Does anyone have any experience/ views on hot air charcoal fire lighters?
Are they really that good and worth using or are they just a pointless gadget?
This is the sort I thing I am talking about in case anyone doesn’t know.
I have noticed several on Amazon are also being sold as dual purpose 'weed burners / charcoal lighters' I'm coming at this from the 'weed burner' side so am tangentially interested in this too. Most I've seen seem to have a very short lead, some not even 2m so an extension lead is necessary (if mains powered naturally)
That is the one I’ve looked at also. Only bad thing I’ve read is that if you don’t remove it early enough the metal part deforms, but I’d say user error there.Originally Posted by village
I currently light with the twizzlers I use for the fire and the natural egg style starters. Got a load to get through, but this looks so convenient.
I’m struggling with the minimax to get the ‘ready to cook in 10mins’ that I’ve seen commented on, and this could help
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Have you considered a charcoal kettle instead?
So clever my foot fell off.
The chimney? I have one of those, but don’t use it on the egg. These seem a really easy approach.
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I do have a chimney but I saw those hot air lighters and they seem a lot quicker. Also,I’m thinking of smaller quantities eg yakitori grill.
I have the Looftlighter and it works great on lumpwood in my Kamado Joe. If I want to get the fire going quickly for grilling, I use it to light the charcoal in 3 different spots. Otherwise if I'm doing a low and slow cook I tend to use a single firelighter.
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Cheaper option might be a hot air heat gun from Screwfix etc.
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Clever idea, will have to give it some research.
Interesting!
Found this comparison on you tube and the cheapo heat gun worked quicker.
Might be a shot at 20 quid
https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb...220-240v/912kj
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Don’t use a chimney starter on a BGE/KJ/anything ceramic, huge danger of cracking them.
saw this is the middle of lidl this week
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/garden-t...-killer/p41940
along with this
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/garden-t...-burner/p41937
I use a gas torch to light mine works great
make a wee tower with lump and wood shaving mix.
put torch on it for a min or so leave it for 15 mins
rake it out over the rest of the coals below then put the lid on it.
I light the solid fuel burner in my workshop with a hot air paint stripping gun. Gets a fire going very well indeed, very quickly.
I just jumble a load of stuff in there and light it, saves having to be very particular about "building a fire" like Ray Mears.
I have picked one up this lunchtime so thank you for that spot. I'll post on the efficacy of it's weed killing as soon as I get around to it.
Any feedback,from the heat guns?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352633143530
Bought this but not used yet.
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I have a lot of BBQ gadgets and have tried these lighters, but use a chimney now exclusively for starting various quantities. Gets a good consistent cover on the coals, relatively quick, and the least consumptive, one or two lighter bricks and that it, no unnecessary electricity or gas (and burners are hungry)
https://www.weber.com/US/en/blog/bur...ber-29681.html
Weather has been abysmal whenever I've had the bandwidth to do any chores. The wonder of being married to a nurse on nightshifts and having a school age child.
Bought the same model but from Amazon after I saw your post on the other thread. Will be useful for my indoor wood/multifuel stove too for the rare occasion that I let it go out instead of faffing around with firelighters
Finally unboxed and tried mine yesterday.
Once up to temperature it made decent work of some pretty green weeds, just after it had chucked it down (some pavers were still wet where they were in the shade). Easy enough to assemble and use and given that some of the sheltered weeds ignited pretty immediately when applying the heat I'm willing to believe that it'll start a charcoal BBQ or wood burner pretty quickly.
For £20 in the middle of Lidl it's a no brainer.
What wasn't a no brainer was that initially trying it, it didn't work. This came down to the master switch in the garage being 'off' meaning the outdoor sockets were off. What was also off was the garage freezer which had spent a couple of weeks festering and nearly caused me to revisit my lunch when trying to clean it out.
If I am in a hurry and need the coals to take quickly - I always use an old hairdryer, works a treat - (gets full of ash so don't use the mrs' dyson)
Used mine for the first time today, very impressed but louder than I had anticipated. Much better than BGE lighter blocks.
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