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I read somewhere that there
are a kazillion carcinogens in charcoal smoke. Well,
like the sodium laurel (or is it laureth?) sulfate in my toothpaste
and shampoo, I generally try to pretend that if I don't think
about them, they won't hurt me. So, chemical components of
charcoal safely out of mind, I still can't help but feel uncomfortable
dousing the pile of cancer clumps with half a bottle of stinky,
combustible fluid. Charcoal chimney
to the rescue!
I'm wild about this baby. It's an old-fashioned apparatus
that allows you to light charcoal without the use of fluid.
It's a metal cylinder with a top shelf for charcoal. In the
bottom, you stuff a few sheets of newspaper and light them.
They in turn light the charcoal. It only takes a few more
minutes than using fluid, and you get a pile of perfectly
evenly glowing briquettes. They sell for around $9 - $15 at
many places you buy charcoal grills, or you can get them online
at
Cooking.com .
 Stuff a few
crumpled sheets of newspaper in the bottom. We found that
one full sheet works best with our chimney, but you might
experiment with yours. Don't stuff too much in there, or it
won't get enough oxygen and won't burn long enough to light
the coals.
 Fill the
top with briquettes.
 Light the
newspaper. This may take a few tries. If it all burns up before
the charcoal's really going, just stuff a few more pieces
in and start over. If your paper has burned up and you're
not sure if it has caught, just lift it up and peek underneath.
You'll be able to tell if the coals are burning.
 Let the coals
go up in flames. The bottom ones will get hot first, but the
ones on top will quickly follow.
 Once the big
fire has subsided, the coals on top are glowy with an ashy
finish, they're ready to go. Just dump them into your grill
and spread them out evenly. Voilà!
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