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Kingsford Charcoal Instant Light
Kingsford’s Instant Light is now known as Kingsford Matchlight. It has the same charcoal wood fibers and high-quality binders of original classic Kingsford charcoal briquettes but is also impregnated with a modest amount of Kingsford lighter fluid.
This gives you briquettes that ignite easily and burn vigorously for rapid preheating. Though placing your food over the flame too early can give your food a little bit of an artificial butane flavor.
Yet, while you don’t want to place the food too early, Kingsford Matchlight also doesn’t last as long as classic original Kingsford briquettes. Ideally, you want to give them at least 10 tob15 minutes to burn off the lingering traces of lighter fluid before laying your meat over the flame.
Kingsford Matchlight has paraffin, petroleum products, or other accelerants to promote vigorous combustion. This is in addition to the charcoal, coal dust, sawdust, sodium nitrate, and starch binder used in all Kingsford charcoal briquettes.
The added accelerants in Kingsford Matchlight cause the briquettes to burn roughly twice as fast as the classic Kingsford charcoal briquettes. At best you can get two hours out of them.
You should never use lighter fluid or any other type of accelerant with Kingsford Matchlight. Doing so can cause an out-of-control fire.
You can easily start any type of Kingsford charcoal in a charcoal chimney with two sheets of newspaper, and a light drizzle of cooking oil. The modest flame this creates will support combustion to start Kingsford’s original briquettes without having to use a single drop of lighter fluid.
What Is Kingsford Charcoal Instant Light?
Kingsford Instant Light has been upgraded and updated as Kingsford Matchlight. It’s very much light classic Kingsford charcoal briquettes, except they are impregnated with a small amount of lighter fluid to help them ignite easily and preheat your grill quickly.
How Long Does Instant Light Charcoal Last?
Because of its rapid ignition and fast preheating, Kingsford instant light, or Matchlight, will only burn for 2 hours or so at the most. This is roughly half the time you would get out of classic original Kingsford charcoal briquettes.
Is Instant Light Charcoal Safe?
The most important safety thing to note about Kingsford Instant Light or Matchlight is that you shouldn’t add any lighter fluid. Doing so can create a fire that burns out of control.
You also need to wait until the exterior of all the charcoal briquettes has turned white, which signifies that all the impregnated lighter fluid has burned off. If you lay your meat down while there is still some black charcoal showing, you could end up with food that has a mild to moderate lighter fluid flavor.
It’s also not advisable to use Kingsford Instant Light charcoal briquettes in a newer kamado grill. The aroma of lighter fluid can leave lingering traces in the porous ceramic walls, which can pass on a mild, off-putting butane flavor in future cooks.
Is Kingsford Charcoal Additive Free
All Kingsford charcoal briquettes are made up of charcoal, coal, sawdust, sodium nitrate, and a special starch binder to ensure that the briquettes hold their shape. Kingsford Matchlight also adds contains paraffin, petroleum products, or other accelerants to promote vigorous combustion.
There are some special blends of Kingsford charcoal that include wood fibers like hickory and mesquite. Certain blends of Kingsford also have herbs and seasonings in them with preservatives, special binders, and small amounts of culinary additives.
Does Kingsford Matchlight Work?
Kingsford Matchlight does help light charcoal about as well as properly applied lighter fluid. It burns rapidly and helps to preheat a grill quickly. Though it does come with a fair number of additives that can affect the flavor of your food if you lay your meat on the grill too early.
Do You Need Lighter Fluid for Instant Charcoal?
You do not and should not add lighter fluid to Kingsford Matchlight or Instant Light charcoal. Too much accelerant can lead to a dangerous fire in your grill’s firebox.
Can You Light Kingsford Charcoal Without Lighter Fluid?
You don’t need to always use lighter fluid to start Kingsford charcoal briquettes. In fact, is relatively easy to light Kingsford in a simple charcoal chimney.
The trick is to tear two sheets of newspaper into quarters and lightly ball them up. Then drizzle a tablespoon of ordinary cooking oil on the paper, stuff it in the bottom chamber of a charcoal chimney, and light.
The oil on the paper creates a wicking action as it burns, which slightly slows the burn rate while supporting the flame in even windy conditions. While it takes an extra 5 to 7 minutes to start Kingsford charcoal briquettes this way, you end up with a coal bed that is free of artificial petroleum flavors.
Can You Mix Matchlight Charcoal with Regular Charcoal?
You can technically mix Kingsford Matchlight and Kingsford original charcoal briquettes. Though the Matchlight doesn’t do a good job of rapidly starting the untreated briquettes.
You end up with a coal bed where half the briquettes are burning vigorously and turning white, while the others are still relatively black, or burning inconsistently.
If you do want to mix the two for the best chances of an evenly burning coalbed, you can start them in a charcoal chimney with the Matchlight briquettes on the top. This will expose the untreated classic briquettes to the open flame for longer before the Matchlight fully ignites.
Final Thoughts
Kingsford Matchlight has a lot of the same charcoal wood fibers and high-quality binders of original classic Kingsford charcoal briquettes.
Though it also has accelerant additives like paraffin, petroleum products, or other accelerants to promote vigorous combustion.
Kingsford Matchlight briquettes tend to ignite easily and burn vigorously for rapid preheating. Though this also means that they burn up in roughly half the time of original Kingsford briquettes.
When grilling with Matchlight, you don’t want to place the food too early, or it can get an artificial butane-like flavor. It’s best to wait at least 10 to 15 minutes to burn off the lingering traces of lighter fluid before laying your meat over Matchlight charcoal.
You should never use lighter fluid or any other type of accelerant when starting Kingsford Matchlight. Doing so poses a serious fire risk.
You can easily start Kingsford Matchlight with a stick lighter, or a charcoal chimney loaded with two sheets of newspaper, and a light drizzle of cooking oil.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.