogs, steak, or corn on the cob wrapped in foil, cook as desired, eat. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

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Originally posted by UTsig:

I'm using Kingsford Briquettes, should I be using lump charcoal? I do soak Mesquite chips and add to the fire before putting the burgers on.

You can use either. Lump will burn hotter and I've used it to get my kettle up to 600°+ for quick sears or cooking thin cuts.
I'll use Kingsford for that too but mainly for low and slow smoking. Add chunk wood and I'm good to go.

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Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
Pile up charcoal like a pyramid, douse with lighter fluid, light and then have a beer. Spread out charcoal, throw on hamburgers, hot dogs, steak, or corn on the cob wrapped in foil, cook as desired, eat. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Just one thing.

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Originally posted by maxxpower:
I primarily use my gas or pellet grill but still keep the Weber kettle grill around because I love the flavor of charcoal.

2 things make cooking on the Weber easy:

1. Ditch the chimneys and electric lighter crap. Dump charcoal into grill, stack it for direct or indirect, douse with lighter fluid and light. I have a huge pile of charcoal ready to cook on in 25 minutes or less.

2. Use the indirect cooking method for things like chicken, make two piles of coal on the outside edges of the grill and cook in the middle. If you want the sear and grill marks on the chicken, throw it over the coals when it's near temp.

Once I started using indirect I loved cooking on charcoal. The only things I do direct on charcoal are burgers and steaks.

.

I did the opposite,

I ditched the fluid for the chimney,



dumped the gas grill many many years ago,


I fill the chimney, shove some newspaper etc under it, lite, and go in the house and start the food prep,


by the time I have prepped whatever meat, sides, veggies, etc the chimney has done it's thing,

dump in grill, primarily on one side , give it a second or 20 and put the food on the grill,

typically we do 3-4 items, and I'll rotate what goes over directly and for how long,

I did screw up a few days ago and overcooked my burgers,, my fault for not paying attention,,


I have found that briquets vary by maker, as far as smoke and heat,

Kingsford is good, Kroger or Foodlion brand tend to be a bit more smoke,

when I can find it, I prefer natural, however you have to be careful, it tends to burn hotter,


with the chimney/charcoal, no fuel smells, no tank running out of gas etc etc

I have two Webers, one gas for that quick meal I want to make on a weeknight work day, and the kettle for days that I have more time and want to cock around with fire. This arrangement works really well for me.

As others have stated, make sure you have your lit coals on one side of the grill so you can go from direct to indirect heat as required. My charcoal grill has a propane powered ignitor, so that is what I use to light the charcoal. You really can't beat the flavor of charcoal.

I put the briquettes in the chimney, and hold the chimney out and use a propane torch to light it from underneath. Takes about 20-30 seconds to get the entire bottom layer of briquettes glowing and burning on its own. Lighting with the torch probably shaves 5 minutes off of the startup time, and I don't get paper ash in my charcoal.

I see no advantage over a propane grill, as a propane grill also takes 10-15 minutes to get to temp.

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Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I see no advantage over a propane grill, as a propane grill also takes 10-15 minutes to get to temp.

I see you haven't used one very much. I use a propane grill a couple of times a week and get 400 degrees Fahrenheit in around 3 to 5 minutes tops. Just light up all 3 burners on high and you're there.

I use a chimney with weber wax cubes to start B&B lump on my weber smokey mountain. I can maintain 8 hours 250-275 for long cooks without adding any more lump. For quick cooks I use my Summit 670 which has a removable smoker box the width of the grill. I cut chunks of wood with a hatchet and fill. Get good smoke for about an hour.

A friend of mine loves this
https://bbqdragon.com/product/...ty-charcoal-chimney/