How to Light Charcoal
So you’re getting ready to roast delicious steak and hotdogs on an open barbecue grill. The only problem is, you can’t get the grill to start cooking, because you can’t light the charcoal. Don’t panic; there are a couple of easy ways to successfully light charcoal.
Using Lighter Fluid
Lighter fluid, or butane, is very combustible, and it will give the coals the much needed boost to start lighting up. If you have a can of lighter fluid lying around, here’s what you should do.
What You’ll Need:
Charcoal
Lighter fluid
Outdoor barbecue grill
Procedure:
Check your charcoal, making sure it’s completely dry. If it’s wet, it’s likely to produce smoke, increasing risk of fire and making cooking process harder for you.
lighting charcoal
Arrange the charcoal on the grill, making sure there’s enough to cover the base and/or create two even piles, especially if you’re cooking with indirect heat. If you have several batches of food to grill, you can light enough charcoal and distribute it to different piles later on.
Create a small pile in the grill’s center. Make sure they’re piled well, otherwise you’ll get uneven cooking.
Pour lighter fluid all over the coals, waiting for several seconds so it will be absorbed. This gives you more even heating and no flare-ups later on.
Light the charcoal, letting it burn for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it’s white and ashy, before you put the food on the grill. You need to let it smolder as long as possible, so all the lighter fluid will burn off. Sometimes, this can take an hour to accomplish.
Start grilling!
Lighting The Charcoal Without Lighter Fluid
Lighter fluid might make the whole lighting process easier and faster, but it gives you an unpleasant disadvantage; it adds bad flavor to the food and the chemicals can even be transferred to the food, which can be harmful to your health. If you don’t want to take the risk, then here’s a better option.
What You’ll Need:
Charcoal
Chimney charcoal starter
Long utility lighter or long matches
Outdoor grill
Oven mitt
Old newspapers
Procedure:
Make sure your grill is clean and ash free. Take away the upper grate where you cook the food, as well as the grill cover.
Get the chimney charcoal starter. You’ll notice that there’s a section with smaller vent holes, compared to the other sections. These smaller holes are the chimney’s bottom. Get your old newspapers and crumple them, stuffing them in the lower section.
Put the chimney on the lower grate of the grill. Afterwards, fill it with charcoal. You might need to use two chimneys if you’re grilling a lot of food.
Light a long match or a utility lighter, then insert the flame through several vent holes at the chimney’s bottom. You should only light the newspaper on the bottommost layer, leaving your charcoal untouched. The newspaper ignites the charcoal.
Wait for the smoke to die down, and observe it there is smoke coming from the coals that are on top of the chimney. Put on your oven mitt, then turn the chimney over, using its wooden handle. Evenly spread the coals on the grill’s bottom, then put back the upper cooking grate. Put the chimney contraption aside to cool.
Some Tips
Don’t let pets or children near the grill when you’re lighting it.
If you don’t have a chimney charcoal starter, you can substitute it with a coffee can. Use a can opener to shape vent holes at one of the ends.
Don’t use too much lighter fluid, or flares will develop. Also, don’t add extra fluid as the coals burn.