How do you light just a small number of coals ?

[Anonymouslemming]

wrap the coals in a cooking oil drenched paper towel, place in an inverted chimney and light.

That sounds like a cunning plan and worth a shot - I'll try that tomorrow thanks!

[OGMrWhite]

I just stick the chimney on the side burner for my gas grill. A trick I learned somewhere on this site. I think Huskee posted it.

[PenskeFile]

Same for me. I put the 12 or so coals in the Weber Chimney, tilt it about 45 degrees to bank them and then put on the burner for about 5 minutes.

[Anonymouslemming]

I just stick the chimney on the side burner for my gas grill. A trick I learned somewhere on this site. I think Huskee posted it.

I could try and use that as an excuse to get a gas grill, but I don't think it'll fly

[Max Good]

Paraffin or infused sawdust cube firestarters work great. I always use them to start coal in a kamado.

[CandySueQ]

Matchlight! ---running away now---

[Huskee]

Oh no you dittin!

[David Parrish]

Tumbleweeds! I love em. I also like the paraffin cubes.

[David Parrish]

For really small fires I use a propane torch. $20 at any big box home improvement store.

[Anonymouslemming]

I don't think I've seen any other than the small kitchen units near that price here and I'm guessing those aren't suitable.

I'm going to try the oil wrapped towel first, and if that doesn't work, then I'll look at one of those if I have to.

[Flavorsavor]

If I'm trying to maintain a weber kettle smoke session with 5-10 lit coals, I flip my chimney over and put the briqs in the concave side, set my fire cube (or alternatives mentioned above) on a softball-sized yard rock or one a few broken half-bricks I have set aside, and put the chimney on top of that. It gets the cube close to the charcoal and concentrates it on the smaller spot where the briqs are. Plus it's free, assuming you have some cr*p laying around and the cubes already. That being said, I like ernest's paper towel idea.

[HC in SC]

I just use the Weber mini-chimney and the paraffin cubes - on a paver as suggested by others.

The max it holds is about 40 briquettes, so dropping 5-20 in is no biggie, unlike the full size chimney.

[KenC52]

I have two ways of doing this. If I need to light 8 or more coals I put them in my chimney (I have two, a small one and a large one) and put them over the burner of my deep fryer (in East Texas we fry everything, well except for the things we smoke!) and light them up. If I am using a snake or fuse and need only 4 to 6 coals I use a homemade mini- charcoal starter. I took an old metal coffee can and using a beer opener (church key for those in the south, and as a minister I am allowed to use that term freely) punched holes in the side of the can all the way around the bottom. Then I put three sheet metal screws through the side of the can about an inch and a half from the bottom. I had a piece of stainless steel expanded metal (the thin kind) that I cut to fit inside the can, but not pass by the screws. I throw two or three cotton balls soaked in alcohol in the bottom of the can, put in the expanded metal, add 1 to 6 unlit coals to the can, and light the cotton balls through one of the holes punched in the bottom. Then set it on a non flammable surface till the coals are ready to use. Take a pair of tongs (I keep a pair just for moving charcoal around) and put the lit coals where you need them. I have used this mini chimney for several years now and just paint it over with grill paint about once a year. The hard part is finding a metal coffee can these days! Maybe a large baked bean can?

[JeffJ]

Just bank them to one side of the chimney and do everything else as you normally would.

[Yno]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS7n4kVL5kA

Works every time

[FLBuckeye]

Holy cow!!