🥩 Why You Should Stop Grilling with Lighter Fluid

For my 30th birthday, my wife got me a Big Green Egg, thus starting me on a wholistic reevaluation of my grilling process and techniques. After we moved to our current house from the sweet little condo, I had purchased a Weber Master Touch charcoal grill. I loved using that grill and will be very sad to part with it. Charcoal grills add so much to the flavor experience to the extent that I would simply cook in the cast iron skillet on the stove instead of using a gas grill. Starting and cooking over a live fire is also an excuse for me to slow down and live a bit more in the moment. That being said, lighting that flame takes extra effort! In college I had gotten used to using shredded cardboard and lighter fluid to start coals in a chimney starter. 

Chimney Starter: 

While the chimney starter does a great job of taking a small amount of input paper/cardboard and turning it into a roaring column of hot coals, I was still dependent on the liquid kiss of lighter fluid to get it going. In the past, chimney starter aficionados had relied on newspaper which combusts much more readily than torn Amazon boxes, but alas print media has largely declined (the last time I saw a newspaper was when I was flying private for work). In my shift to cooking on the emerald egg, one of the first things they'll tell you is to NEVER EVER use lighter fluid in the grill. Apparently the lighter fluid can soak into the ceramic and permanently create off flavors. Another change to my process, the green egg makes chimney starters unnecessary. Its Georgia Tech designed internal firebox and main structure cultivate the same airflow effect that a rocket engine or chimney starter seeks to create. To start the egg cooker, you simply dump lump charcoal into the firebox and then light it. But how?!? We'll look at the solutions and then I'll provide more arguments for why you should definitely kick the lighter fluid habit. 

The Answer(s)

As it would turn out, there are three excellent ways to light your charcoal grill, egg, weber kettle, or other choice apparatus. Based on years of comparative testing, I believe all three of the below alternatives will have your charcoal going faster than relying on liters of lighter fluid. 

Fire Starter Bricks

These odorless and tasteless compressed wood bricks are super dry and easy to start with a match or small flame of your choice. Toss them into the bottom of your chimney starter or right in the middle of your Big Green Egg Firebox and let natural combustion take it's course. A single brick is plenty per cook and you can find packs of 20 for around $15-$25 per pack. Look for ones with the smallest number of ingredients. Time to big flame is somewhere around 8-10 minutes. 

Blower Style Electric Lighters

Looking to me like a cross between a hair straightener and a blow drier, blower style lighters superheat streams of air, allowing you to focus this heat wave on your charcoals directly. You can typically also use them in blower only mode to push or pull air through your material, fanning the flames. They are a one-time purchase of between $25-$50 and you will need a plug nearby or extension cord in order to use it. It takes 2-3 minutes to get the coals going strong and you will need to hold it that whole time. Be careful where you put it down as the barrel will be very hot!

Coil Style Electric Lighters - My Pick!

Simple and old-school, the coil style electric lighter has been around almost as long as backyard grilling culture. These lighters consist of a wire heating element with a handle. You can find battery powered versions but most will plug-in, around $20-$40 one-time cost. I chose an extended model which has an angled handle to keep it out of the coals. Simply plunge the "Foot" of the heating loop into the middle of your chimney or firebox and wait 5-8 minutes. You don't need to hold it and can simply grab it out of the charcoals when the flame meets your fancy. Be careful of the handle because it could get hot, but I haven't had any issues with mine over the past few cooks. Likewise be careful where you sit this one down.

Electric starters are a huge boon and the coil style lighter is my personal favorite of these options. If you're cooking at the beach or in the woods, where a power source is nowhere to be found, starter bricks and matches would be my choice. 

Reasons to Leave Lighter Fluid Behind

It turns out that there are many reasons to kick the fire juice across flavor, health, and cost:

1. Flavor - From Food Network to  the Weber Grilling Company itself, everyone agrees that using lighter fluid or match light charcoal can leave unpleasant tastes on your food. I can definitely remember my grandpa firing up the grill quickly with a military amount of lighter fluid. It gets in the meat and will undo much of the flavor progress you hope to gain from the grill smoke or any wood additives. 
2. Health - The EPA found cursory evidence that lighter fluid increased the number of airborne intoxicants in the air as it boils off. Some of these potentially remaining on the food. They did have a tough time controlling for the general increase in particulates from the combustion of the charcoal. Ultimately, I'm not sure this is a significant enough reason by itself to quit lighter fluid, but when you have the option to simply remove the risk why wouldn't you? 
3. Cost - Lighter fluid doesn't ever go as far as I would have thought in terms of number of cooks enabled. A $6 bottle of lighter fluid lasts me probably 10 cooks, putting it even with or more expensive than the low end of the paraffin or wood fire starters which have much better impacts from a flavor perspective. After a year of cooking, the electric lighters are already saving you money versus continuing to buy lighter fluid (this depending on your frequency of use). 

All of that being said, the most important thing is taking care of your grill and guests. Best of luck with your charcoal fueled endeavors!