Lodge Charcoal Chimney Starter

by Lodge

Product Features

• Lodge charcoal chimney starter; stands 12 inches high
• Crafted from heavy-gauge aluminized steel; wooden handle
• Heats coals in 12-15 minutes
• Eliminates the need to use lighter fluid
• An efficient way to barbeque

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0009J3RO8
• Item model number: A5-1
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,588 in Home & Kitchen (See Top 100 in Home & Kitchen)
  • #62 in Home & Garden > Home Décor > Fireplaces & Accessories > Fireplace Accessories > Fire Starters

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Barbecuing has never been easier with the Lodge charcoal chimney starter. Rather than spending time standing over the grill trying to maintain a fire, this efficient tool allows the outdoor chef to ready the barbeque in about 15 minutes. Simply place two crumpled pieces of newspaper in the bottom section below the grate, fill the top section with the desired number of briquettes, and light the paper through the vents at the bottom. Once the coals are hot, pour them into a charcoal grill or Dutch oven, and get ready to barbeque. This quick and easy method eliminates the need for lighter fluid, a dangerous pollutant that also leaves food tasting of the substance. Made from durable, heavy-gauge aluminized steel, the 12-inch tall, 6-1/2-inch wide starter has a heat shield to protect the wooden handle from getting hot. No assembly necessary; one-year warranty. --Lea Werbel

Product Description

If you barbeque or cook at all with charcoal you'll wonder what you did without one of these. Makes hot coals fast. Produces hot coals in 10 to 15 minutes. Made of galvanized steel. 6 1/2" diameter and 12" high

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars works great, looks odd, August 6, 2007

By 

L. Despin (Laramie, WY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lodge Charcoal Chimney Starter (Kitchen)

The other reviewer pointed out some safety issues. These are valid for any chimney starter and are best solved by keeping in mind that there's a fire going in the chimney.
There are a few things I really like about this model. 1) Lots of ventilation to get oxygen to all of the coals, even when totally full. 2) You can easily lift it up and put new paper under it if your paper fizzles out (happened to me) and you need to restart. The small holes in the side also help you see what's going on as the heat rises. 3) Most important, it gets charcoal good and hot good and quick.
Now for what I don't like. 1) Lodge coated all of the metal surfaces, including the grill inside, with some kind of coating. I guess it's supposed to make it look like "nice" unfinished metal. Problem is, this coating isn't very heat resistant and quickly melts/evaporates, leaving odd streaks of exposed metal after just a couple uses. A better approach would have been to leave the metal alone. 2) Even a large charcoal briquette can slip through the grill in the bottom. Not sure how I'd fix this and keep the system well ventilated. 3) It only holds enough to cook a crowded meal for 2 on charcoal. Easiest way to solve this is buy 2 or more, depending on how much you plan to cook at a time. This seems to be the case for every starter I've seen. They're all basically the same size.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Effective- But Has Two Safety Flaws, May 25, 2007

By 

Arnold Nakatani (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lodge Charcoal Chimney Starter (Kitchen)

This charcoal chimney starter is effective and performs as described in the product description.

There are two flaws in the design that relate to safety:

1. The metal handle is exposed in the separation on the sides of the 2-piece wooden insulators. Conceivably, a bare hand could be burned when grasping the handle to dump out the prepared coals. Be sure to use an insulated glove or potholder.

2. The spacing of the outermost ring in the bottom grate sometimes allows a briquette to fall through and out of the chimney. This can occur when a briquette is oriented edge-wise down. A user typically has his/her attention on the open end of the chimney when pouring hot charcoal. A hot briquette could fall out unnoticed from the other end when tipping the unit. My personal experience is that a briquette fell out of the bottom when I dumped the coals into my grill. It landed on the plastic top of a patio table. I did not discover this until the table top had been partially melted and deformed.

Use with caution. Supervise youngsters.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Replacement chimney, December 3, 2007

By 

Bill the Bear "Grrrrrrr" (Naples, FL United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

My old chimney, same style, lasted for twenty years. I'm glad they haven't changed the style. It works.