How To Use A Chimney Starter - The Virtual Weber Bullet

How To Use A Chimney Starter

Originally posted: 11/01/2002
Last updated: 06/28/2008

A chimney starter is essentially a metal cylinder with a grate near the bottom and a handle mounted on the side. Unlit charcoal is placed inside the cylinder and newspaper or other flammable material is placed under the grate and lit. The charcoal at the bottom of the cylinder lights first and the "chimney effect" ignites the remaining charcoal above.

In my opinion, the best chimney on the market is the Weber Chimney Starter. It is much larger than other chimneys, holding approximately 100 Kingsford charcoal briquettes—about 6 pounds worth. It's well-built so the handle won't fall off and the cylinder won't get rusty even after years of use.

Here's an example of how to light charcoal using a chimney. The process is the same regardless of how much charcoal you're lighting or whether you're using briquettes or lump hardwood charcoal.

Remember...click on any of the pictures to view a larger image.

Safe Chimney Handling Tips

Wear heat-resistant gloves whenever handling a hot chimney. Pick up the chimney by the handle and pour out the coals or remove them using tongs.

Remember, a chimney will remain hot for some time after the coals are removed, so be careful when handling it and don't place it on or near flammable materials.

Important: Never light a chimney starter directly on a concrete surface. Heat from the chimney may cause the concrete to explode, damaging the concrete surface and possibly causing physical injury.
These two photos, provided by Greg Caesar in Houston, TX, show the damage resulting from his lighting a chimney starter on his concrete driveway.

Safe locations to light a chimney include:

On the WSM charcoal grate

On the charcoal grate of another grill

On fire-safe bricks placed on your patio

On an under car oil drip pan placed on your patio

The way you use the hot coals is determined by the method you choose for firing up your cooker. See Firing Up Your Weber Bullet for details.

Lighting The Chimney Using Newspaper

Newspaper is free and works great for lighting a chimney starter. A variety of alternatives to newspaper are discussed at the end of this article.

Start by making two newspaper donuts. Using a double-wide sheet of newspaper, roll loosely on the diagonal from one corner to the other. Bring the ends together to form a circle that fits inside the chimney (Picture 1). Repeat with a second sheet of newspaper.

Place the two donuts in the bottom of the chimney (Picture 2). Note that this method leaves a hole in the center for air to flow up through the newspaper for faster lighting.

Turn the chimney right-side up on a fire-safe surface and fill with charcoal.

Light the newspaper in several locations with a long match or a butane lighter. You'll begin to see smoke coming out the top (Picture 3).

After the newspaper has burned completely, wait 1-2 minutes then hold your hand over the chimney...you should feel the heat of the coals starting to light. Two sheets of newspaper is usually sufficient to get things started; if not, repeat the process with additional sheets of newspaper.

It will take 10-20 minutes for the coals to light, depending on wind conditions, how much charcoal is in the chimney, and the type of charcoal being used.

The charcoal is ready when you see flames licking at the coals in the top of the chimney and gray ash just starting to form (Picture 4).

If you wait longer for the top coals to be fully ashed-over, much of the charcoal in the bottom of the chimney will be spent, so go ahead and dump the charcoal into your cooker when it looks like Picture 4.

Applying Vegetable Oil To Newspaper

Here's a neat trick that makes newspaper burn longer in a chimney starter.

After putting the newspaper inside the chimney, give it a light spray of non-stick cooking spray or a little drizzle of vegetable oil. The newspaper won't burn until the oil burns away, and your coals will definitely light with just a single load of newspaper.

Lighting Small Amounts Of Charcoal

Sometimes you need to light just a few briquettes, for example when using the Minion Method.

Here are three ways to light small amounts of charcoal more effectively:

Turn the chimney starter upside down and place the charcoal in the bottom—which is now the top (Pictures 1 and 2). Thanks to Scott Holy for sharing this tip with TVWB.
Bank all the briquettes against one side of the chimney (Picture 3).
Put the briquettes inside a small bottomless coffee can (Picture 4).

Use any of these methods and light as usual from below.

Alternatives To Newspaper

One complaint about using newspaper in a chimney is that the leftover ashes can blow around in windy conditions. If this bothers you, there are several alternatives to consider.

Paraffin cubes like Weber FireStarters burn at 1300°F for 10-12 minutes (Picture 1). Light 2 cubes under the chimney (Picture 2) and you're good to go.

Alcohol-based liquid gel starters are squirted onto the charcoal and lit. Gel starters should not be confused with charcoal lighter fluids, as they contain no foul-smelling petroleum products. Brands include Stove Bright Fire Starter and Duraflame Fresh Light (Picture 3).

Sawdust starters are made of recycled sawdust and paraffin wax. Cut or break into chunks, place several pieces under the chimney, and light. Popular brands include Rutland SafeLite Fire Starters, Duraflame Quickstart, and Duraflame Firestart (Picture 4).

Diamond Strike-A-Fire (Picture 5) is "The 12-Minute Match/Fire Starter In One." It consists of a thin sawdust/paraffin strip with a match head coating on one end. Strike against the lighting strip on the box and place under the chimney.

Wick chafing fuel, such as Sterno Wick (Picture 6), is designed to heat food in a chafing dish, but some folks swear by them for lighting a chimney. Light the wick and place under the chimney for 10 minutes. These disposable units burn 2-6 hours and can be purchased wherever catering supplies are sold.

A few sheets of paper towel sprayed with non-stick cooking spray will will get your charcoal started, and since it burns more completely than newspaper, it makes less of a mess.

Some folks light chimneys over the gas side burner on a gas grill or over a turkey deep-fryer burner. Be careful when using that gas side burner...if you leave the chimney on too long your side burner may experience a meltdown!

Finally, there's always a weed burner.

Photos of exploding concrete patio: 2007 by Greg Caesar
Photo of cutaway chimney: 2005 by Weber-Stephen Products Co.
Photo of Sterno Wick: 2002 by Candle Corporation of America

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