Used it many times, always with lump charcoal and a chimney to light it. I find it hard to get it going with newspaper, so I use Fatwood Fire Starter sticks that I have leftover from wintertime and they work great (cut them up into short pieces). I never had such awesome grill marks on my burgers and steaks. Make sure to let the grill heat up about 10 minutes first before slapping down those yummy burgers (Buy good meat, not those frozen hockey pucks that shrink into blackened dry inedible junk).