This thing is an absolute must-have accessory for any charcoal grill. Gone are the days of tasting lighter fluid in your meat and veggies, its not required here! The price is reasonable considering the money you will save on lighter fluid. In the instructions, it says to use the starter cubes or news paper. The cubes are nice since they don't throw ash but newspaper works as well. Unfortunately I don't buy newspaper so here's a tip: keep your empty charcoal bags, they make great starter kindling too.