And cooking on a grill in a parking lot full of vehicles coming and going and parking with engines running (some) doesn't get any smells transferred to the food? No thank you. Like I said, there is no discernable taste or smell from using the lighter fluid for us. Maybe tell your friends to lighten up on the quantity they use. But what ever, I'll keep doing it the way I have for decades and so will you. Next topic: I have been using drain oil for decades for bar oil with no bad effects. The husky 61 has been strong since 85' with drain oil used at least 20 years....maybe longer. I'll use real bar oil in the battery stihl I grabbed last summer though.
A lot of gas grill side burners, sans removable grate, fit a charcoal chimney like they were made for it. A heat gun works great as well. There’s definitely more than one way to swing a cat by its tail. To each his own I say. Mix it half and half with the lighter fluid for charcoal lighting… Boom recycling
I'm very mind full not to burn any pressure treated, plywood, OSB, painted or stained wood etc. Those were doug fir and cedar scraps.
I use lump here and mix in some wood as I cook. I will use briquettes but never as my first choice. Not a problem on short cooks like burgers/dogs and what not but way too much filler/ash for me on longer 8-12 hour cooks.
Great idea due the chimney starter! My current Weber doesn't have that side burner, but my next grill will. The last time my bottle of lighter fluid was used, was when my wife started a fire in the fire pit, because she's impatient and didn't want to make the fire like it should've been made. It's not like we were cooking on that fire though.
There are odorless and flavorless alternatives to lighter fluid for those without a charcoal chimney. Heck it’s even a little cheaper…
I've heard this, but so many do use it and debunked it... Even competition guys like Byron Mixon use it. Apparently their take is you need to let it burn off a bit and its just to get the fire going initially, once it's going you add more wood or charcoals to it. Now perhaps people are starting the fire with a load of lighter fluid and throwing meat on it right away, I get that 100% perhaps the taste transferring to the meat as the lighter fluid is burning off that smoke is hitting the meat..... I don't have experience to back that up, I don't use charcoal much, only initially w/ lump to get the offset going. I do use a chimney with some tinder and kindling or a food safe fire starter.
Maybe if you let it all burn off, sure, but my experience is that it doesn't actually burn off. Maybe Byron Mixons taste buds can't pick it out? Just like some people think that cilantro tastes like soap, and doesn't taste anything like that to others. It's definitely there, anytime I've had anything grilled on charcoal started with lighter fluid.
I think some people use far to0 much lighter fluid and start cooking too soon. That said, I've used olive oil and a paper towel, using a propane torch for the higher heat needed to get the oil going and that actually works fairly well.
Well a guy that’s hates coffee?!! His taste buds are suspect but yeah, i taste the chemicals with lighter fluid
Yep. I don't like coffee either. The only way it tastes goot is if you put a ton of other stuff in it.
Plus, briquettes are hygroscopic and probably almost require a heavy dose of fluid to get going once they've sat around for a while. I know I've had a hard time with last Summer's briquettes before.
