How do you light a kamado? Tips for the perfect start

A good session starts with a good start. If you rush lighting a kamado, you overshoot your target temperature and then struggle to bring it back down, because ceramic holds on to heat for hours. With a few fixed steps it works every time, even if you have just unboxed your first kamado.

In this article we go through the whole process: filling, lighting, warming up and setting the vents. Is it a plancha you want to light? That works differently, and you can read how in how do I light a plancha BBQ.

Lighting a kamado starts with filling it well

First remove the ash from the previous session. A full base blocks the airflow, and the fire will struggle to get going. Also check that the air holes in the bottom of the firebox are clear.

Then fill with charcoal up to just below the rim of the firebox, or a little lower if you only want to grill briefly. Stack the pieces loosely, big ones at the bottom and small ones on top. That keeps air flowing between the coals and the fire burns evenly. It is better to use too much than too little: topping up halfway through a long session is awkward, and unused coals can simply be reused next time.

Firelighters, electric starter or chimney

There are three clean ways to light your charcoal:

• Firelighters: place one to three cubes in the charcoal and light them. Simple and cheap, and they stop giving off a smell after a few minutes.
• Electric starter: the loop sits in the coals for a few minutes and gets them glowing. No open flame, but you need a socket nearby.
• Chimney starter: you light the coals in a separate metal cylinder and then tip them into the firebox. Handy for a fast, hot start.

Never use lighter fluid or methylated spirits. Ceramic absorbs the smell and releases it into your food years later. You can find useful tools in the kamado accessories.

How many lighting points for which temperature

The number of places where you light the fire decides how quickly and how hot your kamado gets. Take this as a guideline, because every kamado and every charcoal behaves slightly differently:

• One lighting point in the middle: a calm build-up, suitable for low and slow cooking up to roughly 130 °C.
• Two or three points: for 150 to 200 °C, the standard for indirect cooking and chicken.
• Several points spread out: for high temperatures from 250 °C, for example for pizza or a thick steak.

Not sure? Start with fewer. You can always wait longer, but a fire that is too hot is hard to get rid of.

Warming up and setting the vents

Light the charcoal with the lid open and both vents fully open. After a few minutes the first coals glow and the kamado draws well. Then close the lid and let it warm up with the vents still well open.

This is where it goes wrong: people wait until the target temperature is reached and only then start closing the vents. By then it is too late. Start closing when you are about 20 to 30 degrees below your target. Set the bottom vent to a few millimetres and the top vent (the daisy wheel) to a narrow gap. The bottom vent controls how much air gets in, while the top fine-tunes it and controls the exhaust.

Keep an eye on the temperature with a good thermometer and give the kamado a quarter of an hour to stabilise before you put anything on the grid. A stable fire matters more than a fast fire.

Do not overshoot: coming back down is slow

A kamado is heavy, insulated and holds heat very well. That is great when you want to cook slowly, but awkward when you have got too hot. The ceramic releases its heat only slowly, so dropping from 300 to 120 °C can take an hour or more.

Overshot anyway? Close the vents almost completely, keep the lid shut and give it time. Opening the lid to cool down backfires: you feed the fire with oxygen. Planning a low-temperature cook such as indirect cooking? Then a measured start is the only reliable route. If the fire has already been driven hard, you are better off lighting a fresh session or choosing a dish that suits the higher temperature.

Burping: opening the lid safely

If the kamado is hot and you suddenly open the lid all the way, a rush of oxygen flows in. That can cause a flash of flame, also known as backdraft. Prevent it by burping: first lift the lid a few centimetres, wait a few seconds for the air to be replenished and only then open it fully. Wear heat-resistant gloves and keep your face and arms away from the opening.