Went to Argos to buy this yday and it has gone up to 9.99 now (as mentioned above). This has expired.

Went to order another but 9.99 now

Collected mine yesterday and used when I got back. Amazing... If you don't have one get one!! Bang the coal in put it ontop of a few fire lighters and leave it for 15 or so mins, simple

​bought the weber one in the end, made such an incredible difference, so much easier and like many others have said, no more fumbling round trying to light the bbq! an essential purchase imo

As I mentioned in post 31 I've had the Weber one for minimum 5 years and I used it again just last week - doesn't look as good as it did when I bought it right enough, but I reckon will last me at least another 3 to 4 years. I paid about 16 quid for it, so even up to now it has only cost about 3 quid per year...

As for the one in this article I haven't any experience, but charcoal chimneys in general I would say are WAY better than frustratingly fumbling around without one. I guess just make sure that some people at least report having success with whatever one you plump for. The Weber one (and I'm sure this one) does what it's supposed to.

:smiley:

A friend of mine bought me one of these as present after seeing what a numpty I was at lighting my BBQ. I would recomend these as you will suffer no more shame at BBQ parties when you have used every firelighter and a weeks worth of recycling trying to light your BBQ. No No I'm fine I don't need a hand, more crisps and beer anyone the food will only be half an hour..........

Worth a try for a fiver, ordered, thank you.

In fact I see there's a heat gun for £9 in Aldi's deals next Thursday. If you try this method you'll never go back to kerosine. The gun can also be used to crisp up undercooked bits!

£2.40 in my local tesco. Might be in other stores?

Pick up a used electric paint stripper heat gun at a car boot sale and use that to light the BBQ. No more stinking cancer causing kerosine! Works brilliantly.

Picked mine up earlier. It's massive, no idea what you lot are on about who said it's tiny. The Weber must be the size of a bin if it's much bigger.

really undecided on this or the weber one, dont mind spending a bit extra if its gonna be a lot better and last longer

Just the standard wide style one, so needs a lot of coal to cover the grill area. Leaf blower might be overkill, but I'll tell you what works perfectly:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3400195.htm

I've had the Weber one for probably 5 years or so, absolutely brilliant. Best to just use a couple of those little lighter cubes rather than faffing about with paper - but both work fine. If you don't already have a charcoal chimney then do yourself a favour, you won't regret it.

paper towels or a single sheet of newspaper with some veg oil work well too

Not tried the sausage approach yet, had poor success with seperate balls of paper, so now very loosely scrunch up 3 pieces of newspaper at once (not seperated) in a ball and that works beautifully.

Use a baked bean tin just as good

Way better than using lighter fluid which IMO bloody stinks.

Got a cheap one, its amazing and can't fault it.... BBQ without it just not really worth it but if we get some good weather, well I'm buying one more, for a larger fire do it twice rather than do two...

Yes try Youtube e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVav--CWSlk (although 10 minutes to show you how to use it is a bit of overkill!)

Another vote for the Weber as you only need one firelighter but have some heat :smiley:

Not over happy with the Weber coals this year as the bags are smaller 8kg instead of 10 for the same price also coals seem smaller and last 3 hours against last year's 4 hours so is the quality slipping from Mr Weber?

I find if you wrap sheets of newspaper into tight sausage shapes instead of balls, then put them round the inside of the starter leaving a hole up the middle it lights a lot better.

Can finally find out what ya gonna look like with a chimney on ya

I'm old and I remember The Prodigy.

Starter Chimney, twisted Starter Chimney, twisted isn't it, take it back for a refund won't I.

Username checks out...:laughing:

I'M A FIRE STARTER, CHIMNEY FIRE STARTER!

If you love BBQs and you don't own one of these, be ashamed. This is by far the best thing invented after the internet, sink strainers and toilet unblockers! :smile:

I discovered this through a Brazilian friend. They call it "Acende Fácil" which means "Easy Lit"

House coal burns at a lower temperature than charcoal, as I found when I made the mistake of buying house coal and didn't noticed, it took forever to cook anything. :-)
p.s. and the smoke was pretty horrible, rushed out to buy proper charcoal.

Lynx and a lighter, easy peasy

Yeah I thought that it should be ok but I do not know if house coal burns at a higher temperature than BBQ Briquettes and might possibly damage the starter chimney.

The fire is very small so it should be ok, i think the fact the fire is so small make it so hard to light.

I can't see why it would not work for normal coal. It's just a more efficient chimney stack. The amount of coal it can do will be fairly small though.

Any videos on how these actually work? seen these before on here but never quite know what they do :laughing:

Never heard of these before and I am quite intrigued. Just got a fire pit/BBQ so for £5 worth giving it a try.

We also have a small coal fire in the house which is a nightmare to light. Does anyone know if this can be used for that also?

Good price for these but (from my experience):
- won't last more than two years, rust appears after first use.
- the holes at the bottom are quite big and smaller bits of charcoal will fell through. Quite annoying especially if it's lit. I've cut some wire mesh from a disposable BBQ and put it on the bottom which solved the problem.
Other than that it does a good job, voted hot.

As much as it pains me to admit it, I might be doing something wrong but I'm yet to find the tesco one very useful. I've seen the weber one used very effectively but my tesco one never seems to draw the air through very effectively...

I'd agree in investing in the Weber version. Far better than the old one I was using.

These are amazing, so surprised when I go to a bbq and someone is trying to start the coals for 45minutes and using a full bottle of fluid to get it going.

How big is your BBQ? if you need 2 maybe its worth while to double the saving, but id buy the weber again as its atleast 10 mins faster to ready the coals than my old version. alternatively get a leaf blower on it and what the fire roar!

Argos are doing the Weber for £16.99, but for what it does, this presents much better value for money. I'd rather buy a couple of these to hold more charcoal.

incidentally ive seen the Weber version for £16.99 in a few places recently.

these are great. I bought a couple from tesco last week (£6). so easy to use.

Yes. An ideal entry level, starter chimney for youngsters or old people.

the weber one is even faster, but this will still save some time so good for the money.

Excellent! Bought 2 for friends. Had one a couple of years...takes all the grief out of starting a BBQ, with only the need for a couple of sheets of newspaper and no chemicals.

Cheers OP!