Starting a Campfire or Charcoal in a BBQ Grill

Sometimes I have had trouble starting a fire or BBQ. The fire burns out before the tinder sets the wood on fire, or before the charcoal sets on fire. I have found that if you roll a cotton ball or two in Vaseline or other petroleum jelly, you can set it on fire right away and it burns long enough to start the fire.

WARNING: Do not hold in your hand to light.

By Nightsong from Hay Capitol of the World

Feedback

Read feedback for this post below. Click here to post feedback.

By 05/01/2012

Look into making a charcoal chimney. Check Google. Use a can opener to remove the top and bottom of a large coffee can, use a hammer to punch 2 nail holes to insert bent wire (a coat hanger works well) for a handle.

Set the chimney in place (your firepit or BBQ), crumple a few pieces of newspaper into the bottom of the chimney, add charcoal on top, light the newspaper. When the charcoal is glowing, put an oven mitt on your hand and lift the chimney.

By 05/01/2012

Am sharing this info because I have lung problems. Please be careful about not breathing it in if you're going to do this and especially do not use this around anyone with lung issues. The hydrocarbons contained in the refined petroleum jelly are potentially dangerous to inhale and can lead to a serious lung infection. It would be best to simply use wadded up newspaper or shredded paper documents.