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How to light a kamado on the first fire

Updated: 23 October 2026

You are outside with a new kamado, a bag of charcoal, and the lid still shut. How to light a kamado is a firelighter, open air, and a wait. The harm comes from skipping that wait and taking the cooker inside. The shell holds heat, and it can still give off carbon monoxide, after the flame has dropped. Models on the [kamado barbecue comparison](/hub/grills-and-barbecues/kamado-barbecue) differ in weight, though the lighting order does not. Whether a heat deflector was listed is on the [kamado buying guide](/hub/grills-and-barbecues/kamado-barbecue/sub/kamado-barbecue-buying-guide). We wrote this from UK safety pages and a published vent guide, without lighting these listings.

You are outside with a new kamado, a bag of charcoal, and the lid still shut. How to light a kamado is a firelighter, open air, and a wait. The harm comes from skipping that wait and taking the cooker inside.

Our top picks

Char-Griller Char-Griller Akorn Jr

Best overall

Char-Griller Char-Griller Akorn Jr
6.4/10about £169.99
View offer
Char-Griller Char-Griller Akorn Jr ash

Alternative

Char-Griller Char-Griller Akorn Jr ash
5.8/10about £232.40
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Ynni Ynni Kamado 23 inch

Rank 3

Ynni Ynni Kamado 23 inch
7.1/10about £810
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On this page
  1. 1.Where a kamado is allowed to burn
  2. 2.Get the charcoal properly alight
  3. 3.Move one vent and wait
  4. 4.Shut a kamado down outside

Where a kamado is allowed to burn

London Fire Brigade barbecue advice sets the place before charcoal goes in: not indoors, not on a balcony, and not on decking, with no accelerants, and you do not leave it. Stand it level, clear of fences and sheds, with water or a bucket of sand in reach. A tilt dumps coals toward one vent. The brigade’s Plaistow note from September 2023 is why the spot comes first. A barbecue was brought inside to cool, and the warning was carbon monoxide after the cook looked finished. If you only have a balcony or a wooden deck, stop. A tray under the legs does not make decking acceptable. If a heavy ceramic may not sit on that patio, read ceramic or steel before the match.

Get the charcoal properly alight

Use firelighters meant for charcoal. Do not use petrol or lighter fluid. The brigade’s ban on accelerants covers every barbecue in a UK garden. Fluid still flares and soaks the shell you have, whatever the brand. Two or three cubes under lump charcoal, with the bottom vent open, is the ordinary start. If dense briquettes keep choking, use less fuel next time. Leave the lid open until grey ash is spreading across the lumps, not only a glow on the cubes. A shut lid starves the new fire. Do not carry the cooker indoors to burn off a first-cook smell. When the bed is alight, close the lid.
Char-Griller Char-Griller Akorn Jr

Testsieger

Char-Griller Char-Griller Akorn Jr
6.4/10about £169.99
View offer

Move one vent and wait

The bottom vent feeds the fire and the top vent is the exhaust. Smokey Rebel’s kamado guide is the source for that split and for the lag: a vent change can take 10–15 minutes to show, and the cooker may need 20–40 minutes, or up to an hour, to settle. Move one vent, then stop. If it is still climbing ten minutes later, that is the lag. Ease the bottom vent toward closed and wait. The lid gauge is the dome, not the grate, so food lower down is often cooler than the number you are watching. Published temperature bands are other cooks’ windows, not settings for these listings. The Akorn Jr E6714 prints 200–700°F, about 93–371°C, as a catalogue line, not a test we ran. A roast needs a heat deflector between the coals and the grate. The included lists here mostly omit one, so a wider vent will not replace a missing plate.

Shut a kamado down outside

When the food is off, close the vents and leave the cooker where it burned. A cover, a garage, or a kitchen is only for charcoal that is cold: no warmth in the shell or the ash, not merely a fallen flame. London Fire Brigade says to cool a barbecue outside until it is out. The NHS page on carbon monoxide poisoning is the page to follow if anyone feels ill near a warm cooker: fresh air, 999 if a life may be at risk, and 111 when it is less severe. Do not go back into a closed room for the kamado. A fire on a fence is a brigade call. Do not pour water into a hot ceramic shell, because the shock splits it. Water or sand is for flames that have left the cooker.

Common questions

Should I use firelighters or lighter fluid?
Use firelighters sold for charcoal, not petrol or lighter fluid. London Fire Brigade rules out accelerants on any barbecue. Big Green Egg says lighter fluid can void their warranty and soak ceramic. Those terms are theirs. Two or three cubes under lump charcoal, with the bottom vent open, is the ordinary start.
Should the lid stay open while the charcoal catches?
Leave the lid open until grey ash is spreading, not only a glow on the cubes. A shut lid starves the fire and fills the dome with smoke. A first load can die back with no warm ash underneath, which one Akorn review describes. Do not carry the cooker indoors to burn a new smell off.
Why is the kamado still too hot ten minutes later?
Ten minutes is still inside the lag. A vent change can take 10–15 minutes to appear, and the cooker may need 20–40 minutes, or up to an hour, to settle. Close the bottom vent slightly and leave it. The lid gauge reads the dome, often hotter than the grate. Do not pour water into hot ceramic. The shock cracks the shell.
When can I bring a kamado indoors or cover it?
Only when the charcoal is cold. A dead flame is not cold ash. In September 2023 the brigade warned about carbon monoxide after a barbecue was taken inside to cool in Plaistow. A garage, a kitchen, or a cover on a warm cooker repeats that. Leave the vents shut in the open air.
What if someone feels ill after the barbecue?
Treat it as carbon monoxide. Headache, dizziness, nausea, and confusion are reasons to act. Move people into fresh air. Call 999 if someone is seriously unwell or a life may be at risk, and use 111 when it is less severe. Do not go back into a closed room for the cooker. A fire beyond the shell is for the fire brigade.

Related pages

What size kamado

Kamado barbecue

Best kamado barbecue for these amazon.co.uk listings

Kamado buying guide before you click these listings

Ceramic kamado or steel: heat store or a lighter carry

Sources

Public UK sources on satisfactory quality, smoke, carbon monoxide and barbecue fire safety, plus buyer notes on kamado size and vent lag. Prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines saved on 19 October 2026. These listings are not scored as certified to BS EN 1860-1.

  1. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. GOV.UK — smoke control area enforcement (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. GOV.UK — nuisance smoke (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. NHS — carbon monoxide poisoning (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. London Fire Brigade — BBQ safety (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. BSI — BS EN 1860-1:2024 solid-fuel barbecues (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. Smokey Rebel — kamado guide (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. Love2BBQ — kamado size guide (retrieved 22.10.2026)