starting natural coal method-anybody tried this?

[Scalliwag]

I brought up that I was going to try this on another thread and after trying I decided to find out if anyone starts their natural coals like this?
I got the idea from reading that when charcoal is made you cannot expose it to air until it cools down or it catches on fire and most of the time that is not what you want...
 
I took a fairly small pot and put some coals in it. I put the cover on the pot then put it on a burner on high.
I didn't watch the clock but the time it took to go up to my study, take the hookah to the bathroom and do a quick clean, load the bowl, put on the foil, and go back downstairs I gave it a test.
I took some salad tongs and took the cover off and snagged a coal real quick and put the cover back so the rest would not be exposed to oxygen very long.  
As I was making my way back up the stairs it was starting to glow around all the edges and building what seemed to be fairly quick. But I blew on it anyways a little and then put it on the hookah. It was smoking dang nicely pretty quickly.
From all I have read I have not found a detailed technique of how people start natural coals but this went a lot easier than I expected.
Do any of you do them this way?
 
Oh, and when I went back downstairs after forgetting the others were on the stove when I went to check on them and opened the cover they were really hot but there was not any burning (as expected) I yanked another out and had the same result. This time I put the cover back on and turned the burner off. What I want to see now is if the charcoal is still good that I left in the pot. I am guessing it should be, but I won't know for sure until I try.
 
My wife won't let me drill a small hole in one of her pot covers so I am going to buy a cast iron pot with cover and drill a hole so I can put the probe of a meat thermometer in it. If I can find the ideal temp to keep the pot at without using more heat then neccesary I will have my own little system going.

[Bleeding_Heart1]

thats pretty cool if you had a lounge or something. But i think majority of hookah smokers that use naturals use a stovetop.

[nuschultz]

Thats kind of an interesting idea.For more explosive fun, get an unsuspecting neighbor to open it!

[Scalliwag]

That is what I am thinking too except for party nights at the house. I won't want to be coals, but I don't want quicklights either.