Grill Maestro

Working with lighter fluid can be especially tricky because most people misuse it so often, from both a safety and from a general cooking perspective. Ever have a burger that tasted like lighter fluid? Yeah, I have too. Have you ever seen someone spray lighter fluid directly into the fire? Yeah, me too and I run the other way. Well, here are three quick tips when working with lighter fluid that I wish everyone read.

Allow The Fluid To Soak Into The Charcoal
Build up your little pyramid and, if your charcoal isn’t already infused with lighter fluid, spray some on and allow it time to soak into the briquettes. If you already have lighter fluid in it, you should be ready to go without the need to add more. It’s crucial to allow the fluid time to soak into the charcoal because if you don’t give it a few minutes, it’ll only soak a little bit and then burn off too quickly. In fact, if you think this is too complicated, just get a chimney starter and save yourself the trouble of fluid all together.

Let The Fluid Burn Off Completely
First off, if there is still fire, the grill isn’t at the point where it’s ready for cooking food. You want the coals to be ashy and glowing, not licking the grill grate with flames. If you don’t let the flames burn off the fluid, what you’ll get it exactly what you’re smelling… lighter fluid. Nothing tastes good with lighter fluid, if it did then you’d have lighter fluid seasoning (but obviously you don’t).

Don’t Spray Fluid Directly Onto Fire
This is the most important tip of them all, do not spray lighter fluid on flames. It’s dangerous, it’s stupid, and it’s not at all effective. If you need more lighter fluid, let the flames die down and repeat the process all over again. You will end up saving lighter fluid in the process anyway and maybe learn from whatever mistakes you made the first time around.

There you have it, three easy and very basic lighter fluid tips anyone can take to heart.

(Photo by R O S E S)