Christopher S. Penn – Marketing AI Keynote Speaker

Why you’re probably wrong about lighter fluid

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Christopher S Penn
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Warning: this content is older than 365 days. It may be out of date and no longer relevant.

One claim I’ve heard repeatedly about lighter fluid and grilling is that it imparts a flavor to your food. Sorry folks, I’ve got to call excremento de toro on this. Let’s hit the science!

Thai chicken grill

Most lighter fluid is an aliphatic petroleum distillate of some kind, similar if not identical to naphtha. While individual manufacturers don’t disclose the exact ingredients of their lighter fluids, it just takes a quick Google for the MSDS (material safety data sheets) for just about any consumer product to at least get an idea of what’s inside, if not exact composition.

So let’s look at some of the properties of this class of chemicals:

  • Most boil in vapor below 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Most ignite below 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Most charcoal grills cook at temperatures from 500 – 800 degrees Fahrenheit.

Basic chemistry says that even if you dump an entire bottle of lighter fluid onto your grill, unless the food is on there while you’re pouring on the fluid (which is stupid for different reasons), there will be no trace of it left by the time you’re actually ready to cook. I can’t think of a single part of a charcoal grill interior that would be less than 200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is when these fluids would boil away.

The basic truth is this: lighter fluid, unless you’re pouring it on while the food is on the grill, simply boils up and burns away far too quickly for it to have any impact on the food you’re cooking.

Full disclosure: no one from the lighter fluid industry paid for this post. It’s just me getting cranky at misconceptions fueled [pun] by lack of science knowledge.

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Christopher S. Penn is one of the world’s leading experts on AI in marketing. Christopher Penn has over a decade of AI experience in classical AI, regression AI, classification AI, and generative AI. Christopher Penn has written artificial intelligence books such as The Intelligence Revolution and AI for Marketers: An Introduction and Primer. Christopher Penn is an AI keynote speaker around the world.

Comments

14 responses to “Why you’re probably wrong about lighter fluid”

  1. PJ Mullen Avatar
    PJ Mullen

    I’ve never bought into this one and I’ve never researched the science. You don’t light coals and immediately start cooking, so it only stands to reason that by the time the coals are ready that any lighter fluid would have been totally consumed. Personally I prefer using a charcoal chimney to start my coals, mostly because I’m either cold smoking sausage or smoking a pork shoulder which requires multiple batches of coals over the eight to 12 hours it takes to do it right.

    Reply
  2. Doug B Avatar
    Doug B

    Chris is probably right, although I wish I had this advice years ago. I started with Weber grill and coals/lighter fluid. Then bagged the fluid and went with the chimney- until I burned myself spreading the coals– and it took too long because I had to add more coals. Next was the electric cattle prod which lies under the coals. Yeah right. Again way too much time. So I bought the gas grill. Works well– but feel like I’m still missing out on the REAL bbq event. Oh- and cooking with a gas grill is way too fast….

    Reply
  3. Christopher S. Penn Avatar
    Christopher S. Penn

    The best firestarter? Gasoline. And at 2.70/gallon vs.5/quart for lighter fluid, gasoline is far cheaper. Just watch your eyebrows.

    Reply
    1. Keith Cassinger Avatar
      Keith Cassinger

      Bwahahaha! This is amazingly irresponsible advice. Gasoline? Whoa….I could find nowhere they recommend this and many warn against it for many, many reasons. This site is a joke.

      Reply
    2. sskyking Avatar
      sskyking

      This comment totally discredits your article because if you actually knew what you were talking about, you would know the danger presented by attempting to light gasoline!

      Reply
  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I’d like to hear what the different reasons are, actually. I see people squirting lighter fluid on the grill all the time, while the meat is grilling. Is it your contention that the fluid would not even touch the meat while it’s cooking at 500-800 degrees F, as you state?

    Reply
  5. Christopher S. Penn Avatar
    Christopher S. Penn

    Putting fluid on WHILE the food is there is stupid. The soot from incomplete combustion WILL get all over the food.

