Fire it up!

Ever since man discovered fire he has been trying to find new ways to start it ever since. It just wasn’t convenient to have to wait for a lightning bolt to hit a tree and imprudent to hang around under said tree while waiting. Then came ”rocks paper scissors” approach where banging two rocks together to maker sparks while occasionally bashing one’s thumb (side note, this is how cursing was invented), followed by the classic rubbing two sticks together. Neither method was very good if one was in a hurry.

Fortunately on a warm Arizona day there is no great hurry to get the fire going, in fact it gets so hot at times one can dispense with the colas all together and just toss the meat on the grill and close the lid. So let u leap forward and leave the sticks and stones behind. So search on intrepid explorer.

Grill fiends have been searching for the perfect way to start the grill since Oog the caveman dropped a hunk of raw meat in the fire and realized it was better than just gnawing a hunk off a dead rotting carcass. Jump to toady where Oog would be astounded at the myriad products for starting the ol’ cook fire and or grill. Most gas grills now a day have electronic ignition, If the cook can get it to work, but to the diehard charcoal fans it is still up in the air. All chefs have their favorite method so there is no one perfect way, though the Chimney comes close.

Probably the forerunner to all methods is charcoal starter. There are many brands and types, some even profess to be environmentally friendly, Orange oil and the like that also don’t seem to work very well. If one is after a huge fireball (ok, it is kind of cool) and the piquant aftertaste of kerosene in one’s food this is the way to go. It is easy to use and though the brands differ, the method is pretty much the same. Stack the coals in a pile, douse with fluid and allow them to sit for a few minutes to soak it up. Give the coals another spritz, sand back and hit it with a lighter. It will take several minutes for the coals to burn down and turn to the white glowing cooking medium one wants.

There are fire starting blocks, which seem to fix the aftertaste problem, but only start the coals in the spots where they’ve been laid down. Generally a resinous looking block one mixes them in with the charcoal, and ignites the block or blocks. They burn steadily igniting the coals around them. This might be a good method for a hibachi, but for a large grill it takes too long. A little quicker and less flavor inducing way is the electric starter.

The electric starter is a coil of metal, basically and electric short that heats up. Generally made of copper with a plastic grip and a cord it is plugged in after the charcoal is stacked on top of the coil. A couple short comings are obvious, one has to be near a source of electricity if it is going to work at all, and it isn’t a good choice in wet or rainy areas. Remember, Mr. Electricity is not your friend.  On the up side it gets the coals going rather quickly and leaves no taste.

The one choice that sees the most use here is the chimney starter. They come in different sizes, but are basically a can with a perforated bottom and a handle. Newspaper is stuffed into the bottom of the chimney, the coals of choice poured into the top.  Light the paper and set the contraption in the grill or somewhere fire proof until all the coals catch, it doesn’t take very long, maybe around 5-8 minutes. This thing gets surface of the sun hot so be careful picking it up, use a hot glove if necessary and dump the coals in t the grill and start cooking.  This method uses no electricity, leaves no taste in the food, and goes pretty quickly because to the chimney design.