Still new to grilling, first time I laid out the charcoal flat and lit it with lighter fuel. 2nd and 3rd time I used a chimney, lit with a paper towel with some oil on it.

Looking to get my grill hotter so I can get better sear marks on my steak, still noticing it takes awhile to cook even directly over the coals.

I usually heat the chimney until the top coals start to slightly ash as I don't want to waste too much fuel. The coals on the bottom of the chimney are red hot. I then lay them to the back (one side charcoal, one side air) so I have a hot/direct and warm/indirect side.

Once my charcoal is in the grill, I close it with the vents all open for max airflow for 2-3 minutes to heat the grill.

I'll cook veggies and other things in indirect heat and sear the steak in direct heat then cook most of it in indirect heat.

I am switching charcoal brands to whatever is on sale or whatever I can buy in bulk. I was using expert grill charcoal to start out but I have 40lbs of cowboy charcoal now. Once that gets exhausted I'll switch to Kingsford or whatever is on sale.