We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more.

The Best Charcoal Grill Starter Alternatives so You Can Get Grilling

These are safe, efficient tools to start the fire

Hand emptying the Weber 7416 Rapidfire Chimney Starter on to a grill

The Spruce Eats / Russell Kilgore

Once you’ve got a charcoal grill, you’re on your way to some delicious backyard grilling. Before you can chow down on burgers, hot dogs, and, you have to accomplish one thing first: lighting your grill.

There are a handful of different methods to light a charcoal grill, so understanding which approach will best suit your needs is imperative. Your grilling experience, budget, and supplies will all determine which method makes sense for your grilling setup. Regardless, it’s important to always use safe lighting practices and heat-protecting gloves and mittens when necessary.

While you certainly can light a grill with lighter fluid, it’s the least ideal method; it can be dangerous, and the fumes can be rather harsh. If you’re looking for ways to get a flame going without dousing your coals in lighter fluid, there are plenty of options.

Best Chimney

Weber Rapidfire Chimney Starter

Amazon Weber Rapidfire Chimney Starter

Amazon

What We Like
  • Holds plenty of charcoal

  • Lights evenly and rapidly

  • Empties smoothly using ergonomic handle

What We Don't Like
  • Requires newspaper, kindling, or lighter cubes

A chimney starter lets you get a fire going quickly and with minimal fuss in your charcoal grill: no need to stack briquettes into a perfect pyramid or worry about a breeze blowing out the pile just as you get a flame started. The chimney’s tube keeps briquettes or lump charcoal in a neat column that lets air circulate to light every piece.

Julie Laing, who tested the fire starters in this roundup, has been lighting her grill with Weber’s standard chimney for years. It holds up to 5 pounds of briquettes, which gives plenty of heat to grill an entire meal, from appetizer to dessert, or multiple rounds of corn on the cob.

Made of quick-heating aluminized steel, this chimney has two handles: a thermoplastic one with an ergonomic grip that stays fairly cool to the touch and a metal handle that helps direct the hot coals into a precise spot on the grill. Be sure to pull on protective gloves before grabbing the metal one.

The cone-shaped grate in the bottom of the chimney encourages flames to rise through the center of the charcoal. You do need a way to get those flames going, such as stuffing newspaper or dryer lint under the chimney before setting it on the charcoal grate or setting kindling or a lighter pod on the charcoal grate before placing the chimney over it. Once flames start, it takes 15 to 20 minutes for a full chimney to be ready to use.

Material: Aluminized steel | Dimensions: 8.1 x 12.5 x 12.7 inches | Weight: 3.5 pounds

Best for Beginners

Weber Lighter Cubes

Weber FireStarters Light Cubes

 Courtesy of Amazon

What We Like
  • Chimney and lighter cubes as a set

  • Paraffin wax cubes

  • Lightweight and compact

What We Don't Like
  • Inflammable cube packaging

If you’re new to grilling with charcoal and just plan to cook meals for two or the occasional round of burgers, these lighter cubes may be all you need to get grilling. A pack of 24 comes ready-to-use and is available as a set with both the standard and compact Weber Chimney. The compact version does hold less charcoal than the full-size model, so it only takes 10 to 15 minutes to light when brimming. The lighter cubes fit neatly under the chimney and can be lit even in wet conditions. 

Like the larger Rapidfire model, the compact chimney is made of aluminized steel, which helps to spread flame and heat the charcoal evenly. The lighter starters look like ice cubes but consist of highly flammable paraffin wax. No filler or burnable packaging holds the cubes together, so all packaging will end up in your recycling or trash. This also means the cubes will melt through the grill grate as they burn, leaving a bit of residue in your grill.

