How should I burn charcoal at home?

[Boredsapiens]

I have 4 kg of charcoal but don't know how to burn it. I couldn't find a thorough explanation of burning charcoal on this website. I want to keep this as simple as possible.

 

[trying.to.find.peace]

Use a match or a lighter?

 

[Boredsapiens]

Use a match or a lighter?

I'm asking for a thorough explanation. Burning on what? Just lighting the charcoal on aluminum foil or something? There are a lot of details included.

 

[Bedrock48]

Ppease do not burn charcoal in your house if anyone else is home or you live in a block of flats. Make sure you are alone or you risk potentially injuring or killing other people.

I'm gonna use a charcoal chimney for mine with some tinder but I'm sure theres many ways to go about it

 

[Boredsapiens]

Ppease do not burn charcoal in your house if anyone else is home or you live in a block of flats. Make sure you are alone or you risk potentially injuring or killing other people.

I'm gonna use a charcoal chimney for mine with some tinder but I'm sure theres many ways to go about it

I live alone. I won't pose a danger to anyone.

Anyway, how will you exactly use the charcoal chimney? Is it the same as a chimney starter? Sorry but I don't really know much about this stuff, so I'm asking a lot of questions.

I was planning to use a cast-iron pan to burn charcoals. I would put the charcoals on the pan and light them with a gas lighter. However, my main concern is that the heat generated from the burning of charcoal will ignite something else in the area. I definitely don't want to burn where I live.

 

[MyStateKilledMe]

Charcoal, at least the briquette-shaped consumer kind, doesn't ignite easily. You need to use an accelerant to help it along. Commercial lighter fluid meant for grilling, rubbing alcohol, or liquors greater than 150 proof (75%) all work equally well. Kindling, like wood shavings or newspaper, helps too; it lights up quickly even without an accelerant, spreading the flames to the charcoal (which should already be saturated with the accelerant).

One word of warning though: DO NOT squirt lighter fluid directly onto an existing fire. Pour the accelerant onto the charcoals first, then use a match. Otherwise, the flame could travel up the fluid stream and into the can, thus injuring your hand without putting you on the bus. If you must add lighter fluid to an existing fire, pour it into a paper cup, and shake it out it in small bursts onto the fire from the cup, then throw the cup into the fire.

 

[Boredsapiens]

Charcoal, at least the briquette-shaped consumer kind, doesn't ignite easily. You need to use an accelerant to help it along. Commercial lighter fluid meant for grilling, rubbing alcohol, or liquors greater than 150 proof (75%) all work equally well. Kindling, like wood shavings or newspaper, helps too; it lights up quickly even without an accelerant, spreading the flames to the charcoal (which should already be saturated with the accelerant).

One word of warning though: DO NOT squirt lighter fluid directly onto an existing fire. Pour the accelerant onto the charcoals first, then use a match. Otherwise, the flame could travel up the fluid stream and into the can, thus injuring your hand without putting you on the bus. If you must add lighter fluid to an existing fire, pour it into a paper cup, and shake it out it in small bursts onto the fire from the cup, then throw the cup into the fire.

Thank you very much for the information. I put a charcoal briquette on a cast-iron pan and wrapped it with some paper to see if I can burn it without lighter fluid. I poured some olive oil onto the paper as well. Then I lighted the paper with a gas lighter. The paper ignited obviously but for some reason the charcoal didn't ignite at all. What do you think might be the reason? I used the first method from this video:



I might have wrapped the paper the wrong way. I'm not sure. Anyway, I will get lighter fluid or rubbing alcohol today.

PS. I did some research on burning charcoal with rubbing alcohol and fount out that it is very flammable and when lit of fire, can reach up to 1,000 degrees. I'm planning to burn around 2-2.5 kg of charcoal on a cast-iron pan. I couldn't get a chimney starter so I'm using a pan but is it safe to burn the briquettes on a cast-iron pan?

 

[MyStateKilledMe]

Thank you very much for the information. I put a charcoal briquette on a cast-iron pan and wrapped it with some paper to see if I can burn it without lighter fluid. I poured some olive oil onto the paper as well. Then I lighted the paper with a gas lighter. The paper ignited obviously but for some reason the charcoal didn't ignite at all. What do you think might be the reason?

The paper finished burning too quickly for the charcoal to properly catch fire from it. The charcoal by itself isn't very flammable---almost the same as dry wood. You need an accelerant to help it start burning faster.

Also, olive oil is a very bad accelerant. It's all smoke and no fire---pardon the pun. Olive oil and many other vegetable oils create a lot of black smoke as they burn, and a lot of heat too, but they don't allow for the fire to grow very much. And because the burning of oil-saturated paper is complete, it produces CO2, rather than CO. Which triggers your SI on a biological level, rather than putting you on the bus.

 

[Boredsapiens]

The paper finished burning too quickly for the charcoal to properly catch fire from it. The charcoal by itself isn't very flammable---almost the same as dry wood. You need an accelerant to help it start burning faster.

Also, olive oil is a very bad accelerant. It's all smoke and no fire---pardon the pun. Olive oil and many other vegetable oils create a lot of black smoke as they burn, and a lot of heat too, but they don't allow for the fire to grow very much. And because the burning of oil-saturated paper is complete, it produces CO2, rather than CO. Which triggers your SI on a biological level, rather than putting you on the bus.

I got rubbing alcohol and used it to burn the charcoal. It ignited easily but went out after around 5-8 mins. I used a single briquette for experimenting. How can I sustain the fire?

 

[LionsTigersAndBears]

I used to start my barbecue with a blowtorch it only took a few seconds to catch fire.

 

[Boredsapiens]

I used to start my barbecue with a blowtorch it only took a few seconds to catch fire.

It catches fire easily but goes out very soon. I can't sustain the fire.

 

[MyStateKilledMe]

I got rubbing alcohol and used it to burn the charcoal. It ignited easily but went out after around 5-8 mins. I used a single briquette for experimenting. How can I sustain the fire?

Well, charcoal briquettes aren't meant to be burned as one piece; of course it burned out quickly. They're meant to be burned in a pile, with the purpose of grilling meat by producing heat and smoke. A single briquette will do absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, I don't have more information than this. My CTB ideas generally involved trains, firearms, and electricity, not charcoal.