How to Use a Chimney Barbecue Starter
Forego the expense of quick-lighting charcoal briquettes the next time you barbecue. Use a moderately priced chimney barbecue starter to get your coals burning. These handy cooking utensils boast a sturdy metal cylinder-like structure containing a lower chamber, filled with flammable materials, and an upper chamber loaded with unlit charcoal briquettes. Observe the steps below to safely use a chimney barbecue starter.
- Difficulty:
- Challenging
Instructions
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1
Gather at least six sheets of newspaper. Roll two sheets at a time into a loose cylinder. Bring together the ends of the cylinder, forming what barbecue experts term, "a newspaper donut."
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2
Wear gloves. Turn the chimney barbecue starter upside down and remove the lid from the lower chamber.
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3
Repeat rolling several more sheets of newspaper. Put the newspaper donuts inside the lower chamber of the chimney barbecue starter.
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4
Make sure there is a hold in the center of the newspaper donuts for air to travel up
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5
Turn the chimney barbecue starter on its other side. Fill the top chamber of the chimney barbecue starter with about four to six pounds of unlit charcoal briquettes. Place the chimney barbecue starter on top of the barbecue where you are cooking.
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6
Use the butane lighter or a long match to light the newspaper in the lower chamber. Wait until you see smoke rising from the lower chamber and through the pile of charcoal briquettes on top. This step takes between two and five minutes.
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7
Allow between 10 and 20 minutes for the newspaper to burn completely and the bottom charcoal briquettes to burn. Once you see flames reaching the upper layer of charcoal briquettes, turn the chimney barbecue starter upside down to release the burning briquettes onto the cooker.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Spray cooking spray over the newspaper or sprinkle with vegetable oil. Both help the newspaper burn faster.
Don't light the barbecue chimney starter on any concrete surface. The heat from the starter can cause an explosion.
