Lighting Charcoal/Briquettes
The all important part of lighting that BBQ, this can make having that BBQ fun or OMG why did I start this! And to be honest this should be and is so easy to do and people make it far harder than it needs to be. Now there is no need for lighter fluid, lighter gel or petrol! you only need a chimney starter and either some newspaper or lighter cubes (use only lighter cubes that are odourless, again Weber do these and although they may cost you slightly more but you don't need to use as many so they last just as long, if not longer).
There is no need to be building pyramids with coals all you need is a chimney starter and these come in many forms, the one I'm sporting is of course a Weber brand.
There is no need to be building pyramids with coals all you need is a chimney starter and these come in many forms, the one I'm sporting is of course a Weber brand.
Remove the cooking grate as you will only need the charcoal grate for getting the chimney going. You can load the bottom of the chimney starter with newspaper like in the picture, if you are using lighter cubes then you will need 2 or 3 (depending on brand, if Weber only 2) and place them on the charcoal grate. Once you have done either of these stand the chimney starter upright and fill with charcoal/briquettes. Now how much you fill the chimney up by depends on what you are cooking and how long you plan on cooking, if you are cooking for say only 2 people or a small amount of food then you may only want to fill the chimney just over half way to 3/4's of the way. If you are cooking a long roast or having a big party then filling the chimney up would be a good idea, if you are doing roast then you may have to top the coals up half way through.
Once filled light your paper/lighter cubes and leave on the charcoal grate, depending on how much you filled the chimney will depend on how long the coals will take to light but you are looking at 20 to 30 minutes. If its windy then they will light faster as well.
Once filled light your paper/lighter cubes and leave on the charcoal grate, depending on how much you filled the chimney will depend on how long the coals will take to light but you are looking at 20 to 30 minutes. If its windy then they will light faster as well.
Using paper will cause smoke but if you use lighter cubes you won't get much smoke at all. Some coals can also cause smoke and give off strong odours, if you spend that little bit more on decent briquettes or charcoal you should find they are normal almost orderless.
Once the flames die down the coals should be gray in colour and glowing, they are ready and you then just need to pour them onto the charcoal grate, I would advise using oven/BBQ mitts for this as there is a lot of heat in there and some parts will get very hot.
I will be making a short video on this soon so watch this space......
Well that video is now done and in my video page so go check it out.
I will be making a short video on this soon so watch this space......
Well that video is now done and in my video page so go check it out.
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