Material: Paraffin wax | Weight: 9 ounces | Indoor/Outdoor: Both

Best Sustainable

Superior Trading Co. All Natural Fire Starter

 Superior Trading Co. All Natural Fire Starter
Amazon.
What We Like
  • Easy to light

  • Tasteless, smokeless, and odorless

  • Burns for about 15 minutes per pod

What We Don't Like
  • Bulky, with tendency to flake

An all-natural fire starter gets charcoal burning quickly and cleanly without adding odors or off-flavors to your food. Superior Trading Co., a U.S. company that employs disabled veterans to help make its fire starters, packs wood shavings into little paper cups. Food-grade wax holds everything together in a little, fully flammable package that sits steadily on a charcoal grate.

The pods burn longer than any other fire lighters we tested, and we only needed to light one pod to fire up a full chimney of briquettes. A pyramid of charcoal takes a little longer to light, since the heat has to spread outward instead of up the chimney. Two pods set on untreated briquettes at the edges or a single pod tucked into the center of a large heap can burn for up to 15 minutes, long enough to set the charcoal ablaze.

The pods’ size leads to their long burn time: each starter is larger than the other tested options. The open top of the cup makes it easy to light but also a bit messier, with some shavings flaking off in the storage bag.

Material: Wood shavings, food-grade wax, paper cup | Weatherproof: Yes | Indoor/Outdoor: Both

Best Lighter Cubes

Bangerz Sunz Fire Starter Squares

Bangerz Sunz Fire Starter Squares

Homedepot

What We Like
  • Compact and small

  • Easy to light along torn edges

  • Inexpensive

What We Don't Like
  • May need to use two or three at a time

You can minimize the mess of starting a charcoal grill with these eco-friendly starter squares. Made of recycled wood chips compressed into wax, they come in sheets and break apart like a Kit Kat bar. The rough edges give a flame something to grab onto, making them easy to light. The starters pack tightly into a recyclable plastic bag inside a cardboard box, so there’s no excess packaging or individual wrappers.

We found that each starter burns for about eight minutes, which is enough to get a charcoal chimney going but too quick to completely light a charcoal pile. We recommend nestling two or three among untreated briquettes so that the flames reach the mound’s center. These are the most affordable single-use starters tested, so it’s still cost-effective to double up on squares.

These compact starters have uses beyond lighting a charcoal grill. By tucking one into the end of a smoke tube, we could match-light the starter and get it to burn long enough for the hardwood pellets to smolder, turning a charcoal grill into a smoker.

Material: Recycled wood chips, wax | Weatherproof: Yes | Indoor/Outdoor: Both

Best Waterproof

FireFlame Instant Fire Starter

FireFlame Quick Instant Fire Starter

Amazon

What We Like
  • Are indeed very weatherproof

  • Lights immediately

  • Produces an intense flame

What We Don't Like
  • Can get pricey if you need to more than one

The FireFlame Quick Instant Fire Starter pouches are designed to withstand rain, snow, and wind, making them a great choice for fall and winter grilling and smoking. We left one sitting in a bowl of water for a few minutes before setting a match to it and saw an immediate flame. When we laid the wet, yet burning, pouch on the charcoal grate and set a full chimney over it, flames licked up the chimney’s briquettes within a couple of minutes.

The individual pouches look like plastic but are actually compressed vegetable oil and fully flammable. Touch a lit match to one, and it immediately lights like a candle wick, melts the paraffin wax inside, and keeps it burning. We found that each pouch releases an intense flame only for about five minutes.

A single pouch is effective when paired with a charcoal chimney or surrounded by smoker pellets at the open end of a smoke tube. By burying two or three pouches into a charcoal mound, we could light them with a match, propane torch, or electric grill starter and quickly have the entire pile burning. Unfortunately, doubling up gets expensive because the cost per pouch is higher than other single-use starters we tested.

