Shopvac Afterburner

I like using a charcoal grill. The food tastes better, plus it's a great excuse to play with fire.

I use a charcoal chimney starter. Thanks to Lurker for introducing this device to me. I think Sherry wants to thank you too...but she has trouble being nice to people.

"This environmentally safe chimney starter lights a charcoal grill quickly and easily without lighter fluid. Food tastes better and the charcoal lighter fluid odor doesn’t permeate your picnic--or the environment."

It's pretty simple to use. Fill the top part with charcoal and the bottom part with a sheet of newspaper. Light the newspaper and wait 20 minutes. 20 minutes. That simply doesn't cut it for the have-it-right-now generation.

Here's a method I use for lighting my charcoal in 2 minutes. 2 gloriously fun and surprisingly educational minutes.

Warning: This is pretty dangerous. Before you start, make sure your kids and pets are indoors (My oldest son was with me only because I needed someone to take pictures, and Sherry was too busy watching football...err...screaming at the TV.) Choose an area that is free of dry grass and/or leaves. Wear a hat (I wore a cotton baseball hat) and eye protection (normal glasses for me).

Light the newspaper just like before, but after the newspaper is finished burning, pick up the chimney and carry it to an open area...free of combustible items.

Turn your shopvac to 'blow.'

Hold your lit chimney as far away as possible. Tilt the top slightly away from your head.

Slowly bring the blowing end of the shopvac tube to the bottom of your chimney. It's important to do it slowly because a large amount of loose ash blows out initially. The first time I did this, I realized that my hair might ignite. It was quite a precarious situation. I was holding a chimney of hot coals in one hand, a shopvac hose in the other and little pieces of hot ash where landing on my head. This is what the bottom of the chimney looks like.

At full throttle, the charcoal begins to super-heat. It puts out a staggering amount of energy. It only takes 90-120 seconds of full after-burner to light all of the coals.

You'll see the sides of your chimney start to glow red. That's a good indication that it's time to stop. ...Or...you can keep going and see how hot it can really get. Eventually, if you aren't wearing gloves, which I wasn't, the heat will become unbearable.

Turn off the shopvac and let the flames die down. At this point you'll be kicking yourself for using up all your arm strength on the prior step. You really can't move around that much during this step, and dumping the coals in to the grill is out of the question. Dig deep and find the strength to hold the chimney for a few more seconds and enjoy the two foot flames.

Finally, dump your hot glowing coals into your grill. These coals run a little hotter than coals lit using the normal method for lighting, so you'll need to adjust your cooking time. Sherry, remember the last time I did this and the hamburgers caught on fire? God that funny. Good times...good times.