Starting the Fire

c in t · September 2002

What is the consensus out there on how to light the fire for a low-and-slo? I have seen a few seemingly contradicting postings on this in the past.[p]Some say to light from the top for low-and-slo and to light from the bottom for a high temp cook. A recent post indicated that every-time he had a problem with the fire going out it was from lighting his charcol from the top; I also experienced a problem keeping my fire going on my first Pork Butt and I started my fire from the top.[p]Anyway, what seems to work best for you??

WessB · September 2002

c in t,
I used to do exactly as you said...top for lo and slo and bottom for high temp...as of late and probably just out of laziness, I always light from the top with starter cubes and occasionally a propane torch..[p]Wess

Unknown · September 2002

c in t,
yup, I follow the principle of:
On high for low and
on low for high!
Either way I never use more than one Weber cube.[p]Are you sure your bottom opening in properly lined up with your vent?
Also are you sure you're not choking your fire down too much for the lo temps or maybe the fire didn't get a good hold before you choke it?
And lastly, have you checked your thermometer? Even a low fire will draft air and sustain itself.

Chuck · September 2002

c in t,[p]I have always lit from the bottom and have had great success using Char-Woody's smokey fire method when doing low-n-slows. Start out with only a couple of hand fulls of lump and light it from under the ash grate. Get this lump burning pretty good, don't worry if your dome temp gets as high as 300* or so, it won't stay that high. Then add a layer of fresh lump, then your smoking chips or chunks, then fill her up with lump. I usually go half way up the fire ring. After you set up your cook and close the dome again the temp will be down to under 150*. You will now get a very smoky fire that will slowly climb to your cooking temp. [p]Using this method I have never had a fire go out in the middle of the night. The only other thing I do is poke up through the ash grate before turning in (you can use a bent coat hanger) and make sure the holes are clear and it also stirs up the coals a little without getting ash on the meat. [p]Good luck and have a great day.[p]Chuck <><

Zeke · September 2002

Chuck,[p]I'm a little slow on the up take but how in the world do you light the lump from under the grate? Crumpled newspapers, sterno, or what? Thanks in advance.

Chuck · September 2002

Zeke,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I use one of those compressed sawdust starter cubes. Just put it under the ash grate and light it. Leave the daisy off and the ash door wide open until it gets going. I start all my cooks this way and can get to 750* in under 15 minutes or jst close it up sooner for lower cooks. It's not necessarily the "right" way to do it but it's what works for me. [p]
Chuck <><

Unknown · September 2002

Chuck,
as an addendum let me say that lighting from underneath has the advantage of creating an updraft carrying the fire into the charcoal. If you are still using the original ceramic grate there are less holes and smaller ones at that than those of us who have switched to metal grates. Even with that you can start from underneath, but perhaps with a little slower take off.

Chuck · September 2002

kat,

Yea, what she said. I have changed to the metal grate on my three eggs and it does make a difference. The ones that BGE sell seem to hold up better than the lodge trivets that I first used but either work well. Thanks for the addition.[p]Chuck <><

Starting the Fire

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