Great item, had one from them for a few years now. Lasted well.

Good points:
Cheap as chips if bought at the end of the season. Can buy 4x for the price of a discounted webber.
Better than firelighters, but get some just in case as it can struggle a bit.
Burns much better than spreading regular charcoal & firelighters & better all round cooking performance.
Much easier to get going than regular methods of lighting, excluding petrol, flammable gels etc.

Bad points:
As with all these chimney starters, watch your eyebrows. The charcoal flares up so keep your face away when tipping out and wear some decent hand/ long arm protection like welders gauntlets. Stops singed arm hairs.
Rusts quickly, so keep dry.
Bottom grate keeps popping out, but obviously only push back in place when cold.
Not as effective as a webber. I've both and most of the time I end up putting firelighters in this one but not the webber. Webbers when on offer around this time of year are better in the long run, but cost 4x more initially if bought end of season.
Takes a bit of getting the knack. Bit of a technique and can be easily given up on, but great once you understand it.

Tips:
Get a sheet of newspaper and twist it until it forms into a long length of paper rope. Flip the unit upside down & push the twisted newspaper around the inside of the circle base, but leave a hole in the centre to let the air vent through to create a wind tunnel effect. Helps airflow & getting it lit. Should look like a satellite picture of a hurricane if done right. Flip back over, put around 3/4 full of charcoal inside with the odd firelighters broke up in two mixed in. Light the paper in a few places & then leave. You can gently blow at the base to get it going or get one of those bbq fan blowers if needed, but watch your face getting burnt if too close. Might need re-stocking with paper but don't give up.

Enjoy!

Where do you get FREE baked beans/soup tins from then? Do you steal them?

Also, how many tins would you need v's buying on of these. Surely the point is to get ALL the coals going before pouring them in. Wouldn't fancy having 5x soup tins to achieve the same thing. Oh yeah, your 'free' tins don't come with handles. Will you weld some on? If so, won't this end up costing more than just buying this in the first place?!

Nice post Dave, reminds of how helpful this site used to be before the Twitter/Facebook invasion

Cheers

Still available but very limited availability!

http://www.homebase.co.uk/en/homebaseuk/chimney-starter-307046

Keep an eye out for other reductions instore. I just picked up a Weber Premium 57" (not the standard Bar-B-Kettle) for £105 instead of £229 (cheapest elsewhere is £189) :smiley:

Thank you for that advice.

I bought two similar ones from Tesco last year in the sale, however, have not used them yet. I've read the post above, about putting newspaper twisted up in one end and then adding charcoal, however, when looking at charcoal in the Summer, the shop was selling two types - regular and instant light - can somebody please tell me which is the best type to use with one of these chimney starters? Thank you.

can't believe people pay for these!

just use an empty tin of baked beans or soup etc, put a couple of holes in it with a hammer & screwdriver/ nail

exactly the same - but free

if you have more money than sense: fine by me :smiley:

nice, bought one.

Just picked up two for 72p each at Longwell Green, Bristol - loads of BBQ stuff reduced too! Cheers Op agree they work well.

this may go down further in a few days, part of the clearance event (also posted as a deal here) and staff said there are further reductions to come if stock remains unsold

Great item, had one from them for a few years now. Lasted well.

Good points:
Cheap as chips if bought at the end of the season. Can buy 4x for the price of a discounted webber.
Better than firelighters, but get some just in case as it can struggle a bit.
Burns much better than spreading regular charcoal & firelighters & better all round cooking performance.
Much easier to get going than regular methods of lighting, excluding petrol, flammable gels etc.

Bad points:
As with all these chimney starters, watch your eyebrows. The charcoal flares up so keep your face away when tipping out and wear some decent hand/ long arm protection like welders gauntlets. Stops singed arm hairs.
Rusts quickly, so keep dry.
Bottom grate keeps popping out, but obviously only push back in place when cold.
Not as effective as a webber. I've both and most of the time I end up putting firelighters in this one but not the webber. Webbers when on offer around this time of year are better in the long run, but cost 4x more initially if bought end of season.
Takes a bit of getting the knack. Bit of a technique and can be easily given up on, but great once you understand it.

Tips:
Get a sheet of newspaper and twist it until it forms into a long length of paper rope. Flip the unit upside down & push the twisted newspaper around the inside of the circle base, but leave a hole in the centre to let the air vent through to create a wind tunnel effect. Helps airflow & getting it lit. Should look like a satellite picture of a hurricane if done right. Flip back over, put around 3/4 full of charcoal inside with the odd firelighters broke up in two mixed in. Light the paper in a few places & then leave. You can gently blow at the base to get it going or get one of those bbq fan blowers if needed, but watch your face getting burnt if too close. Might need re-stocking with paper but don't give up.

Enjoy!

Is this suitable for firing up a chimnea?

Erm personally I'd sooner spend a couple of quid on this chimney (got one last yr) than trying to manage with a bake bean can ... And I'm famously Mr cheap (according to my Mrs)

Bought one last year in the sale. Still not used it. Rubbish weather

you must be a millionaire with more money than sense :smiley:

Hot deal. If there was a homebase near me I'd buy one and store it inside my webber. :smirk:

Where do you get FREE baked beans/soup tins from then? Do you steal them?

Also, how many tins would you need v's buying on of these. Surely the point is to get ALL the coals going before pouring them in. Wouldn't fancy having 5x soup tins to achieve the same thing. Oh yeah, your 'free' tins don't come with handles. Will you weld some on? If so, won't this end up costing more than just buying this in the first place?!

ive said before, but the handle kept popping out of mine. not good when full of coals. not good when hot coals end up all over the floor.

What's wrong with just using a hair dryer?

Just bought this, thanks :smile:

I bought some of these a few years ago before switching to a gas bbq, best £2 I ever spent. Never had an issue & I always put a few of the larger left over Richmond sausage fat coated coals from the last bbq just to help. No need for Hinckley C when you could use them for fuel.

I think this is the version with a plate with round holes cut into it instead of a metal grille, not quite as good as a grille but still works.

Smoking hot....

I had one of these, very rusty but still going strong in the hands of the person I gave it to.

It is about half the capacity of the big weber version, which is why I stopped using it.

Perfect for smaller BBQs though.

good find op, heat added

Bought a similar one from Argos in the sale a month ago for about 4 pounds...hot...and a great buy...