The Weber 7429 Rapid Fire Chimney Starter is an excellent chimney starter. It’s about 7 and a half inches in diameter and 12 inches high. This Starter will hold around 3 pounds of charcoal depending on the brand and if you using briquettes or lump charcoal. If you using lump it will probably be less do to the uneven ship of lump charcoal. It has great airflow and will have your charcoal fired up in no time at all. It also has a double handle to make it easy to empty after its hot.
Why I Picked A Weber Rapid Fire Chimney Starter
To be honest there not a lot to a chimney starter in the first place. So what maker this batter then something like a GrillPro 3970 chimney starter that’s half the price. Well, I actually got this as a replacement for my GrillPro 39470 chimney starter. So let me tell you why I want with a Weber 7429 Rapid Fire and not another GrillPro 39470.
The Weber 7429 Rapid Fire Chimney Starter is a great option because of how its made. All chimney starter may look the same on the outside but its what’s inside that matters. The bottom of the Weber 7429 where the charcoal will be sitting as its being lit has a grate much like the charcoal grate in the bottom of your grill.
If you think about it it makes sense. This area does the same job as the charcoal grates in your grill. It’s going to see the most heat out of the hole chimney starter. So it really needs to be the strongest and thickest part of the Chimney Starter.
This along with the double handle design for extra control when handling hot charcoal, and extra-large heat shield makes the Weber Rapid Fire not only a well made but also a safe chose for your charcoal lighting needs.
Why You Should Avoid Cheaper Chimney Starters
Most low-cost chimney starter will just use a piece of sheet metal for the bottom with holes in it to let air flow throw it. This does work, but over time the thin sheet metal will begin to warp down words. Once it warps too much the bottom will just fall out. That’s what happen whit my old GrillPro.
Emptying a Chimney Starter can be extremely dangerous. You are handling hot charcoal this might be the most dangerous part of using a chimney starter. Especially if you have young kids who are trying to help you.
Just imagine picking up your starter so you can dump it into your grill, and out of nowhere hot charcoals come flying out the bottom landing near your feet or near your kids as there trying to help you. Not what you hade in mind when you decided to grill dinner.