How do I light a fire?

Many people enjoy barbecuing because it allows them to light a fire. Unfortunately, not a few aspiring pyromaniacs go so far in this that they are not satisfied until the flames flare high. However, that is not the point of barbecuing. First, it costs you a fortune in fuel, and second, it only produces burnt meat. That is inedible and unhealthy on top of it. What we want with a barbecue is a manageable fire. We achieve this by heating charcoal or briquettes so much that they give off flammable gases that maintain the fire without spreading flames. The high temperature of the coals creates heat with which the food is cooked.

There are several ways to light a barbecue fire, but only two good ones. A very popular, but life-threatening way that you should definitely not use is lighting using benzene, spirit, bioethanol, turpentine or similar substances. As soon as you open bottles of such stuff, gases escape that ignite near fire and cause stabbing flames. Moreover, they usually give off a pungent odor that you would rather not smell when you want to eat good food. Pundits who claim that this method works just fine should be ignored. The safe methods may take longer, but with them you will avoid singed eyebrows or much worse. Besides, where is it written that barbecue is hired work? If someone is so hungry that they can’t wait 15 minutes for the fire to get hot enough, tell them where to find a French fry store.

The traditional method
Place a pile of charcoal or briquettes on the bottom grid of your barbecue. Open the vents wide so that enough oxygen flows in. Stick some firelighters or kindling (dried wood shavings) into this. You could also possibly use crumbs of old newsprint, but they are saturated with chemical printing ink and burn up too quickly. Stick the cubes or wokkels sufficiently between the coals, otherwise only the top ones will ignite.

Use long matches to light the kindling on fire. Even better, you can use a burner. Such a crème brûlée burner, for example, if you have one at home, or even better a soldering torch (about €15 at the hardware store). Once the firelighters/wicks burn nicely, spread the coals as much as possible on and around the fire, without smothering it. Try to build a nice tower so that all the coals are heated well. For this, an old meat bar is quite suitable, but the novice barbecuer will not yet have one. Then look in your kitchen drawer to see if you still have one lying around, or buy one of those cheap things from the eurostore for this purpose.

Now let the coals burn nicely for about 15 to 20 minutes with the lid open. The coals are ready once those closest to the firelighters are covered with a white/gray layer of ash and are red hot inside. Voilà, that was all. Your barbecue is now ready for use without the fire department having to spring into action. The next step depends on what you want to prepare. If you want to grill exclusively, spread the coals evenly on the lower grid. On the other hand, if you are going to grill indirectly, put the coals on one side so that you get two zones with different temperatures: above the coals you sear the meat and above the other half you let it cook slowly.

The method with the briquette starter
This way works even faster and easier. Take a few firelighters and place them on the bottom grid of your barbecue. Fill the starter with the desired amount of briquettes (charcoal chunks may also be used) and place the starter over the firelighters. Then light the cubes with a long match or a burner. The flames find a way upward, thus heating all the coals evenly. After about 10 to 15 minutes, depending in part on the amount of fuel, the flames beat out of the starter. Once the top briquettes have turned white/gray, they are ready for use. You can now easily dump the coals on your lower grid.

Tip: When you pour out the coals, it is inevitable that soot particles will rise. Therefore, remove the top grill grate completely and wait a few minutes for the ashes to settle before putting it back. In this way, you prevent ash from getting on the grill and thus later on your meat.

For the smoker barbecue
You start the fire for your smoker in the same way as described above. Only after you have started the fire and the smoker has reached the right temperature are you going to add the smoke chips which will give the meat its characteristic flavor.
Smoking, by definition, is a method of slow cooking at a low temperature. For that, briquettes are better suited than charcoal.