The way to light a Kamado grill is not much different than other grills that use charcoal as a fuel source. Everyone has his or her own preferred way how to light a Kamado grill and here I will tell you about the most used ones.
Personally, I do not like to use charcoal starter fluid or starter blocks that have chemicals in them. I believe that the smell will be absorbed by the ceramic in the Kamado.
Charcoal starter chimney
I have used this method for many years not and the advantage is that you only have a one-time expense to purchase the charcoal chimney. Mine has lasted me for over 10 years before I had to replace it.
The way you use a chimney starter to light the charcoal for your Kamado grill is very simple.
- Fill the chimeny with the amount of charcoal you need
- Light crumbled up news paper under it.
- Wait till the charcoal is lid.
- Pour the charcoal in your Kamado.
Tumble weed fire starters
This method has gained a lot of popularity among Kamado grill users since they are so easy to use and very affordable.
The way you use these Tumble Weed firestarters is that you place them in the middle of the charcoal at the bottom of your Kamado-style cooker and light them. Now pile the charcoal on top of them and wait till it is lit.
Electric Charcoal starters
Electric charcoal starters are very easy to use and all you need is a good extension cord to use them. The reason for the extension cord is that most of the time the starter comes with a short cord.
There are two types to choose from. The electric lighter with a heating coil and the one that blows very hot air on your coals to start them.
Looflighter
The looflighter is probably the most known and used hot air charcoal starter.
Al you do is point it at your charcoal and according to the many users, you will have started a fire in about 3 minutes.
Heating coil charcoal starter
There are many to choose from and maybe later I will review a few of them to help you find the best electric charcoal starter.
With this way of starting the charcoal in your Kamado-style grill, you might have to be a little patient. Because they work by transferring heat from the coil to the charcoal it touches it will need more time to start a charcoal fire.
Gas Torch Lighter
If you have propane available or buy a small portable gas torch you can get a charcoal fire started fairly fast. There are many models and sizes available.
The advantage of the gas torch lighter is that you can also use it to start the Tumble Weed I mention above or the newspaper under your chimney starter.
How To Light A Kamado Grill – my opinion
There is not much difference in how you start your charcoal in the Kamado grill. It is a personal thing and everyone has his or her preferred method.
I like my chimney starter since I can also use that to start the charcoal in my other grills. I also have a creme brulee propane torch that I use to start the newspaper under my chimney starter and/or the tumbleweed starters I also use.
After reading this I have to tell you that there is also the best way to shut down the fire in a Kamado grill if you like to know about that since it is very important to do that the right way.
Now you know about all the ways how to light a Kamado grill you should read on how to adjust the temperature on a Kamado grill and keep it on the setting you need.
Jeffrey Brooks
Jeffrey Brooks is an experienced backyard griller that uses a Kamado grill for most of all the cooking he is doing. With his experience, he will do reviews and answer every question you have about Kamado Grills. You can read more about Jeffrey Brooks