# Lighting charcoal **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 21, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-charcoal/401040 "2007-04-21T04:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-charcoal/401040/41 "2007-04-24T16:23:50Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Hmmm.. even using lighter fluid sparingly or using solid firelighter blocks that burn away to nothing, I can still taste the difference. Maybe it’s just me. [/QUOTE] No, it’s not just you. It’s an acrid oily taste, right? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-charcoal/401040/42 "2007-04-24T16:36:23Z")
I’m a huge proponent of the chimney starter, but I honestly can’t taste petroleum in a fire _properly started with lighter fluid_. I’ve seen some idiots douse the fire with fluid _while the meats were grilling_. That is not proper technique, to say the least. It is also my understanding that in some of the bigger BBQ competitions, the fires are started with lighter fluid-soaked coals, but none of the judges complain about the flavor. Done correctly, I really think it would be impossible to tell which fires were started by a chimney, and which by lighter fluid, but that would require a double blind study. So who wants to host? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-charcoal/401040/43 "2007-04-24T16:46:32Z")
Another recommendation for the chimney. Anything to avoid the taste and smell of lighter fluid. Don’t be fooled into a false security by it though. It’s still dangerous. The proper way to light it is to leave a trail of gunpowder from the base of the chimney snaking across the patio to around the corner of your house. Once all the impressionable youths have assembled, light that with a highway flare. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-charcoal/401040/44 "2007-04-24T18:55:10Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] I second the recommendation for [chimney starters](http://www.amazon.com/Weber-87886-Chimney-Starter/dp/B00004U9VV). Works perfectly every time, and the grill won’t smell like lighter fluid. [/QUOTE] I don’t get it. Where do you put the burgers? ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-charcoal/401040/45 "2007-04-24T19:10:45Z")
The chimney lighter just gets the charcoals going. When they’re all grey, you spread them on the lower rack and put the chimney someplace else. My routine is. 1. Get a brick and lay it on the ground (for later). 2. Take the top grill off. (I’ve forgetten this once or twice which leads to fun at step 8). 3. Put some paper in the chimney bottom. 4. Put the chimney on the lower grill. 5. Put two or three matchlight charcoals in the chimney. 6. Fill the chimney with regular charcoal. 7. Light the paper and let everything burn for 30 minutes. 8. Dump the charcoal out and put the chimney on the brick. That thing will be the temperature of the Sun so you do not want to put it on concrete, wood or plastic until it cools down. Keep it away from kids too. The two or three matchlights guarantee that the other charcoals will burn but they aren’t enough to add any flavor to the food. The downside is you need to keep bags of two different coals around. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-charcoal/401040/46 "2007-04-24T19:16:18Z")
Gunpowder. Just pour in about a half-can of IMR 4831, stack charcoal on top, light. When your vision returns (long after eyebrows stop smoldering) you are ready to cook. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-charcoal/401040/47 "2007-04-24T19:18:44Z")
My routine is the same as **RadioWave** ’s except I don’t use Matchlites. If for some reason the coals don’t start the first time, they always start the second time. The only times I’ve ever had difficulty getting the coals to light the first time is with briquettes. Lump hardwood always starts the first time for me. (I use two full sheets of newspaper, crumbled into a toroid shape, to start the chimney. No Pam, or any accelerants of any kind). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lighting-charcoal/401040.md?page=2)