This thing is awesome to start the coals:
http://www.hayneedle.com/product/web...FeMSOgodgVEA6A
Wad up a couple pieces of newspaper and stuff in the bottom, load the coals, and light. The coals are ready in about 5 min, without using any starter.
When the coals are ready, I put the food grate on, and let it heat up for about a minute. Then wad up a piece of foil, and scrub off the food/scunge from the last cooking (beware if you are using a wire brush to scrape:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jul...ushes-20120706 ).
When finished, close the vents on the Weber to kill the fire - it's cool to the touch in about 3 min.
I had a separate smoker, but kept smashing it with the car in the garage... Came across this thing, which turns a standard Weber kettle into a smoker. It's really great:
http://www.smokenator.com/