How to burn hookah charcoal without electricity - This is how you do it!

Light the hookah charcoal burner outside and enjoy on the go!

Especially in summer, many hookah smokers feel the need to enjoy the cold smoke of the water pipe outdoors! However, lighting the hookah charcoal is often a challenge. In this article, we'll show you how to light your hookah charcoal burner outside so you can enjoy your hookah on the go.

When you are outside, you basically have the following options for getting your hookah charcoal to burn:

Gas charcoal burner
Lighting the natural charcoal with self-igniting charcoal
Disposable barbecues or organic barbecue lighter
Campfire

Note: You can use the table of contents to jump directly to the option that might be right for you!

Table of contents

Smoking hookah on the go - The simplest option: self-lighting charcoal Ways to light the hookah natural charcoal outside

Unterwegs Shisha rauchen - Die einfachste Variante: Selbstzünderkohle

If you can compromise on the taste of the hookah when you're out and about, you can also use self-igniting charcoal for smoking. This can be easily ignited with a lighter, as it contains chemical additives that ensure that the charcoal glows all by itself as soon as a spot has been made to ember.

However, we do not recommend this variant, as hookah with this type of charcoal does not really taste good and you are putting your health at even greater risk than it already is when smoking hookah. This is due to the chemical additives contained in the charcoal.

Note: Precisely for the reasons mentioned above, you will not find self-lighting charcoal in our store. We therefore recommend that you read the solutions on how to light your natural charcoal on the go!

Ways to light the hookah natural charcoal outside

As described at the beginning, you basically have 3 options for lighting the charcoal on the go. We assume that you have no electricity at the location you are visiting.

However, if you do go to a place where you have electricity, there are many other ways to get the charcoal glowing. We have described these in our guide to lighting hookah charcoal burners.

Lighting a hookah charcoal without a burner
No firelighter? No problem. In this article we have described all the ways in which you can light your hookah charcoal without a burner.

The most uncomplicated solution: light the hookah charcoal on the go with a gas charcoal burner

The simplest solution is to light the hookah charcoal using a gas charcoal burner. All you need for this is the lighter, a gas cartridge and matches or a lighter.

Gas charcoal burner

Gotra

Camping gas cartridge

If you already have these utensils, you can easily light the charcoal on the go. To do this, proceed as follows:

1. insert the gas cartridge into the device provided in the lighter and screw it shut.

2. light the match or lighter and turn up the control knob on the lighter so that gas comes out. You should now be able to hear a soft hissing sound and you can use the flame of your match or lighter to ignite the flame of the lighter.

Tip: You should make sure that you hold the flame from the lighter or match to the gas lighter from below to avoid the risk of burning your fingers!

Hold the match to the gas lighter — Igniting the gas lighter using a match

Now you can place the charcoal on the burner and, as you would with an electric burner, you should turn the hookah charcoal after about 5 minutes so that all sides are heated evenly. After turning, you should wait another 3 to 5 minutes until the hookah charcoal embers glow evenly on all sides.

Hookah charcoal on the gas burner — Ignite the charcoal on the gas burner.

Lighting natural charcoal using self-igniting charcoal.

Do you still have some self-lighting charcoal at home from the old days? Then you can now use them to light your natural hookah charcoal! Simply take 3-6 self-igniting charcoals and light them. When the self-igniting charcoals start to glow, place your charcoal cubes on the other ones and they should slowly start to glow.

Igniting hookah charcoal with the help of self-igniting charcoal

If you use 3 self-igniters to light 3 natural charcoal cubes, you must turn them when they are halfway through. Alternatively, you can also use 6 self-igniters and place them on the natural coals from above and below at the same time. This makes it a little quicker and saves you having to turn the pieces of charcoal.

Large coal basket - Chrome

You should place the charcoal in a fireproof container, such as a charcoal basket, to make sure nothing burns!

Disposable barbecue or organic barbecue lighter

Another alternative that works in a similar way to self-igniting charcoal is an organic barbecue lighter or a disposable barbecue. With organic barbecue lighters, you just need to find a way to place the charcoal on them properly. The easiest way is probably with a container, such as a hookah charcoal basket. You then place the kindling in this, light it and place the natural charcoal on top.

With the disposable barbecue, on the other hand, the charcoal serves as a lighter and you already have a bowl in which it is placed. When the charcoal is burning, simply place your hookah charcoal in the embers and it should be glowing within a few minutes.

Lighting the charcoal in the disposable grill — Lighting the hookah charcoal in the disposable grill

Note: If you want to light your hookah charcoal at a swimming lake, for example, and want to use the disposable barbecue method, first check whether barbecuing is permitted at the lake!

Campfire

If you're sitting around a cozy campfire with your friends in the evening anyway, you can also light the charcoal in the embers of the fire. To do this, simply place the natural charcoal cubes in the embers and wait until they are fully glowing.

Kohle anzünden im Lagerfeuer — Lighting the charcoal in the campfire

If you choose this method, you should use the longest possible charcoal tongs, otherwise it will be a little difficult to place the charcoal in a good position in the embers without burning your fingers! A good pair of tongs here would be the charcoal tweezers, for example!

Charcoal tweezers - Gun Metal

Charcoal tweezers - Stainless Steel

Want to see more of our charcoal tongs? Discover other brands besides AO like the popular Alpha Hookah charcoal tongs!

You can find all charcoal tongs here

Charcoal Tongs

Do you know of any other options?

Let us know so that we can share your idea with other hookah smokers! Just send us an email to info@mozeshisha.de or a message on Whatsapp to +49 178 1883338!