Lump Charcoal
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My local ACE Hardware has continually let me down this year. The store does not store it’s lump or charcoal inside. Skids of product outside on a “patio” that has been exposed to the rain we’ve gotten here in abundance in SE Michigan. So waterlogged, it won’t light. Don’t buy charcoal, or briquetes there anymore.
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I have been just using a chimney starter with just newspaper since a hurricane back in 04 & they were out of lighter fluid & had one chimney left. Remembered a neighbor making his own years earlier, so I thought I would give it a shot. Have used nothing since. Works great, just go through a few of them & have really tried to come up with a better one, but not sure I am there yet. Academy used to have a good one in the old days when they were the real Academy long ago, but the one I ended up with after they changed & built a store here, although not bad, is not the same. Chimneys still work great though. One with a cone shaped expanded metal bottom seems to work best & course they actually work better when they start rusting out.
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Years ago I bought a Weber chimney when I was grilling exclusively with Briquets. Always worked well for me and got me weaned from petrol starter fluids. Then… bought a 20 pound bag of Cowboy Lump Charcoal and stuffed a load in the chimney. Heat was so intense I thought the chimney would blow itself apart! It didn’t. But the heat from the lump charcoal altered the steel of the chimney. Each time I use the chimney now (frequently) I see the scars I caused using the lump charcoal.
So today, this, Summer I did my best to build Lump charcoal fires without the chimney. It was like I was cooking the wood, watching moisture surface and bubble & pop. Enough heat to grill hot dogs. But little else. I’m a wiser consumer going forward.
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Years ago I bought a Weber chimney when I was grilling exclusively with Briquets. Always worked well for me and got me weaned from petrol starter fluids. Then… bought a 20 pound bag of Cowboy Lump Charcoal and stuffed a load in the chimney. Heat was so intense I thought the chimney would blow itself apart! It didn’t. But the heat from the lump charcoal altered the steel of the chimney. Each time I use the chimney now (frequently) I see the scars I caused using the lump charcoal.
So today, this, Summer I did my best to build Lump charcoal fires without the chimney. It was like I was cooking the wood, watching moisture surface and bubble & pop. Enough heat to grill hot dogs. But little else. I’m a wiser consumer going forward.
RedJim64 Camp Fire Cowboy Style! That was where the old style heavy Iron (like oilfield pipe, probably was or well casing) Academy, no brand came in handy. The new Academy is heavier than the Weber, but not as heavy as the old style. The Weber probably lights faster though, I think it had the cone shaped floor.
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I have been just using a chimney starter with just newspaper since a hurricane back in 04 & they were out of lighter fluid & had one chimney left. Remembered a neighbor making his own years earlier, so I thought I would give it a shot. Have used nothing since. Works great, just go through a few of them & have really tried to come up with a better one, but not sure I am there yet. Academy used to have a good one in the old days when they were the real Academy long ago, but the one I ended up with after they changed & built a store here, although not bad, is not the same. Chimneys still work great though. One with a cone shaped expanded metal bottom seems to work best & course they actually work better when they start rusting out.
calldoctoday I built a chimney from one of those helium tanks you can buy for parties. I found sitting it on my fish fryer burner the most effective way to start it. Now I use either a gas burner inside the fire box of the gravity feed or an electric wand in my kamado. My fatherinlaw still uses a chimney to start his weber. I think he uses a weber chimney also.
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calldoctoday I built a chimney from one of those helium tanks you can buy for parties. I found sitting it on my fish fryer burner the most effective way to start it. Now I use either a gas burner inside the fire box of the gravity feed or an electric wand in my kamado. My fatherinlaw still uses a chimney to start his weber. I think he uses a weber chimney also.
pr0wlunwoof Whoa, Now that’s Serious!
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pr0wlunwoof Whoa, Now that’s Serious!
calldoctoday It worked pretty good.
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My local ACE Hardware has continually let me down this year. The store does not store it’s lump or charcoal inside. Skids of product outside on a “patio” that has been exposed to the rain we’ve gotten here in abundance in SE Michigan. So waterlogged, it won’t light. Don’t buy charcoal, or briquetes there anymore.
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RedJim64
Sorry for you, and that is inappropriate for them. Charcoal is packed at a specific moisture content that they are ruining. Can you be so bold as to tell them? -
Okay guys, yesterday I cooked bacon in a microwave. When I do, I place a paper towel on top. I used that paper towel to start my lump charcoal in my Primo. It started very fast, much more than with other methods. Has anyone done this, am I overlooking anything that could be harmful to the grill?
Chef said in Lump Charcoal:
Has anyone done this, am I overlooking anything that could be harmful to the grill?
I’ve never done that, but . . .
Tex_77 said in Lump Charcoal:
I’ve also heard of people putting vegetable oil on paper towels and using them to start charcoal.
I do that every single time I’ve lit a fire in my (Weber) chimney for years and years without any trouble at all. Well, actually, I use newspaper, but I don’t know why a paper towel or bacon grease would cause any trouble.
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I have been using newspaper for years, but I would just about bet dollars to doughnuts, Double to nothing, that I have snuck some oil (not auto) or bacon grease in there a time or two maybe thinking I could ramp up everyone’s appetite or something. No Problems.
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