How to Use a Charcoal Chimney Starter

A charcoal chimney starter is one of the most popular ways to light charcoal. In this video I demonstrate how to use a Weber Rapidfire chimney starter with my Weber 26 inch kettle. It is a quick, easy, and efficient way to get your charcoal fully lit without using lighter fluid.

[@mediafire09]

The first small channel I have seen with really good content. You have my thumbs up

[@hammysbbq]

Thanks for watching and your nice comment!

[@mediafire09]

@@hammysbbq By the way, do you reuse charcoal or not? What do you think?

[@hammysbbq]

I reuse it for quick simple cooks like burgers, steaks, chicken breasts/thighs/drumsticks. I do not reuse it for low and slow cooks like ribs, pulled pork, etc.

[@mediafire09]

@@hammysbbq thanks!

[@EspressoDrinker]

This was such a fantastic demo! Thanks for doing this and please keep this up. You're great at doing this.

[@hammysbbq]

Wow....thank you so much for your kind words and for watching!

[@smplot]

Thank you. So helpful. Just what I needed and so clearly explained.

[@hammysbbq]

Thanks a lot for commenting and for watching!

[@hakkapeliitta8828]

THANK YOU! :) very good instructions for my new chimney starter!!

[@hammysbbq]

Awesome! Thanks for viewing and commenting.

[@xyz2007123]

It's an excellent channel, and I subscribed to it. Thanks.

[@hammysbbq]

Thanks so much for your kind words and for subscribing! Do you cook with charcoal, gas, or both? Stay tuned for future videos.

[@drnspdrdrnspdr5]

Good video and commentary

[@hammysbbq]

Thank you!

[@cassandrahardgrove3042]

You are awesome. Thank you for sharing. With a kettle grill, do you leave the bottom and top vents open to get the charcoal hot if not using the chimney starter??? Thank you

[@hammysbbq]

Thanks for watching and for your nice comment@@cassandrahardgrove3042. Great question. You always want the bottom vent wide open when lighting the charcoal. You also always want the lid off of the grill when lighting the charcoal and waiting for it to ash over (regardless of the method you use to light it). Just curious...how will you be lighting the charcoal?

[@cassandrahardgrove3042]

Thank you for your response. We just got a kettle charcoal grill. So I wasn't sure if vent on bottom and top were both open while starting and cooking. We've only ever used lighter fluid but we've decided after watching your video, might looking into the charcoal starter thing and other lighter starter things. Never realized they were for charcoal

[@yungdro1972]

Got the 22 inch Weber grill, the Weber Chimney, and cubes today. Easiest cook I ever done. Also picked up the grill cover. Great video!

[@hammysbbq]

So good to hear and thanks for watching! What did you cook?

[@mrbbqlvr4274]

The Weber charcoal starter is great and all, but I wish someone would manufacture a thicker gauge one. Any suggestions folks?

[@hammysbbq]

Thanks for watching. I know what you mean.

[@apistosig4173]

empty tuna can half filled with Metho with get the charocal going

[@genemullen7618]

The smoke will chase the mosquitoes away

[@georgecurtis6463]

Just an aside, if you need to just cook a steak or whatever quickly, just put about a quarter of coals inside and start them. When almost ashed over you can put a small grare on top and cook directly over the coals on the starter.

[@hammysbbq]

Great point! Thanks for watching!

[@bks7842]

What is the advantage of inverting the chimney to light a small amount of coals?

[@hammysbbq]

Thanks for watching! Are you familiar with the snake method with briquettes for low and slow cooks? If not, check out this video:
th-cam.com/video/RzZl_UNNVs4/w-d-xo.html
In the video, Schuey adds 12 lit briquettes to a "snake" or long line of unlit charcoal. The lit briquettes slowly go around the "snake" (also called a fuse) and it's a great way to keep a stable temperature during the cook. He uses 12 lit briquettes to achieve a 250 degree temperature on a Weber 22 inch kettle. The amount of lit briquettes depends on what temp your looking for and the size of your grill. For example, I have to use more lit briquettes for my Weber 26 inch kettle and I typically do low and slow cooks at 275 degrees.
In the video, Schuey lights the briquettes in the standard position in a chimney starter. For such a small amount of briquettes (in Schuey's case 12) you can invert the chimneyy starter and put the briquettes on that bottom side to light the charcoal. I have found it easier and faster. Hope that helps.

[@bks7842]

@@hammysbbq Yes I am familiar. Just curious why folks invert the chimney. I'm assuming it is because of the cone shape in the bottom. How do you light it when inverted?

[@hammysbbq]

@@bks7842 Yep...for the cone shape in the bottom. I use a Weber lighter cube to light the charcoal. I feel that more oxygen reaches it and it's easier to see when it ashes over.

[@bks7842]

@@hammysbbq Do the flames from the cubes reach the coals when the chimney is inverted?

[@hammysbbq]

@@bks7842 What you do is invert the chimney then place one lighter cube directly on the upside down cone (thoppisite side of where the charcoal would go if not inverted). From there place briquettes or lump charcoal on top of and around the lighter cube. Just make sure there is enough space to light the cube and for oxygen to reach it.

[@comlbbeau]

A couple of pieces of wadded up newspaper is as good a starter as any. No reason to spend good money on tumbleweeds, starter cubes, etc., or mess with oil soaked paper towels.

[@hammysbbq]

Thanks for your feedback and for watching!