Lighting Tips

[Basher]

That's the funny thing.  I think we all come to this with our own method and don't tend to change.  I finally migrated from my original roofer's fire blower because the huge gas tank was a pain.  The MAPP torch, as recommended by [mention=975]tony b[/mention] was a great substitute because it uses so little fuel.  I think I change the bottle once every year and a half or so.  I also moved onto using the mini leaf blower because I was riled by the fact that [mention=2394]MacKenzie[/mention] said she could get a fire going quicker than me.  She was right and I have upped my speed game for when I need it.  I was skeptical of [mention=249]Syzygies[/mention]'use of isopropyl alcohol in his Solo stove but I find a few isopropyl soaked charcoal cubes give me a nice, quiet and full proof way to get the fire in my KK going.
What I don't understand is why anyone takes their basket out to light it or uses a separate chimney.  The KK works like the perfect chimney for me with the vents wide open at bottom and top, drawing the air through the fire basket and accelerating the fire.  Oh well, as [mention=3378]Basher[/mention] said: each to their own.  

The charcoal ignites only 10% better in the garden bed- that’s not why I do it.
I light the fire starter inside the KK so the match doesn’t blow out, then take the basket out and put it on dirt in the garden bed.
Then I sweep out the bottom with this

Then blow the charcoal then put the basket back in and open the vents.
It’s just a routine that works for me. Unless I’ve vacuumed the soot, the blower blows soot everywhere.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tekobo]

27 minutes ago, Basher said:

The charcoal ignites only 10% better in the garden bed- that’s not why I do it.
I light the fire starter inside the KK so the match doesn’t blow out, then take the basket out and put it on dirt in the garden bed.
Then I sweep out the bottom with this

Ah, like Mac I don't have anywhere safe to put a hot fire basket down and I do my clean up the opposite way round to you.  I take the basket out between cooks, clean out and top up coals so that I am good to go when I do want to light up for a cook.  Still not sure why the charcoal would ignite 10% better in the garden bed but I am guessing you had your tongue firmly in your cheek when you quoted that stat.   

[Jadeite]

I had no idea some people took the baskets out so frequently. All I will say is I am VERY glad Dennis added a hatch/door to the bottom of the 42" basket.. because honestly with the weight it makes me want to never take the basket out now since I can just access the bottom through the hatch  

[Syzygies]

5 hours ago, tekobo said:

I think we all come to this with our own method and don't tend to change.

There's a sweet spot for one's tendency to change, and I'd agree that many people fall on the conservative side. I perhaps fall too far on the other side; it takes great discipline for me to do anything the same way twice. Even making a meal I've cooked dozens of times, I'll recall a pair of approaches I've seen others use and test them once again against each other.

My wife was concerned, marrying me, because I'm generally so episodic and volatile.

Computer programmers love to debate programming languages. One learns to avoid such debates unless everyone in the discussion has mastered both languages under consideration.

I do believe that I've tried every method of lighting fires. That I've lost interest in further experiments is startling. I believe that I understand the problem.

For comparison, various people use my smoke pot. They didn't see the experiments. Some of them were pretty scary.

There are going to be many optimal approaches to lighting fires, because everyone has a different "cost function". One trades effort for time. The easiest approaches take longest for the fire to be ready (ok, I'm home) but also have the least predictable window where the fire is perfect for grilling (not ok).

However one lights a fire, then using a cordless blower goes a long ways toward eliminating unpredictability as to when the fire will be ready.

[jeffshoaf]

29 minutes ago, Syzygies said:

However one lights a fire, then using a cordless blower goes a long ways toward eliminating unpredictability as to when the fire will be ready.

I'be used my big Ego 56v battery blower to encourage fires when cooking in an 8 gallon potjie (annual family chicken stew) but that blower is too big and powerful for using in the KK and Santa Maria and i couldn't find a smaller battery powered blower that i wanted so i ordered an old-fashioned manual bellows from Amazon on prime day. It was delivered yesterday just as i was starting the fire for a pork chop cook on the Santa Maria. I'm thinking it will work week for the kk, Weber kettle, Santa Maria, and Solo bonfire as well. Unlike you, I've mainly used the solo for wienie roasts.

[Syzygies]

1 hour ago, jeffshoaf said:

I've used my big Ego 56v battery blower to encourage fires

Yep, I have their blower, and their self-propelled lawnmower, which came with 2.5 amp hour and 7.5 amp hour 56v batteries, respectively. I crave their POWER+ NEXUS PORTABLE POWER STATION as a generator alternative. The lawnmower is great.

I only ever use their blower with the turbo button held down; I wish it locked. It wouldn't be suitable for encouraging fires at the scale I cook. I already have a full set of Milwaukee batteries, chargers, and tools, so the feeble Milwaukee blower fit well into my routines. They also make an awesome tire inflator, with all the smarts one could only daydream about decades ago. I tossed the dated 12V inflator I used to use.

As a junior counselor I was left with campers on an Adirondack lake beach, while the counselor left with a camper who needed medical attention. It's unlikely that would be the protocol today. We got bored, and a camper suggested burning a giant tree stump (perhaps 6' cubed) on the sandy beach, far from anything else that could burn. We succeeded. A forest ranger appeared by motorboat, not pleased.

[tony b]

6 hours ago, jeffshoaf said:

i couldn't find a smaller battery powered blower that i wanted

I've used the FiAir for years now. Love it!

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D5FS7HA

But, alas, it's not available right now.

[jeffshoaf]

15 hours ago, tony b said:

I've used the FiAir for years now. Love it!

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D5FS7HA

But, alas, it's not available right now.

