So you have a Weber kettle and now you need to figure out how to get the charcoal lit. Don’t worry, lighting the grill is easy and is part of the fun of cooking with charcoal!
I am going to show you four ways of starting the coals that range from super simple to the use of some super cool gadgets!
How To Light Charcoal Without Lighter Fluid or Starter Cubes
The video below walks you through the basic of fire building.
- Place loosely wadded newspaper underneath the charcoal grate
- Place more paper and small dry twigs onto charcoal grate
- Place charcoal on top of the twigs
- Make sure the bottom air vent is completely open
- Light the newspaper with a match or lighter.
- Let the fire burn and wait 15-20 minutes for the charcoal to ash over.
This technique is a lot of fun and is a good way to get rid of trash paper and branches in your yard. If you have a LOT of branches you can use the larger pieces as fuel and skip the charcoal.
How To Use Starter Cubes Or A Charcoal Chimney
The next video is a “Two For One Special”!
In the first part of the video you see how to light the charcoal with starter cubes. Started cubes are typically made of wax but can also include sawdust and other combustibles. The basic idea is that starter cubes are easy to light and burn long enough to ignite sections of the charcoal bed. Starter cubes work great but it takes a while for the full charcoal bed to become lit.
In the second part of the video you see how to use a chimney to light the coals. Chimneys are great devices and will get the coals lit fast!
More Gadgets To Light Charcoal
While the most popular accessory for lighting charcoal is a chimney there are some other options available.
The video below shows some Head to Head comparisons of different gadgets. You get to see how you can use a standard heat gun and how it stacks up against a supercharged heat gun called a Looftlighter.
Other popular accessories include propane torches and electric heating elements.
How To Use Lighter Fluid
Up next is the method that folks either love or hate: Lighter Fluid!
The basic idea is to pour a highly flammable liquid onto the charcoal, give it a few minutes to soak in and then light the charcoal. The charcoal quickly catches on fire as the liquid burns off. It takes about 20 minutes for the charcoal to be ready.
Some people will tell you that using lighter fluid is awful and will make your grilled food taste like gasoline. The trick is that you need to wait until all of the lighter fluid has burnt off before you start grilling. Heck, don’t trust me about this…take a look at how The Most Winningest Man In Barbecue, Myron Mixon, lights the charcoal in his grill.