Cheap chimney starter - £3

[RobinC]

The weber one also tends to be a bit bigger than the others. I've used alternate ones but for me the Weber ones are better. The alternates have all died within a season or two at most.

[Tiny]

DJbenz,
Assure you it is not Weber based snobbery, simply that imho it is well designed, it works and above all is safe. Also it is £18, or less than most folk spend on a mid sized cook when you inc meat and fuel, so for me saving that tenner only to have the "spring noise when the handle disassembles just isn't worth it.

Perhaps as as one of a few blind bbqers I am more afraid of the disassembly of my charcoal starter than most, the Kevlar gloves are great but I do not possess Kevlar socks

But as with all things, to each his own and glad your starter hasn't maimed you,
Cheers
Tiny

[keith157]

One of the failures often resulting in the fabled FFD is the method of joining the handle to the starter. As can be seen in the photo supplied there is a screw/bolt in the exact location you would rest your thumb when holding the starter. This bolt WILL get exceedingly hot as there appears to be nothing preventing the heat from transferring through the thin bar joining the coal container to the wood. You don't have to buy weber, I have a landsman as well and that was considerably cheaper than the weber and has bee properly constructed and there is no heat transfer.

[DJBenz]

This bolt WILL get exceedingly hot

It doesn't.

[Verminskti]

The weber mini I grabbed for £15. If its only a few you want lit you could always turn the weber one upside down (throw lighter cubes then charcoal) or drill some holes in an old coffee tin and use it in the weber big one.

[keith157]

This bolt WILL get exceedingly hot

It doesn't.

If you have the Tesco one I am very surprised as both the home base & b&q cheapies do. Stated as a caution for the newer readers.

[Matsuya]

The weber mini I grabbed for £15. If its only a few you want lit you could always turn the weber one upside down (throw lighter cubes then charcoal) or drill some holes in an old coffee tin and use it in the weber big one.

That's a good tip - in fact I just was reminded of this technique while watching YouTube videos of BBQ methods (friends despair of me sometimes).

[DJBenz]

If you have the Tesco one I am very surprised as both the home base & b&q cheapies do.

I can't say much more than what I've experienced directly. It's a long length of metal between the chimney and handle so I guess there's plenty of room for the heat to dissipate to atmosphere. Also the heat shield probably acts a heat sink to further draw the heat away.

[PDC7]

I've used this same tesco 3 pound special (although I paid 6 quid) for over 10 starts now, still in decent condition, not as good build quality as the weber but in my opinion it's good enough

[Scantily]

When i first bought my wsm i just picked up a cheap chimney from B&Q which was alright for a while, but after a few months it was very rusty and the handle had started to come loose, really not something you want on something for holding red hot coals.
I replaced it with a large weber chimney and i wish i'd just bought one to start with, much bigger, the coals sit on a cone shaped grate rather than a flat sheet of metal with holes cut in, it has a supporting handle and it doesn't rust any near as quickly.

Charcoal lights so much faster compared to the B&Q one, and we all know bigger = better. One of the best and most useful bbq accessories and definitely worth the money in my opinion.