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BGE Fire Starter Substitute

PattyO
PattyO Posts: 883
edited November -0001 in EggHead Forum
Has anyone found an alternate brand of Fire Starters? Now that the weather is getting colder every day I don't want to stand out there with the looft lighter. I'd rather set it and forget it, at least for a few mins, so I'm looking for fire starters. My dealer is not close to me, and I'd like to find something less expensive.
Thanks.
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Comments

  • Davekatz
    Davekatz Posts: 763
    Lightning Nuggets Firestarters
    http://www.food-fire.com/index.php/2010/08/12/product-review-lightning-nuggets-firestarters/

    $16 something for a 50 count box and it only takes one to get a fire going.
    Food & Fire - The carnivorous ramblings of a gluten-free grill geek.
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  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    I learned the oiled napkin trick from Stike and I have never looked back. A very low cost alternative. Lightly drizzle cooking oil on a napkin, roll/twist it up, and use it in place of a starter.

    FYI- I have found TP works great too. You might be out of napkins...but you probably have TP...and if not you are probably going to the store anyway ;).

    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Patty, Ace Hardware carries Rutland firestarters. They look, feel and work just like the BGE brand. Less expensive too. They are called "SafeLite Fire Starter Squares". In the fireplace section of the store.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • Capt Frank
    Capt Frank Posts: 2,578
    Patti, I have some that I bought from my local Ace Hardware in Florida. They are a little plastic pouch that you set down in the lump just like the BGE cubes.
    I don't recall the cost, but it wasn't much. However, I gotta say, I think you would look good with a weedburner! :laugh: :) :ohmy: :woohoo:
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  • Woody69
    Woody69 Posts: 360
    Weed burner for me. Nothing is faster, or easier, IMO.



    weedburner.jpg



    :):)
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    i use a slight drizzle of oil on a paper napkin, or two if i am going for a quick hot fire, and with new lump, i'm at 600 within 10-15 minutes max.

    drizzle a little, twist,light both ends, and nestle among the lump, bridging a few pieces over it.

    cheapest thing i have found, and materials always on hand
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • PattyO
    PattyO Posts: 883
    Thanks, all. I'll check my local ACE and be sure they don't have any petroleum in it. Still trying to connect the other link. Computer is cranky tonite. Must be the storms.
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    mine is even cheaper yet as I use the already used oil from my Fry Daddy rather than pitching it. It has never gotten rancid on me. I know you can reuse that oil to cook with, but I go months between using the Fry Daddy so I prefer starting with fresh oil each time.
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • Shiff
    Shiff Posts: 1,835
    the cleanest, cheapest, and least messy way of lighting the charcoal for me has been to use 91% rubbing alcohol that I buy at the pharmacy section of Walmart.

    A few squirts in a circle around the middle of the charcoal and a match to light it. No flame throwers required. It lights the charcoal fast with no petroleum smell.
    Large BGE
    Barry, Lancaster, PA
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Patty, the Rutland cubes are non-toxic and contain paraffin with wood chips and paper fibers. Here's the product description with link to MSDS...

    http://www.rutland.com/productinfo.php?product_id=13

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • Captain Paul
    Captain Paul Posts: 38
    I concur with Barry! Use a few squirts of 91% rubbing alcohol from Walmart Pharmacy (recommended no more than about 60 ml to start the lump - use a flavor injector or syringe, move the alcohol and syringe away from the BGE and throw in a lighted wooden match -- after a couple of minutes, close the dome). Inexpensive, no odor, no ash, no residue and fast to come up to temp!
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  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    For ultra fast starting there is only one solution... A weed burner and propane tank. Within 1 minute your lump will be lit and at 250° to 400°. It is possibly one of the least expensive ways to light the egg.

    Oil & paper towel will light as fast or faster than fire starters. Here is a link to Stike's method. Paper Towel & Oil

    GG
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  • Shiff
    Shiff Posts: 1,835
    I used to use a syringe to squirt the alcohol then found an even easier way. I take a sharp pencil and make a tiny hole in the foil seal under the cap. Then I just squeeze the bottle and squirt in the alcohol in about 4 places. This makes it even easier to use.
    Large BGE
    Barry, Lancaster, PA
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  • Bulldog Mom
    Bulldog Mom Posts: 242
    We used our looftlighter for 90 seconds on Thanksgiving day in the rain and about 33 degrees and got a great fire going. :huh:

    You must live in a really cold place.

    If nothing else, you could hire somebody to light the fire. ;)
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Bulldog Mom wrote:
    If nothing else, you could hire somebody to light the fire. ;)

    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • grillmandan
    grillmandan Posts: 270
    Best fire starters are available at
    www.overthecoals.com
    good price, but shipping makes up for that.
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  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
    They can be found all over the internet for a very reasonable price...the link is just for example..
    http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM2382832102P?sid=IDx20101019x00001a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=SPM2382832102
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  • Metalhead
    Metalhead Posts: 668
    someone on here mentioned using a duraflame log. they said they just hacksawed off little pcs and used it. I'd seriously read the ingredients to make sure only parrafin and wood, no petroleum based products in it. cheap cheap :P
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    that was stike long before he started advocating the twisted oily napkin.
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
    Electric is all I use. Set it and forget it... at least for 5 mins anyway.
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