napkin and oil trick was messy

Foghorn

This place saved my butt last week at my in-laws when they were out of firestarters and I needed cook dinner.  My son remembered the paper towel and oil trick.  Worked like a charm.

In keeping with the OP of 3 years ago I thought I would contribute to the repurposing of this thread.

jaydub58

@fishlessman, McDonalds packets of what??? 

Little Steven

That sounds like a lot of oil man. I know a guy that uses a milliliter of used oil for ten rolls of recycled paper towels or napkins. Word is he is kind of thrifty.=)

fishlessman

jaydub58 said:

@fishlessman, McDonalds packets of what??? 

just edited, ketchup shines copper in mere seconds, wipe it on and rinse it off

Little Steven

henapple said:

funny... just got home to fire the egg up and no electricity. no heat gun, torch, cubes. trying the paper towel trick. daddy got to have some wings.

Late payment?

HofstraJet

jaydub58 said:

@fishlessman, McDonalds packets of what??? 

Ketchup.  The vinegar and salt combination cleans copper. Can be any ketchup.

northGAcock

That is helpful....now please splan how you get that cup holder to work.....oh never mind.

Beavercreek_Smoker

For what it's worth, I have used paper towels that I used to season my cast iron. Gets hot fast man...  But for me, I like the little square fire starters. Cheap, always available in a little plastic bin I keep with a lighter. I bought a couple boxes on Amazon of 144 each box. That was two years ago.

i light one in the center and build a little t-pee around the flame with the charcoal. I open a beer, put some tunes on and just enjoy the experience. After about 10 minutes, the starter burns out and the coals take over.i put in the grate, I close the lid (or put plate setter in first if using it) and run it wide open top and bottom vents and wait till it gets up to temp and I start closing things down to regulate and wait for the VOC's to burn off and a clear smoke. This process takes 45-60 minutes and is ready for the food. This is my time away from the outside world, just an hour. It's all I need to recharge. 

So for me, it's not about how fast I can get the meat on, it's about relaxing. Prepping food and cooking is very relaxing for me. It's my golf. I'll spend from lunch to dinner prepping the dinner on the weekends if life permits. When the wife and I have long days at work and come home late and tired, it's not a day to fire up the egg.

But that's just how I roll. Like I said many times, what ever works best for you is the best way to do it. Enjoy the man fire thing and experiment. It's all good...