Not sure what this had to do with Dilbert, but okay!
I typically use a charcoal chimney and crumpled up newspaper to start my charcoal, but I do have to say the "ZOMG don't use lighter fluid" position is a little bit silly. The fluid burns off completely within a few minutes, and I'm typically waiting at least 15-20 minutes before using the coals, so there's little to no chance of there being any remaining lighter fluid still combusting and producing off flavors. Even so, I don't use it because with a chimney, it's unnecessary.
Yeah, I'm sure there are ways to project the amount of leftover residue / etc of lighter fluid surviving at various temperatures and times, and that beyond a certain temp/time the amount is certainly too small to be smelled or tasted or a health risk. Given things like smoking food in a kamado, of course, where you're limiting combustion via reduced airflow, you may not get as much chance to burn it all off.
Either way, if it
never goes in your grill, then the decay rate of zero lighter fluid is always zero.
So I just avoid it entirely and use the firestarters.
Also, you can make your own fire starters for free from leftover toilet paper tubes, dryer lint, and leftover used candles. Our Boy Scout troop makes several dozen of these every 3-4 months.
Yeah, that's a totally easy way to do it. We did the same in Boy Scouts when I was a kid. But I've got more important things to do. $0.17/ea and using zero of my time and energy to make my own is better in this case.
I also previously had messed around with using cotton balls dunked in isopropyl alcohol as fire starters. It worked, but IMHO was messier and more annoying than just buying the firestarters.
Low cost and ease of use are some of the advantages of these IMHO.
