Believe me, I'm looking for a quicker start chimney than the Weber. And I was impressed by fzxdoc 's review, and I don't doubt her results. And I'm sure most Half-time chimneys are of good quality.
The problems in the reviews seem to be centered around inconsistent build quality. Some excellent, some not so excellent. But their design seems to be better for a quick start than Weber's. Maybe their build quality will become more consistent.
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
Believe me, I'm looking for a quicker start chimney than the Weber. And I was impressed by fzxdoc 's review, and I don't doubt her results. And I'm sure most Half-time chimneys are of good quality.
The problems in the reviews seem to be centered around inconsistent build quality. Some excellent, some not so excellent. But their design seems to be better for a quick start than Weber's. Maybe their build quality will become more consistent.
Maybe some are knockoffs? Who knows. I just used mine over the weekend and will be using it again tomorrow. It is in great shape--no rust, no loose or broken rivet attachments. Maybe it's because I keep it stored inside my PBC when not in use? Anyway, so far so good.
Maybe some are knockoffs? Who knows. I just used mine over the weekend and will be using it again tomorrow. It is in great shape--no rust, no loose or broken rivet attachments. Maybe it's because I keep it stored inside my PBC when not in use? Anyway, so far so good.
Kathryn
Maybe yours was built on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. A lot of the reviewers on Amazon seem to have one that was built on a Monday or Friday.
But I'm tempted to try one. The price is right and the design is right. And Amazon's return policy is 2nd to none.
Edited to add: Well hell, I just ordered one. $10. Maybe I'll get one that was built on a Tuesday. I like the idea of searing steaks on top of it since it has such a large diameter.
Last edited by TBoneJack; April 18, 2019, 03:58 PM.
Equipment:
'88 Vintage Fire Magic gasser with over 4000 cooks to its credit
Large Big Green Egg
18 Inch Weber Kettle (Rescued from neighbor's trash)
Rotisserie for 18 inch kettle
Dyna Glo propane smoker
Pit Barrel Cooker
Smokey Joe with mini WSM mod
Garcima paella burner
Anova Sous Vide
Slaiya Sous Vide (gift)
LEM grinder, sausage stuffer and meat slicer (all gifts)
I've had one of the Char Broil Half Time starters for well over a year. After a few uses, the aluminum pop rivets that held the grid or whatever you call the piece that supports the charcoal burned out. I replaced them with steel pop rivets and it's been good to go since then. In fairness to the manufacturer, I use an old fish fry propane burner to light the charcoal. I doubt that's what the designers intended. That aside, I really like the thing for lighting charcoal and, as others have mentioned, as a searing burner. When I want a really hot sear, I use it upside down.
Maybe some are knockoffs? Who knows. I just used mine over the weekend and will be using it again tomorrow. It is in great shape--no rust, no loose or broken rivet attachments. Maybe it's because I keep it stored inside my PBC when not in use? Anyway, so far so good.
Kathryn
Well, after a few uses of my Char-Broil "Half-Time", I've gone back to my Weber chimney. It's of better quality, and just as fast to get charcoal started.
Yes, TBoneJack , my big Weber Chimney is just as fast as the Char-Broil Half Time that I use, but the Weber Compact chimney is waaaay slow in comparison (at least from my testing and actual use results).
I wanted a shorter chimney for the PBC, not the tall one. Is it a Weber Compact that you have that is as fast as the Char Broil Half Time?
Wow fzxdoc, it's cool to see others reading/commenting BBQ in the early morning as well.
To answer your question, my Weber chimney is the full-sized version. I've never tried the compact version.
I'll still use the Half-time chimney on excursions to my hunting club, because of its compact size, and space for searing steaks. Since I'm not a very good hunter, I tend to cook way more beef than venison.
Last edited by TBoneJack; June 16, 2019, 06:05 AM.
Good to know, TBoneJack . I was starting to get envious that you had a compact Weber that heated the coals up as quickly as a CharBroil Half Time or a full size Weber chimney. I guess I'll have to go back to focusing my envy on folks who have a KBQ.
K.
Oh and I've already baked 2 batches of brownies this morning. Got a jump on the day for sure.
Pit Barrel Cooker Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber 22" Kettle Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber Rapid Fire Chimney Maverick ET50 Anova Sous Vide
Brisket knives
Fire Board Controller
Shed claws
Wood Cutting Board
Grill Plate for Kettle
Gloves
Injection syringe
I couldn’t stand parting with my original chimney so I put in 40 briquettes, marked a line pulled out the grinder and cut away the top. It not pretty but works great and so easy in the pbc!
jecucolo could you post an after pic? I was curious on how it would look. It may be different because when I ordered my PBC I went out and picked up a brand new weber chimney so I am wondering how the handle looks. I am probably going to end up getting the one fzxdoc is using for the size if I cant get the cut to look good. Has anyone actually used the one that PBC actually makes themselves?
Pit Barrel Cooker Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber 22" Kettle Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber Rapid Fire Chimney Maverick ET50 Anova Sous Vide
Brisket knives
Fire Board Controller
Shed claws
Wood Cutting Board
Grill Plate for Kettle
Gloves
Injection syringe
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
Just because I was looking at getting the shorter chimney for my new PBC. I saw the reviews of the PBC branded ones on Amazon and I decided to use the elusive search function here and found this post. Finding the tested brands that fzxdoc looked at I decided to go back to Amazon yesterday to order and happily wait for it to arrive. However at that moment yesterday the cheapest one that I could find for the Char-Broil version was for $26 instead of the $11 that was mentioned at the start of the post! Decided to add it to my wish list and to check back on it since it was not sold like normal. You had to choose a seller. Popped back on there today and it is available at the $10 price range again. And now I do my happy wait and it will be delivered on Thursday. I didn't want to cut my big Weber down since I am planning on a kettle purchase soon .
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
That was the bind I was in, AverageJoe . I didn't want to cut my full size Weber chimney down because I use it with my WSCGC. But I was fed up with the loooong wait time for the Weber Compact to bring the coals up to the topmost-coals-just-starting-to-ash-over stage for use with my PBC. So the Char Broil Half Time was a good solution.
Beware, though: some people say their CBHT chimney rusted out too soon. Mine is still going strong with a few rust marks but no rusted out areas or rusted grommets holding the handle. Seems like Char-Broil's quality control is hit/miss.
fzxdoc it will be stored in a storage shed. A little rust isn't going to hurt coals heating up, and for $10 if I can get a few years out of it then it is a cheap item to replace unlike a grill monitoring system.
fzxdoc wow that is crazy. I will have to document mine then. I wonder what would cause it to go out so fast or how much abuse it takes to have that happen. I wonder if using it as a seer grill and leaving the coals in it and a fast cool down such as rain or water hose may have some mass affect on it. I cook all year long so winter time comes I can use the snow to do some shock tests on it.
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