Chimney starters are cheap, and most hardware stores should have them. And most places that sell grills/BBQs
How does anything stay in the can if he removes both the top and the bottom?
The can/chimney sets on the grating at the bottom of the grill. Fill, light, remove. A chimney starter lets you do that away from the grill, but it’s the same thing.
The problem the OP is running into is that they have a hibachi, and most stuff is designed for full sized grills. No biggie, but you do have to modify procedures some.
Put the can in the grill, put in crumpled paper, put the coals on top, light the paper through the church key holes in the bottom.
Ninja’d by silenus.
Also, look up techniques on “dry brining.” I prefer them for most things to wet brine methods. (Like for boneless chicken breast or pork loin.) That is, if I brine at all. You have to look at the packaging of what you’re buying, as often stuff like Hormel pork products and Purdue chicken products already come, essentially, pre-brined with the liquid broth and whatever else that is injected into them. There’s no need to double brine. I personally never brine dark meat, either, unless I’m doing the whole bird, as I prefer the unbrined texture there. Chicken breast, I actually do like brined, as there’s a fairly narrow window of where chicken breast is cooked exactly right, and where it starts to become mealy that the brine protects against.
You’re the first person I’ve seen to say this. But the one time i brined, i hated the texture. Especially the texture of the skin, which came out rubbery instead of crispy.
I’m a little surprised as I know a few people who are selective about what they brine for that reason. First, like I said, much of pre-packaged grocery-bought meat needs no brining to begin with. If you’ve ever bought, say, Hormel “Always Tender” pork products, they’re already brined. This is why I avoid buying their ribs except in emergencies, as I do not like brined ribs. The texture is all wrong. If you like mushy ribs and if “fall off the bone” is your idea of perfection (and, for many, that is a desirable trait), go for it. Me? I’m likely to barbecue or grill up something else. You don’t need to brine most prepackaged turkeys as they are pumped full of solution, which contains plenty of salt and essentially acts like a brine (and adds weight to the product.)
With chicken skin, there is a bit of an art in crisping it properly. Make sure it’s patted down as dry as possible before grilling. You can even air dry in the fridge overnight. And then you need moderate to moderate-high heat to get the fat to render and the skin to crisp up (I like starting cooking pieces skin side up). If you’re barbecuing (as opposed to grilling, meaning lower temperatures like 225-275), it is pretty much impossible to get that skin crispy without then throwing it on a medium-hot grill (425+) to finish. I suppose you might have luck with a torch but, with all the goodies I have collected over the years, I’ve never gotten around to a culinary torch, so I can’t speak from direct experience there.
At any rate, the only cuts I sometimes brine are boneless skinless chicken breasts and pork loin (not tenderloin.)
Nope. I’ve bought butterball turkeys in years past, which come brined, but i think that’s it.
And for the past few years I’ve been mostly buying locally pastured meat, which comes minimally processed. (Although the sources are getting more into “added value” marketing. But i still mostly buy whole birds, and unprocessed chuncks-o-mammal. Mostly beef and lamb)
@puzzlegal - using a brine, like a lot of cooking. is a technique - although some people online do treat it as a fix-all. I use it in specific applications, and the grill (or other faster cooking, dry heat) is one of them, more for the insurance on excessive dryness and as a technique to add flavor when I don’t want to put a dry rub / wet sauce which is going to burn.
I’ve had poor results when I’ve over-brined or didn’t do a good dry prior to the actual cooking, so I tried to be specific there. And this is why I believe @pulykamell was so careful in checking the ‘meat in a bag’ products you see in the store, where the saline solution (brine by any other name) has been applied. And if you’re adding a dry rub as well, as @solost was contemplating, the majority of the premade ones are full of salt as well, so you can have a triple salted chop! [ yes I know, there is a saturation point, but no one would want to eat anything at that point ]
Brines are a tool - just one I felt would be extra helpful for an early griller as insurance, and especially on a small grill with minimal area to do careful zone based heat. And it’s most useful for really lean cuts of meat that are then grilled - chicken breasts, chops from the loin, and certain less fatty fishes (although fish doesn’t need much, just a very short brine at most).
I definitely agree there. One of the first things a new-time griller likes to make is grilled chicken breasts, and that’s a perfect place to try out brining.
Actually, here’s a thorough link on chicken breasts for the OP, much more in-depth and detailed that I could be (or have the energy to be right now), with tips on brining and temp and all that:
Other than BBQ also being a collective noun, I agree.
I’ve always known the word “barbecue” to be a noun as well as a verb, referring to the entire device upon which outdoor coal-cooked foodstuffs are cooked.
Yes, as noted several times: Be sure the coals are “ready”. Let them burn until they are covered with a layer of ash. Then use some kind of poker to knock the ashes off.
If you use lighter fluid, presumably it will all be burned off by that time.
IMPORTANT SAFETY RULE: If you use lighter fluid, and you find that you need to add more once the coals have been lit, never NEVER NEVER squirt more fluid directly from the can onto the fire! ! ! ! ! !
The flame can go up the stream of lighter fluid into the can, which then becomes a bomb. This is not hypothetical. When I was young, we had a family friend had this happen – the whole side of her body became part of the BBQ.
If you need to add more lighter fluid, squirt some into a little cup (like the measuring lid of a detergent bottle) and then toss it onto the fire all at once.
Use a long pole, and extra oxygen:
That’s all I’ve ever used for a chimney starter and they’re getting damn hard to find.
I started with Tony Chachere’s Cajun Seasoning as a dry rub base, and even after adding paprika, granulated garlic, black pepper, cayenne, and some other stuff, it still tasted very salty to me. There’s a ‘no-salt’ version of it-- next time I’m getting that so I can control the saltiness.
So I was pretty light on adding the dry rub to my pickle-juice brined chicken. The chicken wasn’t too salty, and I can confirm that saving pickle juice and using it as an easy, tasty brine for chicken breasts is a winner. The chicken was juicy and delicious! 
Awesome! I knew you were being careful with your salt from -
Which is why I repeated the caution, and glad to see it came out well. I have ‘heard’ various online theories that a pickle juice brine was park of chick-fil-a’s build, but many posts refuting it, but still thought it would be a cool build as it were. I just don’t do pickles enough to justify it. I may have to reconsider.
For a while, pickle backs were all the rage in bars. I asked a bartender what she was doing with all the pickles, and she told me they bought pickle juice sans pickles.
Big metal can of olive oil, or huge tin of olives (or tomatoes or whatever)…
Yeah, I was going to bring that up. I personally do not think Chick-Fil-A uses pickle brine, but it works really well as a brine for chicken breasts, especially if you bread and deep fry them. For whatever reason, I don’t like the brine as much for grilled chicken, but for fried chicken, it works a treat and tastes great in a chicken sandwich.
They can still be found; I just threw away a metal Hills Brothers coffee can, but most everyone else has moved to plastic. They’re still a major brand, though, so should be findable.