New to egging, about a month in. Done probably 12 succesful cooks now, and ive been starting my lump charcoal by shoving 2 burning paper towels in the bottom. Feels wrong. Works incredible. Opinions on this? Should I find a new method, or good to keep up with my madness?
by phathashderbs
19 Comments
I think it’s going to be harder to control your temps and you’ll go through charcoal much faster doing it this way. It’s probably also not IDEAL to have a fire directly on the bottom ceramic.
If it’s working for you I guess have at it, but I personally don’t think this is worth it. I use a piece of fatwood and just light it from the top.
It’s fine. That’s how they told you to start it 20 years ago.
Weed burner is my go-to: https://a.co/d/glwHjcZ
Can attach to a 20lb propane tank, as well as camping and blowtorch ones too. I fill the basket with charcoal, open both bottom and top vents 100% (screen on bottom vent in place) hit it with the torch for about 30 seconds, close the lid and wait.
If it’s stupid and it works, it ain’t stupid.
I do the same thing with a firestarter. Seemed more efficient to me.
Not a great idea. You will end up with more charcoal burning and it will be harder to control temp. Lighting the top and letting it burn down is more controllable.
Did your grate disintegrate? I’m on my 5th at least
Not an egger but that wood deck makes me nervous. Would it make sense to put a fireproof pad underneath and maybe an disposable aluminum pan on the bottom of the cart? And maybe keep a fire extinguisher handy.
As for paper towels as starters, maybe just use one and put some cooking oil on it.
Only when the lid is frozen shut. Relights the old charcoal and thaws the seal out fairly quickly.
I used to have a gas burner that would ignite an old (posk) Kamado from the bottom of the basket. I loved it, it was awesome. Light the burner, slide it in, and hot fire happened fast.
Over the years, using a Komodo Kamado I learned that it was harder to dial in a predictable low and slow fire when I ignited from the bottom. Might be unique to the size and insulated qualities of that grill, but the fire seems to be more manageable and predictable when it burns top-down. It likes to creep up try to overshoot when lighting from the bottom.
I put a cup of vegetable oil in an old pickle jar and roll up as many paper towels as will fit and stick them vertically in there. Cheap starter. I’ve never started it under the coals however…
I’m not sure why you’d ignite your charcoal from the very bottom. It’s going to take longer and consume more charcoal. I always use a natural starter like stump chunks slightly buried on the top of my charcoal; works fine. Just recently started using a Weber rapid fire chimney. It’s extremely fast and a game changer.
You should be lighting from the crevices above the fire grate… you will end up with burning remnants at the bottom but I wouldn’t regularly light fires on the ceramic directly.
I start the charcoal with the BGE plug in fire starter and that gets the coals going but to keep them from going out and crank it up I have a blower that I point to ash clean out to create an updraft. Once the fire gets going solid I remove the blower.
Whatever works. I have one of those propane torches (the $25 kind). I blast the coals for a few minutes and if I’m in a hurry I have a battery powered mini fan I aim at the coals for a while.
I like turtles
My current fav is the bombs with a fuse from jealous devil. The are available at Home Depot. Might try your paper towel move tho! I like the hot air blowers and gas torches, but you have to sand there for a min holding them. I think the more modern gas torches can light it up real quick but haven’t tried them. I like to just light it and move on.
Unrelated- make sure you use the screen on the lower vent. Fire in that ash area can kick out and will burn down your deck and house.
Try taking a cube of Paraffin wax, about a 1″ cube and wrap it in about a half sheet of paper towel. Wrap tight!
It burns clean, no residue, no flavor.
I sometimes use two paper towels soaked in a bit of oil, then put some kindling around it. Never tried putting them under, curious as to why you prefer it below? Embers start earlier? I would do that in the past in an Argentinian style grill: tear open the charcoal bag, place some paper towels under and let it burn from below..