How to Start A BBQ Fire with Charcoal and Firelighters
With the start of National BBQ Week just around the corner and temperatures rising steadily all across the country, it definitely feels like BBQ enthusiasts are finally getting their chance to shine and showcase their grill skills.
At the same time, there’s quite a lot of more inexperienced BBQ masters who are yet to light their first fire of the season, and even more people who are completely new to the world of BBQ, grills, and charcoal.
While lighting a BBQ fire with balls of paper or firelighters might seem like a fairly straightforward process, there’s more to this simple routine that meets the eye. Lighting a fire is often not just the first step to building a memorable BBQ but also an integral part of what creates a powerful, sustainable barbecue flame.
So, if you’re one of the BBQ uninitiated and wondering how to start a BBQ fire with charcoal and firelighters, keep reading to find out what makes for the best approach!
1. Invest In High-Quality Charcoal & Natural Firelighters
Not all firelighters are created equal, and not all lumpwood charcoal will give you the no-fuss, perfect barbecue flame you’re after.
So, the first step for learning how to light a BBQ with firelighters and how to ignite your BBQ fire with charcoal is to invest in high-quality charcoal and natural firelighters — all of which can be found just a click away!
Lekto Natural Firelighters are the perfect choice for lighting a long-lasting fire quickly and sustainably, with our compressed wood shavings burning for up to 10 minutes and working wonders on wood-burning stoves, open fires, chimineas, pizza ovens, and, of course, BBQs. Lekto lumpwood charcoal, on the other hand, is the ideal choice for delivering a restaurant-grade grilling experience to your BBQs. This extra-dry hardwood charcoal allows you to light your BBQ fire incredibly fast and with a burning time of up to 2 hours. Made from premium Alder wood and offering an exceptionally high heat output, our restaurant-grade lumpwood charcoal is the one barbecue essential you need for making the most out of BBQ Week!
2. Arrange Your Charcoal Right
The second essential step for lighting a long-lasting BBQ fire in the least amount of time is to arrange both your natural firelighters and lumpwood charcoal right, using their positioning to your advantage.
The secret is to arrange your charcoals in a stack, placing your natural firelighters between the charcoal before lighting them up and waiting patiently for the fire to catch. You’ll want to let the charcoal burn on its own and only add a couple more charcoals outside of the barbecue if you notice the flame is starting to die down.
You can arrange your barbecue charcoal in different ways according to what you’re planning to cook with them, such as covering the whole barbecue with an even layer of coals for more direct heat (perfect for burgers) or arranging them all on one side only to allow other foods to be cooked on an indirect heat instead.
3. Recognise When They’re Ready
Those who are completely new to the world of BBQs might not know this, but you should never cook your meats and veggies over a lit flame! The key to mastering how to light a charcoal BBQ with firelighters (in a way that won’t burn your food beyond repair) is to make sure you know when your charcoal is ready to go.
The best way to assess whether it’s time to start grilling is to keep an eye out for changes in your coal’s colour: White charcoals with bright read centres mean your food is ready to be placed over direct heat, while black or grey flaming coals might need a little bit more time before they’re ready to shine!
Your Ultimate Guide to BBQ & Grill Magic
So, know that you know where to buy firelighters that won’t let you down and how to start a BBQ fire with charcoal and firelighters in the most efficient way, what about getting a refresher of the best BBQ recipes to experiment with?
Between these delicious, creative recipes and our brand-new BBQ & Grill range, perfect for exploring all the best BBQ wood fuels on the market, barbecue season has never been better. No matter if you’re a self-proclaimed grill master or a green BBQ enthusiast looking forward to lighting the first fire of the season, keep your eyes on Lekto for everything you need to know about BBQ fire, wood-burning tips, and beyond!