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 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.

Does exactly what its expected to and colds enough coals!

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.

Ive used this a couple times and it seems to get the charcoal hotter much faster. I also switched to a lump charcoal thats small and setting the chimney where the wind is not blocked so that may also be a factor. Seems well built and looks nice and has a large capacity. Definitely a step up from the standard weber chimney.

I don’t use this as most people will, but it is a great product. I use it for extreme heat searing steaks or chops. I like this because this charcoal stack is wider and I can fit 2-3 ribeyes on top of this with a stainless steel grid on top. What I think would make it slightly better is if they would have left the top most row of holes closed to give more of a chimney draft effect but it still works great. The draft issue would probably help normal users get hot charcoal a little faster but I have no proof. If you would like to sear steaks on top of a chimney stack like this it is near perfect. Just sous-vide or “reverse sear” first then add some char with this as your compact flame throwing burner. Yum!

Jumped on Amazon to try to find something built better than Weber chimney and came across this. My Weber has the flimsy wiring on the inside that always comes loose. I can’t believe how much better this chimney is. It starts the coals in half the time and they are more evenly lit - with more coals! Don’t wait, just do it!

It works fantastically but just realize you're buying what's essentially a small grill itself. If you need to light a LARGE amount of charcoal quickly, absolutely this is what you want but do be aware it's quite big. Like if you need to light 40 or more briquettes at a time, this is what you're after. I've used it with a grill grate over it to sear steaks as well, because really at the end of the day it's just a very small charcoal grill itself. Anyway it works awesome if you often cook for a lot of people, or want to light a mountain of of charcoal fast.

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

Gets the coals going fast and good volume