Best 100% Natural Fire Lighters for BBQ & Camping: Ecoblaze Review
Updated: Sep 21
My Ecoblaze firelighters on BQQ ready to light
Quick Summary Firelighters
I'm no BBQ don, far from it, but I do love these fire lighters. I used to work as a chef, nothing flash, but I spent plenty of years on a grill, so I've got a decent feel for what a chemical taste actually does to food. Fire lighters are one of those things nobody really thinks about until they've ruined a BBQ with exactly that. I've used Ecoblaze fire lighters for the past 3 years now, ever since I gave up on the usual supermarket stuff, and they're the only ones I bother buying anymore. Here's why, what actually matters when you're choosing a fire lighter, and where they sit price wise against everything else out there.
Scorecard
Value: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Ease of Use: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Eco Friendliness: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Does the Job: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
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Why Use Ecoblaze Fire Lighters
I've been using these for about 3 years now, ever since I gave up on the usual supermarket stuff, which never seemed to do the job properly. What sold me on Ecoblaze is how long they actually stay alight, long enough that the wood or charcoal genuinely catches properly rather than fizzling out halfway through and leaving you relighting everything.
I order mine through Amazon, mainly because with Prime they turn up the next day, and they're genuinely good value for money considering how few you actually need. Depending on the size of the BBQ I'm usually only using 2 to 3 max to get it going. One thing to say though, the fire lighter's only doing half the job, you still need decent charcoal or wood behind it. Good charcoal gets a lot hotter, barely any smoke, and stays hot for a lot longer than the cheap stuff, which just smokes for ages and burns through fast, leaving you topping up halfway through cooking. Using a great fire lighter on rubbish charcoal is just wasting a good fire lighter.
The charcoal I actually run and rate
Alderline lumpwood 30L bag, £14.99, rated 4 stars from just under 2,000 reviews on Amazon. This is the stuff I use. I've tried more expensive charcoal before, Love Logs and the like, but I find this just as good and much better value. Barely any smoke, proper hot coals, and they hold that heat for a long time rather than dying off halfway through. I highly recommend it.
Natural wood wool fire lighters cost more than chemical ones across the board, but how much more varies a lot brand to brand. Here's how a 200 box of Ecoblaze stacks up against a couple of the other natural brands out there:
Brand | Pack Size | Price |
Ecoblaze | 200 | £9.79 |
Flamers | 200 | £24.99 |
Lekto Natural | 200 (+50 free) | £21.95 (≈£17.56 per 200) |
Big K Woodies | 2kg (≈200 count) | £16.05 ex VAT |
Ecoblaze comes in at less than half the price of Flamers for the exact same pack size, and it's still noticeably cheaper than Lekto once you account for their free extras. That's not just my opinion either, it's a straight price comparison anyone can check for themselves.
What to Actually Look For in a Fire Lighter
Most people just grab whatever's cheapest on the shelf and never think about it again, but there's a real difference between a decent fire lighter and one that ruins your food or takes three goes to get anything going. With so many fire lighters UK shoppers can choose from, it's worth knowing what actually separates a good one from a bad one before you buy.
The big one for me is chemical taste. Paraffin and kerosene based fire lighters give off fumes as they burn, and those fumes can genuinely taint whatever's cooking above them, especially on a BBQ where the food's sat right over the flame from the start. That faint chemical hint people sometimes taste on early stage BBQ food isn't imagined, it's the fuel doing it.
Clean, minimal smoke matters too, nobody wants to be stood round a BBQ getting smoked out just trying to get the coals going. And you want something with a decent burn time, most decent fire lighters run somewhere between 6 and 15 minutes, any shorter and you're relighting halfway through. Same goes for how many you actually need, a good one should get a fire going with just one or two, not half a box.
Ecoblaze alight in my hand Open box of Ecoblaze 100% natural wood wool fire lighters Ecoblaze fire lighter in my hand
Why Natural Fire Lighters Work So Well
It comes down to the shape and the wax. Wood wool is shredded into really thin strips rather than a solid block, so there's a huge amount of surface area for a flame to catch onto straight away, that's why one match or lighter gets the whole thing going almost instantly rather than needing to slowly burn through a solid lump first.
The wax coating is what keeps it going once it's lit. Thin wood strips alone would flare up and die out in seconds, but the wax acts as a steady, slow burning fuel source running through the whole thing, giving you that reliable 6 to 8 minute burn rather than a quick flash. That's long enough for kindling, charcoal, or logs to properly catch before the fire lighter itself burns out.
Are Natural Fire Lighters Actually More Eco-Friendly
Yes, and it's not just marketing spin either. Ecoblaze's fire lighters are made from sustainably sourced spruce wood strips coated in wax, no petroleum, no chemical additives. That means the packaging's recyclable, the fire lighters themselves are biodegradable, and they burn cleanly enough to fit within DEFRA smoke control zones, handy to know if you're in one of the UK towns where that actually matters.
