"When I was a scout..."

We did all of our cooking on folding charcol grills. We started the coals using home made chimneys from coffee cans; both top and bottom removed and vents punch around both rims via a Church Key. a.k.a. can/bottle opener.

We'd set the can on top of the grate over the coal pan and push a loose wad of paper towel or newspaper at the botton. Next we'd add a dozen or so sticks of kindling sized sticks meant to support the charcol while providing air gaps for air flow. Then we would take a block of parafin and shave off a fair amount into the chimney. Finally, we would add the charcol.

Lighting the paper would provide enough heat to melt the parafin wax, which would let it burn long enough to ignite the kinlind and, hence, eventually the coals.

I chuckled to myself the first time I saw a commercial version of the chimney in the store. <img src="images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> With the advent of low impact camping, we now use propane stoves for cooking. We do have one of those new chimney's for coals to cook with the dutch oven. And, fortunately, dutch oven cooking is becoming more popular with the patrols these days, enough that we're consider purchasing a few more for the troop trailer. We usually start a single chimney load of coals and share for all the patrols. But perhaps I should stash a few coffe cans in the trailer and show the boys an alternative method!