Outdoor Burner + Charcoal Starter?

[mkedda]

So, I was watching a show on the Weber Grill restaurant and saw that they used a stove to light charcaol starters.

I have an outdoor grill with sideburners. Why shouldnt I just take the grate off the burner,put the charcoal starter down and turn the flame to high? Wouldnt that get it started the same way as burning paper underneath? Except with my method it will be faster and cleaner.

 

[Dutch]

That's exactlly what I do when I need to get charcoal going in my charcoal chimney (starter).

 

[morkdach]

sounds like a good plan man

 

[daddio]

one quick word of caution,the side burner on my gasser has holes around the bottom so if yours is on a deck be sure you have your grill mats down under otherwise as charcoal starts going it can drop through those openings,and maybe blow away from the mat. that said i use this method some times too just keep a watch and i usually wet that part of the deck down anyway. better safe than sorry.

 

[tlottman]

That is an awesome idea. Definately need to try that this weekend when I do my next smoke.

 

[tn_bbq]

I use my turkey fryer all the time (my gasser doesn't have a sideburner).

Just make sure you don't clog up the holes of your sideburner (assuming you use it....most folks don't). And as Daddio stated, be careful with the hot embers.

I also use those Weber firestarter cubes. Takes a bit longer, but they work just fine.

 

[coffee_junkie]

Tried this last night and it worked great!

 

[the dude abides]

I've seen that too. My thought is that unless you're already using the gasser, how hard is it really to wad up a couple of pieces of newspaper. Also, everytime I use lump in my chimney starter when I go to dump, a few hot coal always fall out the bottom. I would assume that this would not be good falling on your side burners. They're built for the heat to rise up off of them, not to have hot coals laying on them and possibly the hose leading to them.