How to make fire starters for a charcoal barbecue

Do you really need lots of stinky liquid fire starter to get your charcoal barbecue fire going? (No).

For alternatives, let's compare: 1--plain crumbled wood; 2--purchased 'fire starter' shavings; & 3--home-made crumbled wood soaked with old melted Scentsy wax. First, put the wood in the party cup.

After a day or two, the melted scented wax in your warmer cup is exhausted. What to do with the old wax? Pour it on top of the crumbly old wood in the paper cup to make a dandy fire starter.

Here is a competition to see which fire starter is best. Is it plain crumbly wood (left), commercially prepared waxed wood shavings (center) or the homemade wax & wood concoction (right)?

Lighting all three competitors.

The plain wood has fizzled quickly, the commercially available waxed wood shavings are burning up too fast and the homemade wax and crumbled wood is chugging along.

The purchased waxed wood is out...didn't last long at all. But the homemade wood and Scentsy wax keeps on burning.

The homemade crumbly wood and scented wax combination is the Winner! In fact, it just kept on burning for about 15 minutes. Plenty long enough to light your charcoal for those steaks.

And if you can't find crumby old wood, you can always use the purchased waxed wood shavings and douse them with the melted scented wax. It makes a great charcoal fire starter. Enjoy those steaks!