Just seen an ad for bbq dragon in facebook. It's used on the 22in kettle . Does this product actually work? Pros and Cons please.I'm not talking about a chimney or fire starter. It's a white flat half circle that is similar to the insert we use.to smoke.
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Last edited by Gadabout; July 12, 2018, 12:40 PM. -
It's a cool toy, very useful. I still use a chimney fired up by my propane side burner. I get ashed over coals in about 5-7 mins or so. Would still like to have a dragon however. -
The dragon fan and chimney of insanity have lots of cool uses.
Lighting a chimney a little faster isn’t really a big deal to me.
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Works great! The quality of the product is a little suspect, but they sent me a new one. You can use a hair dryer or some other sort of fan if you want. The strong clip the Dragon comes with is particularly helpful in this grilling use case.Comment
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I love mine. I don't use it much for the kettle, maybe twice a year. I use mine mostly for my stickburner, to blow in the firebox on still days when I need a little breeze in there and I love love love it for that.
Pros (as I see it):- works as advertised
- clamp holds nicely to a kettle wall or other areas
- gooseneck is useful to aim how you want it
- infinite adjustable speed
- powerful at high speed (for its intended purpose that is)
- Price seems to have dropped $20 since they first came out. My first one cost me $60. I just had to buy another one after 3 or 4 years of hard use and leaving out in rain saw its demise, and my new one was only $40 on Amazon.
- Batteries last a good while in them. I can get many hours of non-stop use on low & medium speeds using for my stickburner firebox.
- Can light & stoke bonfires too, it's not just for charcoal or kettles!
Cons (as I see it)- Battery door is a HUGE weak point. Cracks, breaks, etc are common with the battery door and if it cracks or otherwise can't be mounted on with tension, the whole thing is useless since it's the negative terminal for the batteries. A better design would be a twist-off door like a flashlight, or perhaps a hinged battery door on the side of the handle like the back of a radio.
- BBQ Dragon used to send a spare battery door. My most recent purchase only came with one. Again, it breaks, it's useless.
- One of the inventors, George Prior, used to be a member here and he sent me 2 replacement doors when I asked (which is technically a "pro" but keep reading..) otherwise, they are slow-to-non-existent to respond to emails at their website, and George is no longer a member here.
- Eats up costly batteries if you use it for things other than lighting a quick pile of charcoal. This is easily circumvented by using good rechargeables, which I do so battery life is a moot point to me now.
Hope this helps!Comment
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Or you can get a hair dryer for a couple of bucks at goodwillComment
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Folks, he's not talking about the fan, He's talking about the new grill stone:
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In that case is looks like a good way to smoke roast. Should work equivalent to a kamado style diffuser.
Id you have an SNS it probably works about the same.Comment
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My bad, read bbq dragon in the post.
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Well after looking at it I would say it is a overpriced pizza stoneComment
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