Weber 7416 Rapidfire Chimney Starter

This is a simple, great invention. The coals burn hotter, faster than with lighter fluid. I use two pieces of old news paper and they will light charcoal in 15 - 20 minutes. If you use charcoal, give your neighbors your old lighter fluid and buy one of these.

A pyromaniacs dream come true. I honestly do not know how I lived without this item. It only took 1 match and 1 newspaper to start my fire and minutes later, my charcoal is a bright firery red waiting to be used. The chimney starter is not only practical, but it is economical as well. There is no need for lighter fluid, so you save money that way. But also the taste of the food is that much more better since you don't get that nasty lighter fluid taste.

I purchased this to use with my new grill. It starts the charcol in 20 minutes. The shield and handle help to keep the heat under control when handling it with hot charcol. The extra wire bail is very helpful when dumping the hot charcol into the grill. Very hapy with with my purchase.

A long time ago a friend of mine made something like this from an old Maxwell House coffee can. At the time I though he could get rich if he marketed his idea. I was almost ready to give up on charcoal and switch to gas (yuck) because I am the world's worst fire starter. So I saw this Weber thingie at Amazon and for a few bucks thought I would give it a try. WOW! I took the advice of one reviewer and added a few drops of cooking oil to 2 sheets of crumbled newspaper. 15 minutes later the coals are BLAZING!!!! Not just warm, not just hot, as hot as the sun. Dump the coals out and toss your meat on the grill. The Weber chimney starter gives a whole new meaning to BBQ. I have rarely been so impressed with such a simple gadget. It is worth every penny and you absolutely have to get one. If I could give a 100% satisfaction guarantee on any product this is surely one that I would give a totally perfect 5 to!

My family has used the same Weber Rapidfire Chimney Starter for 8 years and we live in So. California where our Weber grill is the cooking method of choice year-round. The Weber Chimney Starter heats charcoal without any starter fluied, as evenly and as fully as you like. For a slow-cooking dinner, we may turn the charcoal over before it starts sparkling. We have used many different kinds of newspapers to start the fire and find that black printed newspaper works the best -- we like the NY Times, as it doesn't fly around like other paper when you start it. Don't use slick paper or color printed paper as it doesn't seem to burn evenly.