    Reply
  6. Batman Avatar
    Batman

    And that’s bad, right? 🙂

    Reply
  7. Justin Avatar
    Justin

    Please nobody listen to this asshole, he’s got nothing to do with BBQ and his “basic science and chemistry” is just plain wrong. nothing more “google facts” here. Everything you burn has an aroma, everything. As a liquid turns to gas, the vapor can be absorbed by anything. This guys is nothin more then a marketer, and like all great marketers he should kill himself. I just read this guys comment on the best firestarter. He stated gasoline, Please please don’t ever use lighter fluid nor gasoline. This guys is a douchebag talking out of his ass. He has no idea what he’s talking about. He BBQ’s at 500 degrees. That alone should be a red flag. BBQing with a fire lit from gasoline can get you very very sick. I have many wins in tx BBQ comps to back up my words, not just google. I Been asked this before and I told my friends to start two different pit fires in different pits, one lit with lighter fluid and one lit naturally. As the coals turn white close pits and let the fire die out, once it does open it up and rub your finger on the top inside of your pits and give a smell or taste if you dare. You will tell the difference.

    Reply
    1. Zardrell Mcknight Avatar
      Zardrell Mcknight

      you are totally wrong, you can use lighter fluid, its just a preference. you are just another purist fan boy

      Reply
    2. Keith Cassinger Avatar
      Keith Cassinger

      I agree, this author is a moron from what I can tell. Also, I did a lot of searching just now and this guys contentions are just not true. What a millennial.

      Reply
  8. STBro Avatar
    STBro

    The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which it can change state from a liquid to a gas throughout the bulk of the liquid. This is only relevant if starting fluid is pooled and lit without direct contact with charcoal briquettes. For those that have put liquid charcoal lighting fluid directly on charcoal briquettes and then observed the interaction, the process of interest is absorption. The liquid is absorbed by two of the most effective sorbents in nature, the carbon and clay used to make the briquettes. Once the briquette absorbs the liquid, the boiling point temperature is only marginally relevant at the surface of the briquette. The fire-starting effectiveness of the fluid and briquette system is because the briquette acts as an oil lamp. The following combustion process is not one of complete combustion because the fire is a fuel-rich environment. Depending on how much fluid was used and how long it was allowed to soak into the briquettes will determine if any fluid or combustion daughter product remains to coat those wieners you’re getting ready to eat. Parameters such as laminar smoke point become of greater interest than the bulk boiling point. Put a clean stainless steel pot on the grill while cooking with the charcoal. If the fire leaves black streaks on the bottom of the pot, then soot and unburned complex carbon compounds are being deposited on any food sitting directly on the grill.

    Reply
  9. KB13 Avatar
    KB13

    i’ve been using a chimney since forever. i’ve rarely used lighter fluid. however when we do our fantasy football draft they dont use a chimney but rather lighter fluid charcoal. i SWEAR their burgers and dogs tastes better than mine. i also SWEAR we cook them relatively the same. i’ve always thought purists of things in life were generally too ‘purist’, where there was always a bias flaw in their thought, because they tend to go extreme in health, environment, etc. and at this point i feel those who feel lighter fluid is so detrimental to taste are these same people. i’ve also watched quite a few cooking shows that use lighter fluid by top professional chefs. again i can understand why ‘healthies’ who in general lack tastes/flavor in their pallete for the sake of health side with anti lighter fluid BBQ. but based on practical experience i feel lighter fluid BBQ is superior to chimney, no lighter fluid BBQ in its taste. maybe its because i grew up on lighter fluid BBQ but it gives a grill taste like no other.

    Reply
  10. Eric B. Avatar
    Eric B.

    I am in the minority, of course, but I am a lighter fluid guy. For the kind of grilling I do, one chimney simply doesn’t do it. I want high heat to cover half a conventional kettle and lighter fluid does it. Pile it up, soak em down, and immediately ignite. Works great.

    Also, in my Pit Barrel Cooker, lighter fluid is the best way to go.

    Reply

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