Charcoal Chimney Starter

 Home Made 

Charcoal Chimney Starter

You learned how to build a grill out of a 55 gallon drum, but how do you get it started. The best way is with a chimney fire starter. However, you don’t have to buy one, you can easily make your own.

The most important difference between a commercially-manufactured charcoal starter chimney and a home-made one is basically the handle. The store-bought charcoal starter chimney typically has some kind of a formed handle, wood or metal insulated, to be ready to pick up and turn the hot chimney over and dump out the coals into the bottom of the grill. They also have some kind of air system that uses grates and holes that get built in towards the bottom.

The grate is placed in the cylinder so that the air will circulate and the coals will start simply. One of the downsides of having this grate system is that you’re going to have to lift up the chimney and turn it over to dump out the hot briquettes. For this reason I am not including the wire system in the bottom of the homemade fire starter.

Materials:

• Large Latex Paint Can only use a paint can that held a water based latex paint as it is washable.

• Drill- the paint cans will require a drill and punch out.

or 

• Large Folgers Coffee Can # 10- Make sure to remove the label

• Can Opener- Remove top from coffee can

• Church key – use to make a series of triangular holes on one side

• Sheets of Newspaper

• Long Matches or Long Neck Lighter
• Hot Oven Mitt
  

Directions:

• Remove label from can

1. Clean & dry can

• Remove top and bottom of can being used, and place them in your recycle bin

• If using the paint can leave the handle on the can, do not remove the handle.

• If using paint can drill air holes about 1/2 inch in diameter 2 inches from the bottom of the can, and evenly spaced.  

• If using the coffee can, use the church key to make triangular punches around the coffee can base about 2 inches apart,

You are ready to use your new inexpensive chimney starter to stack your charcoal. 

The paint can, will have a handy handle you can use to dump your coals out.
If you used the coffee can without handles use a good pair of heavy duty tongs, to lift the can out.

 You can watch the video for visual on how to work the fire starter.

  How to Fire Up The Charcoal Grill

Get The Fire Started:

• To get your home-made fire chimney started , place it where you’re going to need your charcoal to be used. This may generally be within your grill or in a fire pit.

• Place a fire starter such as crumpled newspaper within the bottom part of the chimney, and then pour charcoal into the head or top of the chimney.
• Use Long Neck Lighter To light paper through hole in bottom.

After two mins you will notice the smoke will increase. Almost all of this smoke is due to briquettes that are not fully started. As more of the charcoal is lit and reaches higher temperatures, the smoke will taper off and stop. This does not mean the fire has gone out. The fire is just beginning to burn efficiently. If you wave your hand over the top of the charcoal you’ll be able feel the heat coming off.

When you can notice flames coming out of the top of the charcoal, or when you notice that almost all the charcoal on the top is gray in more than one place you can lift the chimney, and removed it. Keep a bucket of water near the grill, and give the chimney a good dunk until it is cooled.

DO NOT place your hot chimney on the ground!

You can start a fire on dried ground cover, or cause injury to a pet, a child or too yourself if it is not cooled, before placing it on the ground.
To chill your chimney after you take the coals from it, dunk it in your water bucket next to the grill.

You can also make another to use as a wood box for smoking in your 55 gallon drum grill.

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