Why do folks around here hate lighter fluid so much!?!

DownHomeQue · Sep 17, 2013

It may not be the best option of lighting charcoal.. and wood, i give you that.. but i promise you if the person that lights the cooker with it and burns it all off well before any meat hits the pit you couldn't tell the difference.. I don't think that is a reason to look down on a guy trying to bbq for his friends and family.. I had a friend light his pit with fluid and our other friend got all pissed saying he was going to ruin the food.. smh.. That was stupid IMHO because the friend who was cooking the food purchased said food and the other friend was getting a free meal out of it.. lol Good BBQ is just that good BBQ.. no matter how you light your pit.. end product is all the matters.. can we all agree on that?

This is just my opinion.. brethren please chime in here..

aawa · Sep 17, 2013

I completely agree with you here.

If you light your coals with lighter fluid, and wait for the fluid to burn off before you put any food to it, you won't be able to tell. Hell Myron Mixon douses his coals that he gets his pits started with almost 2 bottles of lighter fluid and he is a proven bbq champion.

The problem with lighter fluid and matchlight though is that you get a smaller amount of cook time on the coals (if you are grilling) because you have to wait for the lighter fluid to burn off.

ButtBurner · Sep 17, 2013

doesnt really matter to me

I quit using it for a simple reason. years ago when they came out with the chimney I got one because I was tired of running out of fluid when I needed it

had nothing to do with it changing the taste of the food

I never run out of newspapers, so thats why I switched.

markrvp · Sep 17, 2013

Kamado ceramic cookers are something you do NOT want to use lighter fluid in. The ceramic will absorb the lighter fluid (so I'm told) and it will never fully dissipate.

runnoft · Sep 17, 2013

I use it when camping sometimes with my mini weber grill for steaks and stuff when i'm not doing a campfire but for my wsm I don't want all of my charcoal lit. I'm using the minion method and I want it to be lit in the center and slowly spread out. I use a chimney starter and light that with a propane torch. Less chemicals the better for me.

columbia1 · Sep 17, 2013

Once I smell lighter fluid burning, I just cannot get rid of that smell in my head for the next couple of hours.

deguerre · Sep 17, 2013

aawa said:
I completely agree with you here.

If you light your coals with lighter fluid, and wait for the fluid to burn off before you put any food to it, you won't be able to tell. Hell Myron Mixon douses his coals that he gets his pits started with almost 2 bottles of lighter fluid and he is a proven bbq champion.

The problem with lighter fluid and matchlight though is that you get a smaller amount of cook time on the coals (if you are grilling) because you have to wait for the lighter fluid to burn off.

That's TWO today so far aawa...

The problem is that most folks are farking impatient and will start putting on the meat without allowing time for the burn off.

I'm reminded of that episode in season one BBQ Pitmasters where they had the rib cook off. Someone made a comment about "tasting the lighter fluid". The cook freaked and assumed that lighter fluid had been used in the pit she cooked on before. I do wonder though, what ELSE there was in that cook that made the judge come to the flavor comparison...

aawa · Sep 17, 2013

deguerre said:
That's TWO today so far aawa...

The problem is that most folks are farking impatient and will start putting on the meat without allowing time for the burn off.

Every once in a while I can be helpful. But twice in a day, I have no clue what came over me. I better buy a lottery ticket because this is as rare as lightning striking me!

SmittyJonz · Sep 17, 2013

I use lighter fluid in my charcoal chimney - :shock: :wacko: - paper takes a cpl times sometimes and leaves Alot of ash that flies around. And regular grilling in my Kettle ill hose down all the charcoal and light it up - 15-20 minutes and its burned off

DownHomeQue · Sep 17, 2013

SmittyJonz said:
I use lighter fluid in my charcoal chimney - :shock: :wacko: - paper takes a cpl times sometimes and leaves Alot of ash that flies around

I do too.. plus it involves going in the house.. lol

DownHomeQue · Sep 17, 2013

columbia1 said:
Once I smell lighter fluid burning, I just cannot get rid of that smell in my head for the next couple of hours.

LOL so i guess you never smell cigarettes burning? or vehicles running? are you amish? lol

aawa · Sep 17, 2013

DownHomeQue said:
LOL so i guess you never smell cigarettes burning? or vehicles running? are you amish? lol

He is posting from his wooden propane powered computer!

DownHomeQue · Sep 17, 2013

matchlight is a different story now.. it has lighter fluid throughout the briquettes.. you wont get rid of the lighter fluid until the coal is completely spent.. i NEVER use these.. as in never ever..

DownHomeQue · Sep 17, 2013

aawa said:
He is posting from his wooden propane powered computer!

Must be! lol

Schmoke · Sep 17, 2013

When we were kids, all our dads would spray the fluid ALL OVER the Kingsford, light it with a Zippo, and watch the flaming fun. The meat was put on the grill before the fluid burned away ... and the fluid that spills onto the the grill's inner wall never completely burned off anyway, so the meat would *always* have the fluid flavor. We were kids, we grew up with meat grilled like that, we got used to that flavor, it's what backyard grilling was supposed to taste like.

Fast forward 20+ years, we now use a chimney, electric (or whatever) starter, zero fluid, therefore zero fluid flavor in the meat ... Hey! This is something! Tastes MUCH better than when I was 8 years old! We're finally doing it right, and we don't want to go back to fluid. At the very least, it's psychological -- I'll bet a lot of us, if we knew fluid was used to start the fire, would detect a fluid flavor in meat today, even if all the fluid had burned away.

Another discussion: Does 100% of the fluid eventually burn off? I'm not so sure!

aawa · Sep 17, 2013

DownHomeQue said:
matchlight is a different story now.. it has lighter fluid throughout the briquettes.. you wont get rid of the lighter fluid until the coal is completely spent.. i NEVER use these.. as in never ever..

I have had a couple friends bring me their match light because they knew I grilled/bbq'd a lot. It would sit in my garage for a while before I would touch it.

Then one day I needed to clean my grates so I lit off the match light and cleaned the grates.

I did end up cooking on it, the fluid burned off. The coals had maybe 20mins of life left in them though. But I knew I could cook a couple of burgers quickly on it! No petrolium flavor present on the burgers.

DownHomeQue · Sep 17, 2013

I do think the fluid completely burns off... Myrons World Championships are proof positive of that.. alone.. and he uses way more fluid than i ever would..

DownHomeQue · Sep 17, 2013

and i'm enlightened by that aawa.. i have a couple bags at the house that were given to me.. i will give them a try..

SmittyJonz · Sep 17, 2013

You can actually SEE the lighter fluid puddling up on and oozing/ dripping from these steaks I did last nite......lucky for me I'm used to the lighter fluid taste.......

Ole Man Dan · Sep 17, 2013

I love lighter fluid.
When we camp I squirt a bunch on cheap charcoal to light a couple of logs
for the base of a nights camp fire.
Come to think of it I love Diesel Fuel too...

I just don't want to smell em or taste em when I'm cooking.

Why do folks around here hate lighter fluid so much!?!

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