First time using a charcoal chimney instead of lighter fluid - night and day difference

I've been bbq'ing for about 4 years now and always just used lighter fluid to get my coals going. Last weekend I finally grabbed a $15 charcoal chimney from Ace Hardware. The difference was crazy - my coals were ready in like 12 minutes instead of 20, and I didn't get that chemical taste people always talk about. Has anyone else made that switch and noticed their meat tasting cleaner?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakota_patel9823d ago

Man, lighter fluid is just ruined meat waiting to happen.

seth_harris3624d ago

Man that's EXACTLY what happened to me. I used lighter fluid for YEARS and never really noticed the taste until I switched to a chimney last summer. Now I can't go back. The chemical aftertaste on ribs and chicken was REAL I just didn't know it. My pork butts come out tasting way cleaner now, like I can actually taste the wood smoke instead of that petroleum junk. Makes me almost mad I wasted so many cooks with that stuff.

elliot_barnes24d ago

Yeah @seth_harris36 it's wild how blind we were to that taste for so long.