Thursday, April 23, 2009

This Week's Find
The arrival of beautiful spring weather marks the beginning of one my favorite things: yard sales. Last Saturday Edo and I made our first tour 'round our neighbors, marking the beginning of what will become henceforth a weekend ritual. We love scanning for poorly written signs, rooting through piles of castoffs, observing how folks arrange their wares, but mostly relish the satisfaction of scoring a deal. The season has just begun and we only made a few stops but I did manage to find this:

Meet my new barbeque cohort, Mr. Chimney Charcoal Starter. The fellow who sold it to me asked if I knew what it was, my reply was I knew exactly what it was, as I've wanted one for ages. In fact I came close to buying one last summer, but put it down with the very DIY/cheap idea that I'd make one myself. Ha!

Let me explain why I covet. For me, one of the more bothersome aspects of barbecuing is getting the coals going. I'm not a fan of lighter fluid, so that leaves me searching for scraps of cardboard or any minor fuel to get my coals going after the newspaper's gone out. Inevitably and pathetically, I'm left to blowing/fanning my few embers with the hope their red glow will contagiously infect their cold charcoal neighbors. Thankfully, those days are officially over. I have a new friend. Let me show you how he works.

All you need are a couple sheets of newspaper, a chimney, charcoal, and a lighter. Begin by scrunching up the newspaper into a doughnut and stuff it into the bottom making sure to leave a hole in the middle for good air flow.

Next turn the starter upright and fill with charcoal. I like to use hardwood charcoal but briquettes work just as well, they'll just take a few minutes little longer to ember. Place the chimney at bottom of your grill and light the newspaper from the holes at the bottom.

Smoke will begin to billow out the top indicating that the newspaper is lit. Now go get yourself something to drink. Return 5 minutes later to this:

Dump your gorgeously cheeried embers into your grill and cook your steak. Get your drink, snip some garden grown chives...

Eat.

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