Compare that to a traditional paraffin block, petroleum derived, stronger chemical smell, and not something I'd want anywhere near food. I dont !
Price Comparison: Are Natural Fire Lighters Worth the Extra
Chemical fire lighters are usually cheaper upfront, a bag of basic paraffin blocks can come in under £3 for a small pack. That's worth knowing, but as covered above, Ecoblaze still comes out well ahead of other natural brands on price, so you're not paying over the odds just because you've gone the natural route.
A 200 box comes in at £9.79 on Amazon, roughly 5p per fire lighter, and since I'm only using two or three a time, that's a proper year's worth of BBQs and campfires for just over a tenner. It's an Amazon's Choice product too, sitting at 4.7 stars across over 13,000 ratings, with 4,000+ bought in the last month alone, so it's not just me who rates them. And if you don't get on with them for whatever reason, buying through Amazon means an easy return, no real risk trying them out.
Given you only need two or three per BBQ rather than a handful, the actual cost per use narrows the gap between natural and chemical considerably, and you're not left with that lingering chemical smell on your hands either. I order mine through Amazon since Prime gets them to me the next day, and for what you're getting it's genuinely good value. I've tried more expensive natural fire lighters too, and these hold up just as well, no reason to pay more for the sake of it.
How Easy Are Fire Lighters to Use
When I'm camping I just take a little bag with enough in there for whenever I need them, small enough to chuck in with the rest of the kit without taking up any real space, and I'm never caught out without one when it's time to get the fire or the BBQ going.
For anyone using a chimney starter for BBQ, the standard method with a bbq fire lighter is to place one or two underneath, fill the chimney with charcoal, and light them through the holes at the base. Give it 15 to 20 minutes and the charcoal at the top should be covered in a light layer of ash, that's your sign it's ready to tip into the BBQ.
Anything Worth Knowing Before You Buy Fire Lighters
Natural fire lighters don't love damp. Leave a box out in a leaky shed or a wet awning and they won't light half as well. Keep them somewhere dry though and they'll last more or less indefinitely, no real shelf life to worry about otherwise. They're just as good for a wood burner or log burner indoors as they are outside on a BBQ, work just as well for a normal open fire at home, and I've used them for a pizza oven too, same clean burn, same job done properly. Once the winter nights draw in, it's worth keeping a box handy indoors as well, nobody wants to be stood there fighting with newspaper and kindling in the cold.
The box itself is a small thing but it's a nice touch, opens really easily and folds back securely once you're done, so it's not one of those boxes that ends up half open with fire lighters spilling everywhere in the shed.
FAQ
What are fire lighters made of?
It depends on the type. Chemical fire lighters are usually paraffin or kerosene based, essentially a solid block of fuel. Natural fire lighters like Ecoblaze are made from wood wool, thin shredded strips of wood, dipped in a natural wax coating, no petroleum involved at all.
How many fire lighters do I need for a BBQ?
I only ever use 2 to 3 max, depending on the size of the BBQ. Just remember the fire lighter's only half the job, good charcoal or wood gets a lot hotter, barely any smoke, and stays hot for a lot longer than the cheap stuff, so it's worth getting that right too rather than wasting a good fire lighter on rubbish fuel.
Are fire lighters safe to use for cooking?
Natural, wax coated wood wool fire lighters are, since they're free from petroleum and chemical additives and don't leave any taste or residue on food. Paraffin based ones can leave a faint chemical taste behind, especially if food goes on before the flames have properly died down.
Are fire lighters for a log burner different to BBQ ones?
Not really. A natural wood wool fire lighter works exactly the same whether it's going under charcoal on a BBQ, kindling in a log burner, a pizza oven, or a normal open fire at home, same clean burn, same lack of chemical smell.
Do fire lighters have a shelf life?
Not really, as long as they're kept dry. Moisture is the only thing that affects how well they light, so store them somewhere dry rather than a damp shed or garage.
Can I use natural fire lighters in a smoke-controlled area?
Yes. Because they burn cleanly with minimal smoke, they're suitable for use in DEFRA approved stoves and smoke control zones.
The Verdict
Two years in and I've still not found a reason to switch. They stay alight long enough to actually catch decent charcoal or wood properly, there's no chemical smell or taste to worry about, and at around 5p a fire lighter it's hard to argue with the value. Add in next day delivery through Amazon Prime, a box that doubles as a proper storage box at home, and just enough taken along in a little bag whenever I'm camping, and it's about as low-effort as getting a fire going gets. Just don't skimp on the charcoal or wood behind it, the fire lighter can only do its half of the job.
This is the first in a bit of a series really, fire lighters felt like the right place to start, wood and charcoal are next, then BBQs themselves after that, so keep an eye out for those.
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Thanks James | Fishing Field Fork
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