JJGeorgeGrill Torch Charcoal Starter

I have a Big Green Egg that I had been using the paraffin fire starters which took forever to get the charcoal lit and up to temperature. I just used this torch for the first time last week. It started up on the first click of the igniter and got my coals going in a few minutes. Highly recommend!

This is an awesome torch, never a misfire, sets on the bottom of my kettle, and holds the flame where I need to start the charcoal smoker. Could not be happier.

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.

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!

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.

Works great and in a short time coals are ready togo. Great customer service too!

Writing a review after 1,5 years of use, it's one of my best purchases on Amazon, really recommend, it helps you to spend less time to light up your grill, super easy to use.