That's the kind of thing i had in mind while looking! I think "stick blower" - i thought DeWalt had one but all i can find now is larger than i wanted. If i get tired of pumping the manual one, I'll look again; it wood be nice to have one that uses the same batteries as my DeWalt 20v stuff so i don't have to deal with another charger.

[mguerra]

I have used MAPP torches, looft lighters, propane torches and so on. The easiest, cleanest, cheapest method is a Weber cube ( or other starter variant) under a chimney of charcoal. WAY better than paper, no ash. Light it and walk away. Try it you probably won’t go back to any other method. If you like use a hair dryer to speed it up. Fill your charcoal basket, place your starter cube or stick on top of the bed, put the chimney on top of that. No need to buy and use gas, nor stand there holding something.

Edited September 26, 2021 by mguerra
Clarity

[johnnymnemonic]

On 6/21/2021 at 12:11 PM, Jadeite said:

I know I am in the minority but I just use fire starter squares/sticks.. not the paraffin ones but the fibrous ones. It may take an extra.. 5-10 minutes to get to temp but I have never been in such a rush as to need a fire NOW to cook. Heating slower also was a good rule of thumb back when I had a BGE as I was convinced seeing all the people taking them to nuclear temps with MAP torches/weed burners without any heat soaking was the reason so many people had cracking issues in their eggs. I had mine 8+ years and never had even a hint of cracking.. but maybe I was just lucky.

nope.  I have had my egg for years and the only time I ever cracked my firebox I accidentally spilled liquid into the grill.  For the first few years I used the old wire-style electric starter and then I went to a looftlighter, but I only light about a baseball sized amount of charcoal, open the vents, close the lid, walk off and come back and set the vents and let my egg come up to temp slowly.  It's not luck.  You take care of your stuff, it lasts.

[Bunji]

I have found that Amazon is loaded with cheap clones of the SearPro/grillgun, so I’ve placed an order which should get here tomorrow. More compact that the full-on weed burner, and cheaper than buying a looftlighter or the cordless Milwaukee blower a few of yinz have. I figure when I get around to buying a cordless shop vac to clean the ashes out I’ll be able to use that as a blower in a pinch, but that will probably only be necessary if I want to quickly go from a low and slow coal bed up to a hotter fire for a sear or something like that.

[Mcdddy]

Are people using lump or briquettes? I have a problem with all the coals eventually catching - I have found after or during the cook when temp starts to dip that certain parts of the charcoal in the basket is caught and other areas are not. I find this is especially true if I reuse leftover charcoal- which I feel I must do to mound up the charcoal enough to try to ensure adjacent coals ignite. I have been using lump exclusively so far and have tried adding in cocochar ( which is very hard to ignite). I have been using a Fireboard but am wondering if not using it is better for long cooks. Is the top vent the most important for temp control? Maybe I’m not mounding up the charcoal enough and leaving it too spread out horizontally?

Can someone provide a general top and bottom vent setting for 225F for BB32?

I never had much of a problem with my KJ that uses a Round basket instead of elliptical.

When I tried using a chimney to light coals in my BB32 to ensure all coals would be lit it seems temps would rocket up way to too fast after closing the lid.

I’m still trying to figure out how best to build my fire to last and how best to light it.

I have also used the grill blazer which is fantastic and lit some charcoal but did not spread well to other charcoal after closing lid.
 

I usually do low and slow and do not want different heat zones but DO want indirect heat for entirety of cooking surface. Filling the entire basket full uses a ton of charcoal Is there a way to mound up the charcoal in the center of basket - I have thought of buying a second basket splitter just to get the second semicircular steel plate so I can cover the two ends and use the two trapezoidal plates to contain the charcoal in he middle.

Any help appreciated

Thanks

David

[Poochie]

Use lump, not briquettes....unless the briquettes are made from lump charcoal.  It'll say something like "All Natural Lump Briquettes."  But regular Kingsford, Royal Oak, Walmart...no to those briquettes. Fill the charcoal basket. You can reuse lump and it won't overshoot the temperature if you don't light too much at the beginning. If you're reusing lump, stir it around so the ashes fall to the bottom before you light it. 

If you want 225 and use a chimney, light about a cup or so of lump and dump it one corner.   Plan to wait at least one hour for the smoker to be ready to cook on.  Open up the vents, top and bottom until you reach around 175 then start closing them down. You don't want to over shoot it.  If you're doing something big like a brisket or Boston Butt, place an aluminum pan under it to catch the grease. You just made it indirect.  I light one side of the basket and plan to place the meat on the other side.  You'll get plenty of other opinions on how to do this because there's more than one way.  Good luck!

[tony b]

@Poochie's advice is spot on (for once! LOL!) The KK is very efficient once heat-soaked at the target temperature. It doesn't take a big fire on most cooks (under 400F) - just light one spot. If you're going for high temps, like for a pizza cook - you'll need to light a couple of spots to help speed up the process. I've never really had an issue with fire propagation, as long as you have a decent amount of charcoal in the basket.

Can't help with vent settings on the BB32, as I have a 23. But I can tell you the bottom vent is not very crucial for setting the temperature - just open enough for the airflow corresponding to the top vent. If the 32 behaves anything like my 23, the top vent for a 225F cook is just barely off the seat. 

Most of us here use lump vs briquettes. Definitely stay away from the cheaper brands (see Cowboy!) A lot of folks here are fans of FOGO and Jealous Devil lump, myself included. Royal Oak is decent and widely available at most Big Box hardware stores. The "guru" on charcoal is this guy: The Lump Charcoal Database -- Naked Whiz Charcoal Ceramic Cooking