Fire Starter vs. Lighter Fluid: Which Is Better for Your Grill?
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Most people grew up watching someone squirt lighter fluid on a pile of briquettes, toss a match, and jump back from the fireball. It works, sort of. But if you have ever tasted a burger that had a faint gas-station flavor, you already know the downside. Here is how the three common ways to light charcoal compare.
Lighter fluid
How it works: petroleum solvent soaks into the charcoal and burns off in a few minutes, hopefully leaving lit coals behind.
- Pros: cheap, sold everywhere, fast flare.
- Cons: the flare dies in 2 or 3 minutes and often leaves half the pile unlit, so people add more fluid to lit coals, which is how flare-up burns happen. Any fluid that has not burned off ends up as a chemical taste in the food. It evaporates in storage, spills in the truck, and cannot be used indoors or in a fireplace at all.
Chimney starter
How it works: a metal cylinder holds the charcoal above a couple of sheets of burning newspaper. Heat rises through the stack and lights it from the bottom.
- Pros: clean, no chemicals, lights a full load evenly in 15 to 20 minutes.
- Cons: you need the chimney (another $20 to $40 item to store), newspaper that is dry, and a safe place to set a glowing-hot cylinder. Newspaper burns out fast and often needs two or three tries on a windy day. It does nothing for a campfire, fireplace or fire pit.
Natural fire starter (wood and wax)
How it works: compressed wood fiber and wax burns like a small, steady candle flame for a long time. Set it in the charcoal, light it, and the coals catch from sustained heat rather than a flash.
- Pros: no chemicals or taste, no extra equipment, works in wind and light rain, and the same starter lights a fireplace, wood stove, fire pit or campfire. One Strike burns 30+ minutes, so even a full chimney-sized pile of charcoal catches from one starter without any newspaper.
- Cons: about $2 per starter versus pennies per squirt of fluid. It is also slower to produce visible flame across the whole pile, because it lights the charcoal properly from a single point rather than flashing the surface.
Side by side
| Lighter fluid | Chimney | One Strike | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical taste | Often | No | No |
| Time to cooking coals | 15 to 25 min (with relights) | 15 to 20 min | 15 to 25 min |
| Extra equipment | No | Yes | No |
| Works for fireplace / fire pit / campfire | No | No | Yes |
| Safe to store in a hot truck | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works in wind and rain | Poorly | Poorly | Yes |
Our take
If you only ever grill at home and already own a chimney, use it. For everything else, a long-burning natural starter is simpler: one item in the drawer that lights every fire you have. And nothing you cook will taste like the fuel that lit it.
Fire safety basics
- Never use lighter fluid, gasoline or any accelerant with a fire starter. You do not need it.
- Keep a bucket of water, a hose or a Class A extinguisher within reach.
- Never leave a fire unattended, and never let children light a fire starter.
- Check local burn bans and campground rules before lighting anything outdoors.
- Burn only in a well-ventilated space. Indoor fireplaces and wood stoves need an open damper and a clean chimney.
- Let ashes cool completely (24 hours is a good rule) before disposing of them in a metal container.
Shop the Box of 5 ($10) or try a single starter ($2). Family-owned and made in Edinburg, Texas. More guides on our Blog page.
California Proposition 65 Warning
⚠ WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including wood dust and soot, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer, and carbon monoxide, which is known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.