Chimney Starter

[Jamger]

I'm pretty new at charcoal grilling and I bought my first Weber this year. I'm using a Weber chimney to light my BBQ, but no matter what I do, it always takes 30 minutes plus to light the coals. I've read in various places that it should only take 20 minutes. I've tried lumpwood charcoal and briquettes both Weber branded and others but it still takes at least 30 minutes to be ready. Does anyone have any tips or any ideas as to what I may be doing wrong?

[HoosierKettle]

Are you using lighter cubes or newspaper?  Are you waiting for all the coals to ash completely over?  If so you don't need to. I usually dump the coals when I see flames coming out of the top but coals on top are partially lit.


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[Jamger]

HoosierKettle: I am using Weber lighter cubes and I am waiting for the coals to ash completely over. It sounds like that's my mistake; I'll try just dumping the coals when the flames start coming out of the top. Thanks.

[HoosierKettle]

Also the best thing to do is start the chimney and go inside and prep food. Usually the coals are ready by the time my meat is prepped and seasoned and I usually have a veggie to prep for the grill too. In other words, light the chimney first thing before you do anything and it will be ready waiting on you.


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[chiku18]

And if you are in too much Hurry- There is chimeny/fan combination  @ https://bbqdragon.com/ . Coal will be ready under 5-6 mints.

Fan is cheaper at lowes/target etc.

[Rub]

Not sure if you're using the large or small size, but the small ones don't work very well IMO. Also I've found lump is ready much quicker than briquettes. And like Hoosier said, no need to wait so long.


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[Jamger]

Chiku18: That BBQ dragon looks amazing! Unfortunately, I live in the UK and they don't ship there! I may have to keep my eyes open for one on ebay!

[Jamger]

Thanks Rub. I'm using the large size chimney.

[HoosierKettle]

In the rare occasion I'm in a huge hurry, I cook beside my garage and assist coal starting with my air compressor


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[AZ Monsoon]

You could grab another chimney and fill them both half up to cut down on start time.

[Cellar2ful]

9-10 minutes after lighting, I pick it up the chimney and flip shake it to re position the briquettes. This is done in the same motion a Chef flips food in a pan. This speeds up their lighting and cuts my total time down to about 15-18 minutes.  I can't remember which member shared this trick or I would give him credit.

The lighting time also depends on the altitude where you are at.  I recently cooked at a friends house in Reno, NV.  The elevation there (4500') compared to the elevation in my town (161') makes a huge difference on briquette lighting times and cook times.  It added 15 - 20 minutes to the lighting time and almost 25 minutes to my cooking times I am use to.

[YardBurner]

I usually fill it only 3/4 full.
With a full chim the bottom
is pretty spent by the time the
top is lit.
Then dump on top of some
unlit and get cooking.
With the charcoal baskets
I'll put a single layer of unlit
and dump on top of that.
By the time you get the
grill set back up and the food
being placed on the unlit coals
are well on the way.

[MrHoss]

When using briquettes mix in a little bit of lump throughout to speed up the process. Also like others have said pour your chimney when the upper layer is starting to light on the underneath......no need to wait till it all ashes over as this top layer will be ignited very soon after pouring.

Without using my BBQ Dragon I am ready to pour a large Weber chimney full of briquettes in about ten minutes.

[chiku18]

Chiku18: That BBQ dragon looks amazing! Unfortunately, I live in the UK and they don't ship there! I may have to keep my eyes open for one on ebay!

If you are interested I can help you ship to U.K..


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[Mkrause]

And if you are in too much Hurry- There is chimeny/fan combination  @ https://bbqdragon.com/ . Coal will be ready under 5-6 mints.

Fan is cheaper at lowes/target etc.

That is sweet! Can anyone elaborate on the Lowe's/Target fan?

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