It’s Grill Season Again!

At least it is at the Blue Corner Home. My husband recently rescued our tiny charcoal grill from its winter hiatus (which mostly involved us tripping over it on the back porch), and we’ve already enjoyed several dinners made in flame-licked glory.

Last year, we vowed to find an alternative to lighter fluid. The chemical taste is unpleasant, and we aren’t keen on using petroleum-based products so close to our food. We tried store-bought fire starters, but even those contained suspicious binders. It wasn’t the perfect solution.

That’s when I remembered a trick from my time volunteering on a farmstead. My host would stuff dryer lint into cardboard egg cartons, smother it in beeswax, and cut out the individual segments to use as fire starters. It was simple, cheap, and turned waste into something useful.

I didn’t remember it in time to try them last year, but I’ve spent the winter hoarding lint and egg cartons, dreaming of spring.

Why It Works

You know those warnings about cleaning your lint trap to avoid fires? This project turns that risk into a tool. By combining a quick-burn material (lint), a long-burn fuel (beeswax), and a sturdy base (the egg carton), you get a starter that is easy to light but slow to burn.

These worked like a charm in North Carolina; now, we’ll see if they hold up to a summer in southwestern Sweden.

A Note on Materials

Since the goal is to keep petroleum away from our meals, I only collect lint from loads of natural fibers. Burning lint from polyester means burning plastic, which defeats the purpose.

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