Charcoal

Does anyone know where to purchase good charcoal such as MatchLight? The charcoal bought at Soriana or WalMart takes forever to light. TIA

SuperLake?

Soriana also sells charcoal starter strips. (iniciador de fuego)

Mesquite charcoal in chunks is considered the best. You need a charcoal chimney, a tube of perforated metal. Put newspaper in the bottom, splash some vegetable oil on the paper, then the charcoal on top, light the paper. It concentrates the heat and lights the charcoal. I bought mine at Walmart for about 98 pesos, not sure if they still have them. The Weber BBQ store has them for $32 U.S., the machine shop will make one but they want $80 U.S. (!!!). There are do it your self designs too using coffee cans and coat hangers.

I have no problem lighting the mesquite chunks with plenty of starter fluid. You can get it in a liquid or gel at Walmart.

some of us don't want chemicals and we use the starter sticks that you can buy upstairs at the chapala mercado and al DOES NOT charge $80 us to make a metal chimney. you get what you pay for with these chimneys in any event. mine has metal thick enough to last a lot longer than a coffee can and probly longer than a 98 peso unit from wally world. al made it and it wasn't 80 bucks[300pesos i think]. somebody did ask him to make a giant sized one for a giant bbq on wheels.
yes to real charcoal and no to crappy chemical filled brickettes and chemical starters.
i buy either soriana house brand or the stough in the black bag at wallyworld. both are mesquite and smell waaaaayyyyy better than brickettes. a weber partially smokes as well as bbq.
this is the starter al made for me using the handle from the trashed weber.

I use ocote sticks to get the mesquite chunks lit.

Is that real ocote with the pine resin, or the wax soaked wood sticks they seem to sell here?

By the way Alton Brown has an interesting technique to cook steaks with a charcoal chimney. Google it, it is quite inventive.

I mostly use my Thai Bucket Stove now. It uses hardly any charcoal. You can grill or skewer on top, or a standard Wok pits perfectly for Asian stir fries and curries.
http://importfood.com/dao_cooker.html

CHILLIN wrote:Is that real ocote with the pine resin, or the wax soaked wood sticks they seem to sell here?

The real kind, just like the fatwood they sell NoB.

Pedro wrote:some of us don't want chemicals and we use the starter sticks that you can buy upstairs at the chapala mercado and al DOES NOT charge $80 us to make a metal chimney. you get what you pay for with these chimneys in any event. mine has metal thick enough to last a lot longer than a coffee can and probly longer than a 98 peso unit from wally world. al made it and it wasn't 80 bucks[300pesos i think]. somebody did ask him to make a giant sized one for a giant bbq on wheels.
yes to real charcoal and no to crappy chemical filled brickettes and chemical starters.
i buy either soriana house brand or the stough in the black bag at wallyworld. both are mesquite and smell waaaaayyyyy better than brickettes. a weber partially smokes as well as bbq.
this is the starter al made for me using the handle from the trashed weber.

Who and where is the person that made your chimney?  Thanks

ron and al young. the mechanic and machinist on the side road across from soriana in chapala. al made it.

Pedro wrote:ron and al young. the mechanic and machinist on the side road across from soriana in chapala. al made it.

Great. I know Ron and Al very well. Thanks again.

casi nada wrote:

Pedro wrote:ron and al young. the mechanic and machinist on the side road across from soriana in chapala. al made it.

Great.  I know Ron and Al very well.  Thanks again.

por nada. the finished product.