Material: Paraffin wax, vegetable oil | Weatherproof: Yes | Indoor/Outdoor: Both

Best Cord-Free

JJGeorge Grill Torch Charcoal Starter

JJGeorge Grill Torch Charcoal Starter

Amazon

What We Like
  • No electrical outlet needed

  • Long nose to light from afar

  • Minimal sparking

What We Don't Like
  • Requires propane refills

A long-nozzle propane torch lets you stand back when starting a heap of charcoal. The JJGeorge grill torch attaches to a bottle of propane at one end of its shaft and the flame comes out the other end, 20 inches away. Turning on the gas and clicking the self-ignitor halfway down the shaft sparks the flame.

The nozzle angles downward from the bottle, making it easy to set the torch to a pile of charcoal or a smoke tube of pellets when adding wood-smoke flavor to grilled salmon or mushrooms. We didn’t find it as useful with a charcoal chimney, whose briquettes need to be lit from below.

You can use this torch to light untreated briquettes without sneaking in a lighter cube or two, but the process takes time, burning through fuel while you stand amid drifting smoke. During testing, the torch got briquettes smoking in less than 15 seconds but needed to run about five minutes to effectively light the pile. After hiding a couple of starter squares among the briquettes, we found we could switch off the torch after a few seconds and the starter squares would spread the flame.

Weight: 15.2 ounces | Dimensions: 21 x 2 x 4 inches | Output: 20,000 BTUs | Indoor/Outdoor: Both

Final Verdict

For a quick, efficient way to start a charcoal grill, we recommend the Weber Standard Rapidfire Chimney Starter. Pair it with Superior Trading Co. All-Natural Fire Starters for an immediate woosh of flame beneath the charcoal tower, or light just this fire starter in a pile of charcoal to get it crackling.

How We Tested

We sent these starters to be tested on Julie Laing’s charcoal grill. Julie spent weeks lighting up her grill with each, confirming the best lighting method for each. She tested for how easy it was to use, whether it held up to any weatherproofing claims, and how cost effective it was or wasn’t when it came to getting her grill started. 

Other Options We Tested

MIGI WOLF Electric Charcoal Fire Starter: This looked like a promising electric option, with its push-button starter and built-in fan to improve air circulation. Yet during testing, it was the slowest to light a heap of untreated briquettes in a kettle grill, showing ash on just a few targeted briquettes after 10 minutes. At the 8-inch distance recommended by the manufacturer to keep heat gun’s end from warping, the fan weakly spreads and expands the flame.

This electric starter fared better when paired with lighter cubes, but Laing still needed to hit a full pile of briquettes from several angles to light them completely. As a safety feature, the button starter springs back automatically when you release it, which means you need to hold it down the entire time this device is working. Although it proved less effective in a kettle grill, it may be an acceptable option if your grill’s charcoal grate is too deep or narrow to hold a chimney starter.

A person lights charcoal in a grill with the MIGI WOLF Electric Charcoal Fire Starter.

The Spruce Eats / Julie Laing

What to Look for in a Charcoal Grill Starter

Ease of Use

A chimney starter is the easiest to set up and works quickly, since its shape directs airflow up the column of charcoal. It does need an initial spark, and coaxing newspaper or kindling to life beneath one can take some time and effort, especially on a windy or wet day.

Lighter cubes fire up quickly in all sorts of conditions, but getting their flame to spread through untreated briquettes or lump charcoal can require intentional placement and patience. We had the best success with the single-use lighters we tested when we settled two or three amid a charcoal pyramid so that they were beneath some briquettes and could ignite them from below. Optionally, a long-nozzle propane torch makes it easy to direct the flame to semi-buried lighter squares.

The most straightforward, low-maintenance way to start a charcoal grill is to pair a charcoal chimney with a lighter pod. Less finicky than paper, one touch of the match gets the lighter pod going. Placing the charcoal-loaded chimney over it draws the flame up to the briquettes, quickly setting them alight.

Price

Comparing fire starter prices can be challenging, because some are one-and-done pods, others need refueling, and others are a one-time expense (not counting the charcoal and matches). Buy a charcoal chimney and scrounge for paper or kindling if you want a tool that will last for years without added cost. In testing, a single lighter cube was enough to get a chimney of charcoal going, so adding a bag to your supplies, especially for wet or windy days, can be worth the price.

