Review of Max Bbq Eco Charcoal Chimney Starter With Gas Burner

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List Price: $39.99
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Very sturdy and has held up nicely over many grills. Every time that I have lit it one single push of the red button has done the job. The stand makes a nice place to hold the unit until it cools down instead of laying it in the dirt. If the regulator ever stops working I will just use it like a regular chimney, but that looks to be awhile.

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I knew this would be easier and quicker than my paper fueled charcoal starter, but I was shocked to see the coals glowing at one minute and ready to use in three. Tickled with it.

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I bought this starter with the hope that it would speed the process of lighting a batch of charcoal boy, was I dissapointed. This device is simply an alternative to using newspaper or paraffin wax cubes to start the process. The unit does effectively light the charcoal but still takes 25+ minues for a full load to be ready to use.

To be fair, the manufacturer (via the packaging) did not claim that this device would work quickly. In fact, I couldn't find anything online about the device except for the amazon.com product listing and the associated reivews. I foolishly relied on one of these reviews to make my decision. That review claimed charcoal was ready in 3 minutes. I suppose that's possible if you: a) Light only 5 briquettes or b) Use gasoline (not recommended) or c) Use liquid oxygen (also not recommended).

I've ordered the Stok SGA3070 Rapid Charcoal Starter which claims to work in 7 minutes we'll see how it goes.

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This propane-assisted charcoal chimney starter is exactly what I've been needing; I hated starting my other charcoal chimneys with crumpled up newspaper, and with this tool I hope never to have to do that again. I've used it a half dozen times, and so far it works well. However, it comes with almost no instructions, so maybe my tips will help you.

First, as someone else posted in the Q&A section, you must attach the retaining clip over the OUTSIDE of the tube (it kind of grips through the gaps provided) to loosely hold the gas inlet pointing into the burner assembly. Apparently all it needs is this loose hold for gas to get from the bottle to the burner. I recommend treating the whole assembly gently so nothing gets bent out of shape or too stressed.

Also, you have to attach the handle to the chimney yourself, using the included nuts/bolts. Personally, I could never understand why the handle always looked reversed or 'upside down' in pictures. Since the holes line up the same either way, I assembled my handle with the 'thumb guard' up; it made more sense to me and felt better to my hand in use.

Some have said their igniter switch melted, or that it didn't make the briquets ready any faster than a standard chimney starter. I think there is some confusion over how this tool is meant to work. It's simply a gas assist to the initial lighting of the briquets. The point of this tool is to remove the difficulty and frustration of using a chimney starter with newspaper, since newspaper sometimes fails to light the charcoal effectively the first time, and also creates lots of messy floating ash. With this tool, you'll never need to make little crumpled newspaper rings ever again, and you'll get a good start on the first try. The way it's meant to work is by lighting up the charcoal cleanly and efficiently with the assist of the gas burner, but you should only use the gas for 2-3 minutes until the bottom layer of charcoal initially catches fire. Then you turn off the gas assist, because the bottom layer is fully lit. If you don't turn it off, you would be wasting gas and concentrating too much heat at the bottom, risking melting the igniter switch cable. Now, with the gas turned off, you simply wait the usual 15-20 minutes for all the briquets in the chimney to catch fire, watching for the ones on top to begin to ash over. If you want, you can lift the chimney off the gas burner stand while you wait through this part...it's probably better for the device, and prevents some of the tiny bits of burning briquet ash from falling down into the gas burner ring. Once the whole chimney of briquets are fully on fire and the ones near the top are ashing over, you're ready to use these coals for cooking. Again, this tool is just a gas assist to get the bottom layer lit; it is only meant to do a better version of the same job as the old crumpled newspaper rings. It's still going to take about the usual 20 minutes for fire to spread all the way up, catch all briquets on fire, and ash over the ones on top...the wait's unavoidable, that's just how charcoal briquets and chimney starters work.

Good luck to all, and enjoy not having to struggle 2-3 times with newspaper to get your charcoal lit anymore.

--Bob

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I left an honest review of this product previosly, and the seller had it removed. So much for integrity. Do not buy this starter. The plastic starter button will melt and be rendered totally useless. Seller will not replace, nor refund. This is no better than the manual lighters. Save yourself the hassle, and stay away. I'll add pictures of the melted starter, but the seller will probably remove them again.