Oklahoma Joe's Halftime XL Charcoal Starter - 9848125R04

This starter lives up to its claims. All starters like the Weber Chimney and the others work very well. I’ve had one for years that I wouldn’t grill without. There are tons of reviews for those other products explaining the benefit of using a starter. In this case, though, the large diameter separates it from other starters. Different is definitely better. It does light faster when you use the same amount of charcoal as you would in a typical starter. It also lets you use a lot more charcoal when you want to make a bigger fire. That’s a very nice feature. But the reason I really like the larger diameter is because I can use this starter as a mini-grill. I light it like normal with it sitting in my kettle grill. When the coals are ready, I don’t dump them out. I have a small grate that sits on top of the starter. I can quickly cook a couple of steaks right over the screaming hot fire. Then I close the grill, the fire goes out, and I save the coals for next time. This method sears the meat as well as a restaurant, and better than I’ve ever seen on a home gas or charcoal grill. I don’t need no stinking grill marks when the whole steak has a nice brown crust. I can do this on my old starter, but it's so small I can only do one at a time. It also works quite well for fish, pork chops, and burgers, and it’s great for finishing if you use a sous-vide cooker. You can also cook flank steak right on the coals if you want. My trusty old Weber Chimney has been replaced.

Lots to like about this product, fast lighting, large capacity, and seemingly well built. I toss three tumbleweeds under it and stand back, that chases any mosquito's away I'll tell you. Cooking for a group, this is a great BBQ tool to have on your side.

This charcoal chimney is extra large and has two handles for easy pick up. Well made nice and sturdy

I have a a old oakey Joes Longhorn that I grill, smoke, and just generally cook on. I've abused the crap out of it for over 10 years. I always used the standard coal chimneys that you can get at local stores and never had a huge issue except here in the PNW they only last about a year with the abuse I give them. So I decided to try out this unit. So far, I love it. It fits WAY better on the grill due to its low profile. Holds plenty of coal, and gets the coals going WAY faster because of the surface area. I actually have to recycle more paper and cardboard cause I use much less to start my lumps of fiery smokiness. The stainless "seems" to be holding up much better, but only time and abuse will tell. The handles seem much more stout compared to the easily meltable plastic of the lesser chimneys, But I have been more careful to not put them directly in the fire like the great handle melting of 2025. My dogs do NOT approve of the change though as I spend much less time drinking beer and giving them trimmings as the fire starts so much faster. The pitiful looks and whining by the back door is somewhat annoying, but a few pieces of pickle usually scratches their itch for a treat.

This thing is amazing at starting charcoal - you dump your coals in it, put a fire starter underneath and in no time you have ready coals for grilling, smoking or barbequing. Saves so much time and you don't need any lighter fluid so your food tastes amazing and doesn't have that chemical smell from the lighter fluid. Its perfect and works just as described. Even has a metal guard so that when you're ready to pour out the hot coals onto your grill you won't burn your hand from the hot coals and the heat they radiate.

Worked incredibly efficiently and heated lump and charcoal quicker than any other chimney I’ve tried. Unfortunately after less than a year the metal warped and broke off at the top of the handle rendering it useless for what I use it for. It may still be useful for searing a single steak over an open fire, but no longer useful to dump lit coals. Candidly we used it 200+ times and for the money that’s a great bargain.

Does exactly what its expected to and colds enough coals!

Does what is says!!! Good hot coals fast. Will buy again!!!

流石に本場アメリカ製です❕️ゴツい。 耐久性評価はこれからですが、造りから想像すると期待できます。 多少バリあり。ここは購入者が処置しましょう。

Perfecto para asadores argentinos o los q no tienen mucha altura. Funciona perfecto👌🏻🤩

Great product at a fair price

Hey, fellow Pitmasters! Don't waste your time with any other chimney. This one is the real deal! It used to take forever to get charcoal set using the "other guys'" chimneys. Believe me, I tried a lot of them. To help them along, I ended up drilling a whole bunch more holes into them, but even that didn't help much. Then, after all that frustration (and wasted time waiting and waiting for the charcoal to set), I found this chimney. Mine is now all black and dull after a couple years of relentless use (started out spectacularly shiny), but it works. This is the one that actually works and does what it is supposed to do. I can set my charcoal in a matter of a few minutes on a windy day, definitely less than 10 minutes when there is no wind at all. Plus, it has an extra large handle, which is great. I will never use another charcoal chimney. I can't speak highly enough about this great product, which is a feature of every single one of my BBQs.

Gets the coals going fast and good volume