This is one of the greatest tips I've ever been given and today I'm sharing it. How to light a charcoal grill in seconds. With no lighter fluid. The method is foolproof, clean, easy and AMAZING.
You don't need a chimney, lighter fluid or a flame retardant onesie to light a charcoal grill. All you need is olive oil and a paper towel.
Yup. Get ready to hit that share button - YOU CAN LIGHT A GRILL IN 2 MINUTES WITH ...
Olive Oil & a Paper Towel
True story. Not only does it work, it works in minutes and always works on the first try.
I got the tip from World Champion Griller Mike Callaghan. I'm sure he has no idea that I have come to CHERISH this tip.
Yes. Cherish. Like a childhood blankie, or my very first set of tools.
Mike is who I got my Bayou classic smoker from. And as luck would have he threw in a few tips when I bought it off of him.
Things like how to make the very best award losing Maple Bourbon BBQ sauce - seriously it's insanely delicious. And how to smoke your own bacon!
But this grill lighting tip beats all of that.
Table of Contents
What You Need
- 1-2 paper towels
- Cooking oil (olive, vegetable, canola etc.)
Instructions
First remove your grill grate and pour in the amount of charcoal you need.
STEP 1 Pour a moderate amount of oil onto a balled up paper towel. All surfaces of the paper towel should be fairly covered in oil but not dripping wet. Just barely saturated.
STEP 2 Nestle the oil soaked paper towel in the coals where you want it to light. Make sure there are coals touching the paper towel.
STEP 3 Light the paper towel.
That's the end of the instructions. That's all you do. It works every single time.
If you're using a smoker there's nothing left to do except close the lid.
If you're using a Weber style charcoal grill once it's lit, mound the charcoal so it all lights and then arrange the coals in one of three ways.
How to arrange the charcoal
BASIC SINGLE LAYER - Place lit coals in a single layer over the entire grill base. This will create even gentle heat. Use it for cooking shrimp or other foods that cook quickly.
HALF GRILL - Place lit coals so they cover only one half of the grill. They should be in an even layer (not mounded). This creates hotter and cooler sides on the grill.
Intense flame and heat where the coals are and indirect heat on the area of the grill with no coals below.
This setup is perfect for searing foods, then moving them to the cooler part of the grill to finish cooking.
Use it for chicken, steaks and sausages.
PAN SETUP - Place all the lit coals in a disposable aluminum pan in the centre of the grill. This creates the most intense heat. It's a concentrated fire that will char your food.
You'll need to poke holes in the bottom of the pan for air circulation.
Use it for burgers, chicken cutlets and thin steaks.
Where to light the grill
FOR LOW & SLOW GRILLING - If you want a low, slow grill for smoking or indirect cooking place the oil soaked paper towel off to one side. This way only a few lumps or briquettes will ignite.
FOR HOT & FAST GRILLING - If you want a blazing hot grill place the soaked paper towel in the centre of your briquettes or lumps. This way briquettes all the way around your paper towel will ignite and your flame will increase quickly.
Lump Charcoal or Briquettes
What type of charcoal should you use? I prefer lump for my smoker.
Lump charcoal is 100% wood. It's rough, jagged surface helps it light more quickly. Lump charcoal burns hotter and cleaner than briquettes.
Briquettes are often wood and filler that have been compressed into briquettes. They're very smooth which is part of what makes lighting them more difficult. Once lit however, briquettes because of their uniform size and shape, burn more evenly.
I've also used this tip to light my homemade cob pizza oven. It would be perfect for lighting a campfire too.
That depends on what you're cooking. For me using a low temperature smoker I start cooking once the smoker reaches the temperature I need - usually around 220. For a Weber type charcoal grill that you're actually grilling food on as opposed to smoking it, you want your all your coals to be evenly lit.
For a smoker I like to close the lid and keep the vents open. This keeps the oily towel burning longer and slower and prevents the smoker from going over temperature.
For a Weber style grill that you want to get hot quickly you can keep the lid open during lighting.
Tonight on the smoker it'll be smoked chicken wings (post coming soon) with classic homemade coleslaw and for entertainment I'll be watching the neighbours as they try to lick and climb my fence.
Love your smoker! Where did you find it??
From one of your admirers. I read a selection of your posts on a regular basis. I am 72 years young and learned of this lighting technique many years ago from my scout master. We scouts all hated the chemical taste and smell and he led us to this simple and effective method. Also dispensed with carrying danger chemicals in our back packs. Unfortunately I have moved on to using propane and dearly miss charcoal but such is life.
Interesting! I was just telling my mother the other day that I would have preferred that she enrolled me in Scouts as opposed to Brownies. I hated Brownies. I lasted 1 day. ~ karen!
Oh my word - genius!
I am sat proudly next to my BBQ on the beach in Cornwall UK (my friend says I have to mention there’s a mild breeze).
It has lit perfectly first time.
The boys (well they’re men except when together) are a mixture between embarrassed and impressed. I have hands down beat their fire building ability and no scary accelerants have been applied.
Cheers Karen
Yay! I'm so glad you had a chance to try it immediately! Also, I was very interested in whether there was a mild breeze or not so thanks to your friend for insisting you mention it. As for the boys ... I'm sure they're ridiculously jealous they weren't the ones showing everyone how to light a grill. ;) ~ karen!
When I think of all the years our parents spent trying to perfect lighting the charcoal BBQ, newspaper, chimneys, lighter fluid, etc. Oh if only they had known this little trick, they would have been king of the block.
Definitely. I mean how could you not be King of the block with this trick?? And since I know many of my neighbours read my blog I expect we'll have to duke it out in terms of who is the genuine King/Queen. Just kidding. It's me. ~ karen!
Hahaha, I realized afterward that I omitted the use of Queen et al but I grew up in different times when it was the men who did the BBQing. It's a free for all now so get your dukes up but I'm sure you will reign supreme.
Wow, this is awesome. My husband likes to up-end an entire container of lighter fluid, which;
A, scares the sh*t out of me, and
B, makes everything taste like a toxic chemical.
All hail Karen!
PS, I LOVE your writing style.
Thanks Gail! And yes, the lighter fluid is gross. ~ karen!
Brilliant!
No need to use expensive olive oil. Any oil will do.
Yup, that's true. I pointed out in the instructions to use any cooking oil. This isn't an expensive olive oil, it's probably the same price as vegetable oil. ~ karen!
This might be a good use of that old oil you have saved to reuse one more time, but haven't
Great tips and good advice. Thanks for sharing. I do luv me some "fire plus meat" dining.
Ribs are a favourite because they have the elusive "handle". I don't like lamb otherwise a little Frenched shank would be on the favourite list as well. ~ karen!
I'm just finishing up some left-over brisket my son did on his pellet smoker the other day. Great bark and smoke ring. I've found them to be a pretty versatile cooking tool. But it's hard to beat lump charcoal cooking. Ah me, the life of an omniverous carnivore is a grand one indeed. -lol