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

[DownHomeQue]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[deguerre]

Originally Posted by aawa

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]

Originally Posted by deguerre

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]

I use lighter fluid in my charcoal chimney - - 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]

Originally Posted by SmittyJonz

I use lighter fluid in my charcoal chimney - - 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]

Originally Posted by columbia1

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]

Originally Posted by DownHomeQue

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]

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]

Originally Posted by aawa

He is posting from his wooden propane powered computer!

Must be! lol

[Schmoke]

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!