If your chimney doesn’t have a solid bottom, place the paper on the charcoal grate of your grill and lower the chimney on top of it.
The chimney will quickly heat up, so place it on a flame-proof, sturdy surface as the coals heat. The grill, already prepared for you to dump your coals, is a great place, as is a brick patio (though it will potentially leave burn marks).
If you plan to grill for more than 30 minutes, add 2-3 handfuls of charcoal now to keep the fire going when you need it. [3] X Research source
If you are struggling to light your fires with newspaper alone, soak half the paper in olive, canola, or vegetable oil. The oil will cause the paper to burn slower, which may give the charcoal more time to catch. This DIY solution, though far from perfect, has a lot of proponents as a natural alternative to lighter fluid. [4] X Research source
If the sticks easily snap in your hands, making a loud popping sound, they are dry enough to use. Have a spare handful of kindling nearby as well, in case the fire needs extra fuel. If you don’t have any stick around, use extra paper. You may have to keep feeding it into the fire until the briquets catch, however, so have several pieces handy.
While briquets (the small square pieces of charcoal) will burn for longer, hardwood charcoal is easier to catch and burns hotter initially.
If the stick haven’t quite caught as the paper is dying out, loosely crumple up 1-2 more pieces and places them on the edges, near the sticks.
Keep adding briquets until you have a large pile in the center of the grill. The inner briquets, for now, will be the only hot ones. You should see smoke coming up from the center of your pile. Depending on the size of your grill, you’ll need a different amount of briquets: Small, personal grills can usually get by with 25-30 pieces. Medium size grills, like the most common 22" grill, should have roughly 40 briquets. Large grills may need anywhere from 1-2 bags of charcoal, and will take a long time to get hot using this method.
Even Grilling coats the entire bottom of the grill with 2 layers of briquets. There are no spaces and everything is added evenly, allowing the whole grill to reach a consistent, even temperature. Use this if you need to cook a lot of food quickly. Two-Zone Grilling Allows you to keep half the area open for indirect cooking or warming food. You need to shuffle half the charcoals into an even pile on one half of the grill, making sure there are 2-3 layers of briquets on the “hot half” of the grill. [6] X Research source
If you plan on cooking for a long time, you should add 2-3 handfuls of coals every 30 minutes after the first set ignites. [7] X Research source
