{"id":1536204,"date":"2020-10-09T15:39:12","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T20:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=1536204"},"modified":"2025-04-24T05:53:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T10:53:34","slug":"charcoal-starters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/charcoal-starters\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Charcoal Starters for Your Grill"},"content":{"rendered":"\"TKP\r\n\r\nNo doubt about it: Grilling is one of our favorite ways to get cooking in the warmer months\u2014and for some die-hards, even on cold days. There's nothing that can replace that char-grilled flavor of a great burger<\/a>, barbecued ribs<\/a> or even some veggies<\/a> done up right. But let's be real: If you're grilling with charcoal<\/a>, starting the grill can be tedious and using lighter fluid can leave your go-to recipes tasting less than their best. That's where a good charcoal starter comes in.\r\n\r\nBut what starter is best? Hardware stores and online shops are full of options. It can be hard to choose! That's why our Test Kitchen and team of expert grillers put six common grill starter options to the test. We had to find which were worthy of your next cookout.\r\n

What We Looked for in a Charcoal Starter<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n[dam-video dam-id=\"49501\"]\r\n\r\nWhen you're grilling, you want a gadget you can count on, one that will last for cookouts to come and one that's easy to use\u2014especially when there are lawn games<\/a> and a cooler of beer<\/a> to distract you. Here's what our Test Kitchen kept in mind as they fired up grill after grill:\r\n