If you like stacking charcoal into a neat pyramid, lighter cubes can get your creation burning. You’ll likely need to burn up two or three cubes each time you grill, increasing your cost per cooking session. Propane torches require single-use canisters of fuel that will need replacing occasionally.

Clean Up

Charcoal grills will always leave some ash behind that should be cleaned out after every use to keep the grill in top shape and cooking evenly. Newspaper and kindling can add to the ash load, but wax-based starters are designed to burn down more cleanly.

Pure-wax starters can melt through the grill grate, leaving a bit of residue and making them less effective. To reduce the residue, Laing recommends setting a couple of briquettes on the grill’s charcoal grate, balancing a starter cube on top, and then lighting the cube before setting a chimney full of charcoal over it.

FAQs

How do you start a charcoal grill? 

The easiest way to light a charcoal grill is to fill a chimney with charcoal, put flammable material under the chimney grate, and light the material, letting the flames rise through the chimney to ignite the charcoal. This technique is effective with lump charcoal or briquettes that haven’t been pretreated with a match-light activator. Crumpled newspaper, dryer lint, kindling, and commercially made starters are all flammable options that you can light with a match or long-nose lighter.

Without a chimney, you can stack charcoal in a pyramid and place fire starters within it. When you light the starters, flames will soon poke through the gaps in the charcoal. When the coals develop a little bit of gray-white ash on their surface, they are hot and ready to be spread and used.

Beyond flammable material and a match, there are a few other ways to start charcoal in a grill. The least ideal is lighter fluid, which can be extremely dangerous and releases intense fumes into the air around you and into your food. If you do use lighter fluid, it’s unsafe to pour it directly onto a hot flame; instead, add it to unheated charcoal and then light the charcoal with a long-nosed lighter.

Safer options include propane torches and electric starters. Some models direct a flame and even blow air onto the charcoal from above, and others are placed at the bottom of the charcoal to get a flame going.

How do you use a charcoal chimney starter? 

To use a charcoal chimney starter, place flammable material under the chimney’s grate and charcoal in the chimney’s tower and then light the material with a match. Once the starter’s flames spread to the charcoal, they will climb up the tower until they dance out the top, heating the charcoal and starting to coat it in white ash. After about 15 or 20 minutes (or less if you only partially filled the chimney), the coals will be ready to dump onto the grill.

Even with a thermoplastic handle, it’s safest to put on a heat-protective mitt before grabbing the chimney’s handle, dumping the coals on the grill’s charcoal grate, and spreading them evenly or into cooking zones. Once the coals are in the grill, set the cooking grate over them and cover the grill for a few minutes of preheating. When it’s hot, adjust the grill’s dampers to your desired temperature and start cooking.

Why Trust The Spruce Eats?

Julie Laing has been a writer and editor for more than 25 years and is the author of the weekly newspaper column and food blog, Twice as Tasty. She has been lighting charcoal for decades in a thrice-handed-down Weber kettle grill, circa 1998, to cook fish, vegetables, fruit, and more. She even grills vegetables to use in pickles, relishes, and salsas, some of which are included in her cookbook, "The Complete Guide to Pickling." Julie personally tested six of the charcoal grill starters for this roundup.

Sara Tane has written nearly a dozen buying guides for The Spruce Eats, understanding what consumers and cooks need to consider before making a new purchase for their culinary adventures. After researching gas grills, charcoal grills, budget grills, portable grills, she can help you find the best outdoor cooking set up for your home.

Originally written by
Sara Tane
Sara Tane
Sara Tane is a food writer and private chef. She has a degree in culinary arts from Institute of Culinary Education and covers food for The Spruce Eats.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Article Sources
The Spruce Eats uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. EPA. Estimation of Emissions From Charcoal Lighter Fluid and Review of Alternatives.

Continue to 5 of 6 below.