There are a few things I really like about this model. 1) Lots of ventilation to get oxygen to all of the coals, even when totally full. 2) You can easily lift it up and put new paper under it if your paper fizzles out (happened to me) and you need to restart. The small holes in the side also help you see what's going on as the heat rises. 3) Most important, it gets charcoal good and hot good and quick.
Now for what I don't like. 1) Lodge coated all of the metal surfaces, including the grill inside, with some kind of coating. I guess it's supposed to make it look like "nice" unfinished metal. Problem is, this coating isn't very heat resistant and quickly melts/evaporates, leaving odd streaks of exposed metal after just a couple uses. A better approach would have been to leave the metal alone. 2) Even a large charcoal briquette can slip through the grill in the bottom. Not sure how I'd fix this and keep the system well ventilated. 3) It only holds enough to cook a crowded meal for 2 on charcoal. Easiest way to solve this is buy 2 or more, depending on how much you plan to cook at a time. This seems to be the case for every starter I've seen. They're all basically the same size.
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My old chimney, same style, lasted for twenty years. I'm glad they haven't changed the style. It works.Best Deals for Cheap Download Lodge A5-1 Charcoal Chimney Starter
This charcoal chimney starter is effective and performs as described in the product description.There are two flaws in the design that relate to safety:
1. The metal handle is exposed in the separation on the sides of the 2-piece wooden insulators. Conceivably, a bare hand could be burned when grasping the handle to dump out the prepared coals. Be sure to use an insulated glove or potholder.
2. The spacing of the outermost ring in the bottom grate sometimes allows a briquette to fall through and out of the chimney. This can occur when a briquette is oriented edge-wise down. A user typically has his/her attention on the open end of the chimney when pouring hot charcoal. A hot briquette could fall out unnoticed from the other end when tipping the unit. My personal experience is that a briquette fell out of the bottom when I dumped the coals into my grill. It landed on the plastic top of a patio table. I did not discover this until the table top had been partially melted and deformed.
Use with caution. Supervise youngsters.
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This would be 5 stars if Lodge could have made a grate that didn't allow charcoal to fall through. I used a current name brand charcoal and tried to light three chimney's worth this weekend. About 10% of the bricks will fall through during the pouring in (annoying) or pouring out (dangerous). Why in the world would you not make the grate smaller? Unless I modify it myself, it is too annoying to use. Thanks, Lodge.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Cheap Download Lodge A5-1 Charcoal Chimney Starter
I have always considered Lodge to be bullet proof. I suspect this item was not really manufactured by Lodge nor made in America. The first chimney sent from Amazon arrived without a bottom. The replacement arrived with the bottom uninstalled. I installed it, but it is clear that this chimney will not last long.On the plus side, the design is good and the extra ventilation allows for a large amount of charcoal to be started quickly. It has a wooden handle which is far better than the plastic in the Weber version (it melts).
On the negative side, the bottom is secured to the chimney by tabs perforated in the tin, and they break easily. I expect to have to jerry rig fasteners in less than a week as I use this on my Big Green Egg 5 days a week.
Too bad good design, poor construction. Way too much time spent describing the quality of a $19 item.
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