Originally Posted by
Army Mover
... the fumes from the blocks seem to permeate into the charcoal and make it very easy to start.
That's exactly what you don't want. The petrochemical smell becomes a taste in the food, particularly if you're smoking meat.
Top tip - use plain old isopropyl alcohol for lighting fluid. Use a wood-resin firelight block, a couple of ounces of alcohol and a match/lighter. Leave alone for 5 minutes, some back to red coals. The alcohol creates only water, and the wood block just burns down into ash. No nasty smell, nothing to go bang (assuming you use a small amount of alcohol!)