chimney starters

[7000ft smoker]

Thought I would send a tip out to all that are using lump in a chimney starter.
If you feel that its taking forever to get the coals going.try using a air mattress blower. I have one that is battery operated seems to do the trick... hot coals in half the time.
I have a modified ECB so when my temp gets low I can take the body off then fan down the coals with the air mattress blower till i gett a nice orange glow. -cheers

 

[bbq engineer]

Welcome aboard 7K',

There was one time that I was in a hurry to get my smoker going, and the wife was out talking to me while I watched the chimney take it's own sweet time. I ran inside and got my leaf blower, and hit the charcoal chimney with that...I'm not kidding, that thing sprang to life, and I would go for about 30 seconds and then give it a break. I'm dead serious that flames were leaping out of that thing 6 feet high. Mrs. Engineer looked at me and not only gave me the head shake, the eye roll, the snort of disgust, but also the "YOU ARE SUCH A REDNECK" declaration...It was great!

Oh, the charcoal was ready to go in no time!

 

[zjaybird]

Wow,

I thought I was smart by taking a chicken broth can and putting as many holes in it as I could, without it falling apart. It works better than the 20 dollar one I bought from wally world years ago. I will have to try the leaf blower or mattress blower trick too.

 

[smokemifugotem]

Im glad to hear im not the only one who gets the eye roll......

 

[gnubee]

When I was a wee nipper my dad told me to clean the bbq and put it away. He always used to use the vaccum cleaner with the hose reversed onto the blower side to fan the coals. However to an 11 year old a vaccum is a vaccum. I had always seen him use it at the bbq. So I went and got my moms new electrolux and sucked up all the ashes and live coals. Then put the vaccum on the porch. About 5 minutes later I hear FIRE FIRE!! My little sister is yelling her head off. By the time I got there the neighbour had put out the fire with the hose. Very lucky because in a very short time it would have gotten away from him. It was a near thing. I got a trip to the wood shed and not to get wood either for that little stunt.
My mom lost her new vaccum cleaner which was the thing that hurt the most. We all laughed about that years later but at the time it was not funny in the least.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

The Wife probably needs a new hairdryer , doesn't she?
The old one would make a great stoking fan!!!

 

[mballi3011]

I like mine and you guys think it takes too long??? Are you guys in that much of a hurry. Mine seems to take about 10-15 minutes and it going nicely and then I'm ready for the fire box. Maybe I'll need a hair dryer one day but I can wait for now relax and breathe life is sometimes long enough to wait for some things.

 

[ddave]

Kind of what I was thinking. Of course with the drum I only need to light a partial chimney once.

But what is 10 to 15 minutes over the course of a 6 to 10 (or longer) hour smoke?

Dave

 

[zjaybird]

Hmmm good question Dave. I would have to maybe answer with a good nap and/or a cold beverage

 

[michchef]

Since I started drizzling a little vegetable oil over the newspaper in the bottom of my chimney before filling it and lighting it, it flames up a lot higher and all the coals seem to get lit in about half the time.