Small update.
Talked to my wife. She said "No" to the torch approach. She said she can see one of our boys lighting something on fire.....I cant argue with that!
Exploring the fan and electric heater approach now. hehe
Thank you again!
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
A torch is a tool, just like anything else. What's to keep them from finding a butane lighter in a kitchen drawer for that matter? I keep my torch head in my toolbox with other tools, since it's something that is used beyond just grilling.
I use a propane ignition on my Weber kettle because I have it built into the grill - it's a Weber Performer Deluxe. It's basically like having a blow torch built into the bottom of the grill, under the charcoal grate, and while it does good getting the coals going, it doesn't get them ALL going. Just the bottom. I usually turn the flame off after a 5 minute timer on my phone. It takes another 10 to 15 minutes after that before the top of the chimney is engulfed in flame.
The only way I know to get it going faster than 15-20 minutes is in fact using something like the BBQ Dragon. If your wife (or you) have a hair dryer, next time you start the grill, give the starter cube 5 minutes to get the bottom of the chimney going, then plug in the hair dryer on an extension cord out there and blow it at the bottom of the chimney for a couple of minutes and see if the chimney gets engulfed in flame faster. I've not done it with a chimney, but have blown a hair dryer into the bottom vent of my kamado a couple of times to get the charcoal in the kamado going real fast.
If your experiment works, you know the BBQ Dragon is worth "investing" in.
The 25-30 minutes it takes me to get the charcoal going and the kettle hot is why if its a time constrained grilling type cook, I still find it handy to have my gas grill, since I know I can throw something on that after 5-10 minutes.
I think i will use the hairdryer trick. That could give me a good idea on how to go forward.
No BBQ today sadly. We are in the midst of a Santa Anna with some pretty hot gusty winds. Perfect wild fire conditions so will wait til tomorrow.
Thank you again!
I use my old Bernzomatic burner for weeds, it’s long, so I’m a long ways away from sparks and smoke when I’m starting a fire in my offset. It only takes about 30 seconds to get the initial charcoal pile going.
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