Whether you're grilling burgers, steaks, chicken, or vegetables, the natural smoky flavour of lump charcoal will infuse your food with a delicious taste that's hard to beat. However, lighting lump charcoal isn’t as difficult as most would think.
Using a chimney starter is the easiest and most efficient way to get the job done. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to light lump charcoal with a chimney starter for the perfect charcoal BBQ.
Step 1: Prepare the chimney starter
The first step is to fill the chimney starter with the lump charcoal or BBQ briquettes. Make sure you use enough charcoal to fill the chimney about three-quarters of the way to the top. (Tip: for grilling, every kilogram of meat, you will need approx. 1.5 kilograms of hardwood lump or 1 kg of hex briquettes)
Step 2: Add firelighters or kindling
Add 3-4 firelighters or a few small pieces of kindling to the bottom of the chimney starter. The firelighters or kindling will ignite and light the charcoal from the bottom up. You can also use a few sheets of crumpled up newspaper or an electric charcoal starter for a hassle-free lighting experience.
Step 3: Light the firelighters or kindling
Light the firelighters or kindling and let it burn until the charcoal on the top of the chimney starter starts to turn white or ashy. This will take around 15-20 minutes, depending on the amount of charcoal in the chimney starter.
Step 4: Pour the charcoal into the charcoal BBQ grill
Once you can see the charcoal in the chimney starter is lit, carefully pour it into the charcoal BBQ grill. Spread the charcoal out evenly over the grill, and leave it for a few minutes until it's fully ignited and begins to ash over.
Step 5: Once the charcoal is fully ignited and ashed over, it's BBQ time!
Products mentioned in this article:
- Charcoal
- Briquettes
- Firelighters
- Kindling