Often, people think that lighting charcoal takes a long time and that's what stops them from leaving with a charcoal BBQ.
Well, that may have been true a couple of years ago, but now lighting is getting easier and easier.
Here I will show you different ways to light your charcoal without any hassle using accessories and some interesting charcoal grills to have in your yard.
The first item I want to talk about is a bit of a mix of the two. It's a great barbecue, but it comes with a nice "accessory" that makes your life easier when it comes to lighting. I'm talking about the Weber Performer Premium. It's a charcoal-powered appliance, but it comes with a table with a gas igniter. It's super easy to use: you turn the gas feed wheel, press the ignition button, and the charcoal will light almost instantly! In 3 to 7 minutes, your charcoal will be hot enough to sear steaks (it can be something other than steaks too, but that's my way of saying it's going to be pretty hot 😜)!
This is a really interesting BBQ, because you don't have to be next to it the whole time it's lighting. You can press the button, then go get your meats while it preheats, for example. Otherwise, the "table" itself is also fun because you can use it partly as a charcoal tray or as a place to put your trash bag.
Then, another useful accessory for lighting charcoal is the Allumax BBQ Québec. This is a really practical tool. You plug it in, then you lean it directly on your charcoal by pressing the button. After about 30 seconds, the fire will start to crackle (that's fast! 🔥)! The ideal, after that, is to let the heat do its work for 20 to 30 minutes to have a very, very, very lit and intense ember ready to receive your meats.
If you're like me and don't want to wait 30 minutes without doing anything, hold the Allumax in your hands a little longer. What I mean is, once the fire starts crackling, you move your Allumax away from the coals, but still blow hot air on them. In 3-5 minutes, your coals will be hot enough to sear your steaks. 😎
Another way to do this is to place your Allumax near several different areas of charcoal to light different areas and have a heat that is not too intense. This way, in 2 to 3 minutes, you should feel a good heat coming from your BBQ.
Oh! And by the way, the Allumax's metal rim is so you can hang the unit on your grill and/or uncap beers. We thought of everything. 😜
The Chimney Starter & Portable BBQ BBQ Quebec
A chimney starter is another classic tool used to light charcoal. There are many types, but the principle is always the same and super simple: you fill the chimney with charcoal, put a ball of paper or a fire starter underneath it, light the chosen material, then let the charcoal burn quietly. As soon as there is a little white appearing on the pieces of charcoal, they are then very hot and ready to be transferred to the BBQ to sear the food. Basically, in 7 to 10 minutes of "heating", your charcoal will be ready. 😊
If you're an outdoorsy person too, you can even put a grate on top of your chimney to cook your food right there. That's one of the reasons we brought out our own chimney starter; because I wanted to be able to go into the woods with a BBQ and a steak in my pack sack, and that's it. And because I also wanted it to be good quality, we decided to make it out of 304 stainless steel; that way, everyone is happy.
Aside from that, otherwise, we sell other charcoal products at BBQ Québec. These are not necessarily products that make lighting easier, but products that ensure that you have excellent control over your cooking. Here are a few:
Coal baskets
I'm thinking, in particular, of the charcoal baskets. What's great about that is that you can stick two of them next to each other (when they're made in half-circles), if necessary, and create a really intense but directed heat zone. In fact, the charcoal is radiant, so when it heats, its heat spreads a little in width (in a "diagonal" way, if you will). By inserting it in a basket, on the other hand, you "guide" more where you want the heat to go, which makes cooking easier. Honestly, it's really well done.
The Cycl-O-Max BBQ Québec heat concentrator
Another way to control energy is to use the Cycl-O-Max. The advantage of this accessory is that there are several ways to use it. You can put the charcoal in the center of the BBQ, then cover it by placing the
Cycl-O-Max wide side down, and the heat will come out on top (like a volcano), very intense. If you put a steak on top of the
Cycl-O-Max , on the BBQ grill, the amount of heat it's going to get is going to be pretty sick. 🌋
Otherwise, you place the Cycl-O-Max wide side up and you fill it with charcoal. The heat path is going to be much larger, which is perfect if, for example, you've got a bunch of chicken wings on the BBQ grill.
Alternatively, you can also circle the Cycl-O-Max charcoal instead of filling it with it and putting a piece of meat in the center of the accessory. For example, by placing your Cycl-O-Max wide side up and placing a pork shoulder in the center, it will be well protected from the heat and will come out perfect on your BBQ. A beer can chicken would also come out with a nice crispy skin. 👌
To finish with the accessories, I have no choice but to also talk about 100% essential items: gloves and poker. 💯
Gloves
There are plenty of these on the market too. Our suede gloves are long; perfect for those with long arms, but there are shorter ones too, like Napoleon's. Aside from that, there are also smaller ones, but they have a non-slip design that helps you keep your grip on what you're holding... There's no shortage of gloves to choose from, but it's super important to have some to protect yourself from the high temperature of the BBQ. (And be careful, I'm obviously talking about gloves that are thick and made for working with charcoal; not nitrile gloves or anything else.)
The poker
To place your charcoal at the beginning of your cooking or to stoke it during cooking, a poker is really practical (it also saves you from getting dirty with soot 😉). There is not much else to say about this except "you need one". 😜
Finally, making a charcoal BBQ without a BBQ is not really easy (unless you take our chimney starter 🤪), so I will present a few of them to you.
The Weber Master-Touch Premium
There are two really hot features to highlight on this barbecue: its hinge and its ring and its heat diffusion plate.
The hinge is because it will allow you to never again have to wonder "where do I put the lid?"; the barbecue comes with a hinge (which is detachable and can be installed on almost any other BBQ - even on an All-in-1) that keeps the lid in place when you lift it. It's really very, very, very practical.
The other great thing about the Master-Touch Premium is that it comes with a smoker ring and a smoker plate (if that's something you're interested in, you can also buy these separately and insert them into any grill). The charcoal goes in the center of the ring and once the heat is "taken", the holes all around the ring circulate the air, which then rises and hits the stainless steel tray (which by the way has a small notch made to hold any liquid if desired) placed above it. By hitting the tray, the air then goes around it and is distributed evenly, coming out of its "sides" and transforming the grill into a smoker. Once again, these are really, really handy accessories. 👌
Oh! Another little plus of this device is that it also has a stand so you can put your iGrill thermometer (or your beer 😉) on it; which is very useful when cooking.
The Napoleon PRO Circular Charcoal Grill
A bit like the Master-Touch Premium, this barbecue also has a hinge, but this one is a bit more complicated to remove… Otherwise, what is interesting about this appliance is that it has enameled cast iron grills that are adjustable; that is to say that you can raise or lower them during cooking.
The Weber Summit Kamado / The Kamado Kamado Joe
Both of these machines are interesting, but often people wonder which is better between steel and ceramic. The Summit Kamado is made of steel and has an air chamber that insulates and retains heat, while the Kamado has ceramic, which stores and retains heat. So it's really a question of what you prefer if you're torn between the two.
The All-in-1
And finally, I'll end not with a barbecue, but with an accessory that will make you maximize the use of your kettle: an All-in-1. This, no matter the model and brand of kettle you have, can go on it (the All-in-1 comes in 22 and 26 inch formats). With this, your BBQ turns into a smoker (hot and cold), a pizza oven, a rotisserie, a bread oven... the possibilities are almost endless! It's a pretty sick accessory! 🤩
So, there you have it. Lighting your charcoal doesn’t have to be complicated and there are plenty of interesting charcoal BBQ models on the market. I hope I’ve taught you something or helped you make your choice on your next fire machine.
Happy BBQ!