How to start a fire

Starting a fire is rather an art than skill. Especially when we are living in a world where gas stoves are easily available and the use of charcoal combustion fire is seeping away from our society. It's not hard to start a fire nowadays, but it is how you start it that matters. And whenever there's a need for charcoal fire for BBQ, that's when i find how hard it is to start a nice fire. With much practice and some past experiences, i finally found the trick.

Rule 1: Use charcoal fragments instead of big blocks. If there are none in the pack, break them into pieces to the sizes of syillings.

Rule 2: Pile them up and leave a space at the centre for the fire starter.

Rule 3: Do not fan when the fire starter was lit. Wait until the fire starter was all burnt out.

Rule 4: Cover the fire starter with bigger blocks of charcoal from above but allow some room for oxygen.

Rule 5: Patience.

When the small fragments of charcoals are red hot and burning, fan it vigorously. A fire would soon appear. And again, be patient and add more charcoal to burn. If u are in a hurry, you can skip all the steps above. Dip your charcoal in petrol and lit it with a lighter. But then your chicken wings might smell like your car exhaust.


nice fire

When all the charcoals turn white, u can spread it over your bbq stove and start your BBQ! I recommend slow fire which is easier to control and your food would not turn into ashes the instant you glance away from the bbq fire. Yesterday i started a fire and bbq-ed the leftover lamb shoulders from a party the day before. They was charcoal-cooked to perfection with a spread of butter. The mutton sizzled under the slow fire and melted fat and juice dripped onto the fire making 'hisses' sound. When they were done, it was eaten with mint sauce bought from hypermarket days ago. YUM! The best lamb-steak i ever had!