Charcoal chimney

[Bob La Londe]

After working in the shop all day I came in to ask if there was a plan for dinner, and I was told to fend for myself. I'm good with that. As I sit here watching my steak grill over mesquite coals I'm thankful for my charcoal chimney.

All I had to do was gather up the coals out of the grill and stuff some brush in the bottom of the charcoal chimney and light it on fire a little while later hot coals.

The one I have is just your generic commercial sheet metal charcoal chimney picked up at some Farm store. I wonder if I couldn't make a little better design maybe a little taller so it drafted better to get those coals glowing even faster. Have any of you guys ever made your own charcoal chimney for getting charcoal going without having to build a fire?

[JRouche]

Have any of you guys ever made your own charcoal chimney for getting charcoal going without having to build a fire?

Yes Sir! I have failed..

I resulted to the store bought one. The giant one from the same name as the grill, the round one.

It works well. I wet some old cooking oil on a paper towel and load the chute with whatever you are using. as long as it is charred already.

[elf]

This will save you lots of time and wasting money on charcoal.

[SLK001]

This will save you lots of time and wasting money on charcoal.

I don't think that this guy knows what smokeless means!

[Ringo]

I use one often. And I often wonder about making one from a section of flu pipe, they are about 3 foot sections. should work nicely.
I also make my own charcoal from oak, a charcoal retort. real wood charcoal is easier to light and burns hotter than briquets. although it burns up faster, I find the real wood coals far superior especially the smoke taste we all go for

[metalmagpie]

If you want fast combustion, get out your O/A torch and stream pure oxygen into the chimney.

Weber has been improving their design gradually over decades. I think it would be hard to beat.

metalmagpie

[mattthemuppet]

This will save you lots of time and wasting money on charcoal.

that is pretty darn cool

[Dan Dubeau]

I've used a regular generic one for years. Never really thought about speeding up the process. I grill with charcoal when I have time to relax and grill. If I just want grilled food fast I use the propane grill right next to it. I've seen guys use hair dryers to speed up the process and provide more air to burn faster/hotter. Get a leaf blower and give er.

[Arcane]

I had to Google charcoal chimney and to my surprise it turns out I actually have one stored high up on a shelf. I haven't used it in decades.

[DrMike]

I have used charcoal chimneys for 20+ years to start charcoal for outdoor, savory cooking. I'm not nearly cool enough to make my own charcoal, but I wanted to get away from the petroleum taste of charcoal lighter fluid. I've developed a single newspaper sheet fold/crinkle/tuck to get a fast, efficient light every time in both my generic grill chimney and my Pit Barrel smoker chimney every single time.

I have repaired the burned through sections on my generic model a couple of times with sheet steel and rivets, but have absolutely no desire to design a better one, or to build one from scratch. The Chinese, paid by Walmart, are perfectly suited to such tasks. I'd rather spend my time thinking about, and getting paid for, more interesting things.

[Bented]

What is a charcoal chimney?

[rickyb]

This will save you lots of time and wasting money on charcoal.

Watched the vid and never stopped asking myself “why did he walk to the end of the field to collect the clay?

[Baz]

I use a kelly kettle using regular scrap wood as in garden prunings or dead twigs. Once the water is boiled and stored in a thermos for after dinner coffee it works as a nice little single person bbq. It is amazing how effective any small chimney is in provideing a draught for raising a fire faster than in natural open air. Helps one realise how house fires can accelerate so badly.

[Ringo]

and then there is the Rocket Stove, its the next step up

[Galaxie]

What is a charcoal chimney?

A very handy device: https://www.familyhandyman.com/proje...rcoal-chimney/