[AwP]

The Cowboy brand charcoal (or any other natural/lump charcoal, not briquettes) is ready to go as is. You probably won't get it lit with just a match, I usually ball up some newspaper then dump the charcoal on top of that, on damp days I've been known to use lighter fluid. You can also do the wood fire like you said, adding wood to the top as is coals at the bottom, but it's hard to keep up with enough wood. What I do sometimes is use charcoal but suppliment it with wood as I go.