JJGeorge Grill Torch Charcoal Starter

Wow !!! I am absolutely satisfied with that torch ! I use it to light my wood stove (I haven't used it for anything else, though), and it works great ! It's powerful, the piezo igniter works 10 times on 10, no miss, and the flame/heat is massive ! The valve work super fine too. Only good words for that product, do far. Let see if my opinion stays the same, over the next months/years of usage, though

I was using a BGE branded old school style electric lighter for my large big green egg. It kept tripping the gcfi outlet if i left it on for more than 5min, so i was looking for something else. I had my eye on the looflighter but it was pricey and seemed like you had to hold the trigger down for a couple min to really get the fire going. I came across the JJGeorge torch and thought that this may work. I was really looking for something that i could set on the coutertop of my outdoor kitchen and leave it for a min while i walked away. this one didn't look like it would be long enough to reach down to the charcoal. I looked at JJGeorges website and saw that they had an extended version of this for a couple bucks more. I emailed them my question about how the extended one would work for my needs, i got a response from John very quickly and he explained that the shorter one would work better and that i would need to hold onto the torch while its being lit. I also asked him if i could just hang it off the side and leave it for a moment, he said i would need to hang onto it while its going and it only takes 1 min to get the fire going. This sounded great, so i bit and order it. I tried it for the first time yesterday, and man it works great! I did have a little bit of a hard time getting the fire going with the igniter, but as soon as i found the "sweet spot" on the valve, she fires right up. During my first run, i was worried that the small hot spot the torch was creating wouldn't really turn into a large glowing coal mass. I sent blue flames to one side of the middle of my charcoal bed for 30 seconds and switched to the other side of the middle for the next 30 seconds. Once i had a good hot spot going (after 1min with the torch going), i turned it off and walked away for 5 ish minutes. I came back to a nice glowing coal bed. It works fantastically. I highly recomend this to anyone looking to make the light up BGE process a little faster/easier.

Let be this. Easier and faster lighting. I use lump charcoal usually hickory, in a Big Green Egg. Recommend. Doubles as a weed killer.

works great!

I wanted to give this 1 Star. I wanted to give this 5 Stars. I should give it 3 Stars. I was excited to read the reviews and happy to find a product I didn't need to plug in, just to start a fire. Using the starter looked effortless. Easy. Efficient. But the product description is wrong, I'm sorry. The diagram shows a "20 Inch Reach". It ain't. That shaft is only 16 inches from the valve to the end of the nozzle. For a Long Cook, I built up a lot of charcoal in by BGE pit. The lighter would not reach the charcoal. I would have to build up the charcoal to a pile TALLER than the opening for this to work as advertised. The length of the arm is just not long enough. The Flame is Awesome, though. I merely held the lighter in place for a minute or so and the charcoal lumps caught on. But I had to hold it and point it down in order to hit the sizeable pile of charcoal I had in the box. I'll keep this and use this again, as it IS a hot flame. This morning I used it to start the fire in my Chiminea. Man, it was fast. But the disappointing thing is it doesn't work on my Big Green Egg, as advertised. It's not a 20 inch reach. Want to make some good money??? Invent a product just like this, only make it a true 20 inch reach or, even better, an adjustable length. Make the angle of the wand adjustable, too, and include a base for the gas cylinder. Yeah... Adjustable for your own personal needs. Sweet. Keep the nice, hot flame the same, though. It's awesome. Oh well, I'll get by until then.... Darn!

I had this for 3 months and then the ignitor seemed to stop working. I emailed the manufacturer to ask about warranty or if I could buy an igniter separately. They asked me to give them a call and quickly diagnosed the problem, I had set the volume control to maximum and the already warm tank of propane caused too much of a flow which put out the flame. Adjusting the volume down while igniting fixed the problem. Excellent product and excellent customer service.

Why I didn't get one of these sooner! I have a Big Green Egg and used a large chimney starter historically. However, with the humidity in TX, it was becoming a challenge to get the coals going well and quickly....This Grill Torch solved all my issues. It starts quickly and the adjustable flame dial allows me to vary the flow and flame as needed. I can start my fire in 5 mins without needing the Chimney Starter. One standard propane canister has lasted me 7 starts and still going. I'm able to disassemble the Torch from the Propane and store between uses (takes 15 seconds to disassemble). Can't believe I waited so long to get this!

As you my have discovered, there are plenty of common ways and recommendations to light the charcoal in your grill. I purchased this torch specifically to light lump charcoal in my kamado. Please note that this is my only scenario with this torch. I also have a WSM where I use briquettes and a chimney for, so I'm only using this on my kamado and this review is within that context. On my kamado, I wanted to avoid using the lighter cubes and also anything electric. There is no guarantee I will always be around an outlet/extension cord and some of those devices carry a significant cost given their longevity. And in my experience lighter cubes have a chemical smell to them, and while I am aware lots of people use them to light their ceramic grills, I personally don't want to risk the possibility of that smell getting embedded in there. I do use them to get my chimney going -- different application. The biggest advantages of this specific torch for me are the angle and length. The overall design is clearly meant to light charcoal in your grill and for me, I don't see any other design working better for that. However, we each have our own preferences and I can see some people being more comfortable with a different angle. I use this torch to light 2-3 different areas in the charcoal, spending about 2 mins on each area and I'm good to go. I leave the lid open for about 10 mins, then close it to bring the grill up to desired temp. Works every time. The cost of this torch is fair and the design and simple enough that I don't see needing a replacement any time soon. I use my grills consistently and year round and I am very happy with this purchase. If you are on the fence about this I would highly recommend giving it a try.

stopped working after a few uses

Kamado BBQ fan boy will want a GrillBlazer (200$), but honestly this grill torch is more than perfect for the job and will save you a lot of trouble and money. It is able to light my lump in 2min max. I'm holding it for the whole process. The handle angle needs getting use to and might be problematic if your Kamado is built-in a table or a counter. You might not have enough room for the gas bottle around the Kamado opening. Pictures shows it is possible to leave the torch standing on the shelves or counter pointing toward the fire box, but it is too far from the charcoal.

I use this to start my Kamado and for camp fires. makes the job a lot easier and removes a lot of the paper you would normally use to start fires.

We use it to light our Kamodo Joe, better than firelights etc because it doesn't taint the flavour or smell Click start works well when there is enough pressure in the can, Lights charcoal bricks quickly and with ease. My only complaint is it does drink through the canister of gas really quickly and when pressure drops it's harder to light even though you can still hear gas in the can. We have found if you shake it and or tip it back it will ignite. Don't tip it forward as it looses pressure.

Easy to hold and manage. Use it as a charcoal starter and to kill the weeds growing through my interlocking bricks. Refills have been easy to find.