Hello dear fans. If you are new to hookah, lighting hookah coals correctly and skillfully is a very critical step because mastering lighting hookah coals will greatly improve your smoking experience. Especially when your coals are fully lit, it will produce the best smoke effect. Also, when the heat from your coals is evenly distributed, it can prevent the tobacco from burning too fast,Therefore, if you just started DIY hookah at home, this blog post can help you a lot to learn how to light hookah coals and introduce different types of hookah coals.
Types of hookah coals
There are two main types of hookah coals used today – natural coals and instant light coals. Below I will introduce to you their characteristics based on my own experience.
Natural coals
Natural coals are made from natural materials like coconut shells or cocoa and do not contain any chemicals. The most common one is coconut shell, which requires the use of a burner to preheat and ignite, usually taking 10-15 minutes to fully light up. Although it can give you purer smoke during the ignition process, the ignition time will be longer compared to quickly igniting charcoal.
Quickly ignites charcoal
Quick-ignition charcoal will have combustion accelerants added to it, sulfur being the most common, so that they can ignite quickly. However, compared with natural charcoal designed specifically for portable hookah, the added combustion accelerants will produce a strange effect when the quick-ignition charcoal burns. The smell will seriously affect the flavor of hookah tobacco.
So in this blog, to ensure the best shisha experience, we choose natural charcoal here, even though they are more time-consuming and labor-intensive to light.
Start lighting the hookah charcoal
Since we are using natural charcoal, it will ignite very slowly, so here we need to use some tools to help us save time. Electric Coal Burners will be a good choice for us. You can easily heat your hookah coals with these electric coal burners instead of using a hob or other open flame. All you need to do is plug the plug into the socket and the electric heating element inside will automatically preheat the natural charcoal for you to use, among the best Popular electric burner brands for hookahs include Kaloud, Deezer, and Coconara. And among them Kaloud Lotus is one of my favorite models, it can help me heat 2-3 coconut coals evenly in 10 minutes, not only that it is easy to use, has automatic shut-off function, and is compact in size Convenient for me to carry with me when traveling
Waterpipe Charcoal Lighting Tips
Use a burner around medium-low heat. High heat can crack coals.
If you keep the lighter on one spot, it could burn the coal. Slow and steady rotation can help you spread the heat slowly
Once the edges are red, you can set the coal in the hookah bowl and blow on it to help it fully ignite. Be patient during this process. Rushing may lead to burnt tasting coals.
Look for an even red glow and white ash, in 10-15 minutes. Avoid any black spots.
How do you light a hookah coal without a stove?
But if you don’t have the above equipment to heat hookah charcoal, don’t worry too much. You can also use the following tools to help you.
Propane Torches
Using a culinary propane torch is a quick and convenient way to light hookah coals without a stove. Propane torches allow you to direct a focused flame precisely where you need it. Many models can output temperatures over 2500°F, plenty hot enough to light natural coals or coconut coals within seconds.
Chimney Starter
The design of the chimney starter allows air to circulate and light the charcoal faster. Its structure also distributes the flame evenly between the coals, helping them burn uniformly. What I like best is that it is portable and very convenient for me to use outdoors.
Portable Electric Burner
This small electric burner can be placed on a countertop and used right away. Simply put the charcoal directly on the hot plate to heat up and ignite. It is less efficient and takes more time, but is very easy to operate.
BBQ Lighters
Using a BBQ lighter is a common way to light hookah coals without a stove. With this method, you light each coal individually by holding the lighter up to it for 30-60 seconds until the edges start to ignite.
Heating plate
Electric hot plates can be used similarly to a stove top to heat your hookah coals. They provide a contained heating element that allows you to control the temperature precisely. Its advantage is that it is cheap and can be used instead of a stove.
How long should hookah coals heat up?
So how long do we need to heat the hookah charcoal when lighting it? This will depend on the type and size of shisha coal you are using. Compared to instant light coals, natural lump charcoal coals typically take longer to achieve the right temperature.
The ideal heating period for natural coals three inches or more is often fifteen to twenty minutes. Usually, smaller natural coals with a diameter of two inches require ten to fifteen minutes. It takes longer for the inside of natural coals to fully ignite and emit heat due to their dense structure.
Though it may seem straightforward at first, lighting hookah coals properly does require some patience and practice. Don’t rush the process when learning how to light hookah coals. You can learn more about how to ignite shisha coal with your friends nearby. I believe you can master it quickly.
Jesse Miller is our lead content writer on global-hookah. He has worked on global-hookah for twelve years, so he has a lot of knowledge about hookahs.As a hookah enthusiast, he has personally experienced the benefits of hookah. Therefore, he will spend more time writing better and more detailed articles to help hookah beginnersAbout the Author
