charcoal chimney

Definition: charcoal chimney - A tool used outdoors to start charcoal for the grill. It's made out of an aluminum or stainless steel cylinder with a grate inside about three inches from the bottom. Insert charcoal on top of the grate. Crumple up a sheet or two of newspaper and insert in the bottom. Ignite the newspaper. The "chimney" effect of the starter will light the charcoal and get them more evenly burning than you could on a grill with starter fluid. Charcoal chimneys have an insulated handle to accommodate dumping the charcoal on the grill. After lighting the newspaper, it takes about 10 to 15 minutes for the charcoal to be ready to use.

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