Kamado blower to start fire

[Chuck in Charlotte]

I don't want to be the first one to try this, but it looks like a great idea:
cheapchineseblowertoreplacebbqdragon

Has anyone else given it a try?

[Attjack]

At $70 I think I would rather spend a more and get a fan and controller instead. Admittedly that would cost quite a bit more, but you get a lot more for your money too.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UI018B2/ref=s9_acsd_simh_hd_bw_btnk3_c_x_4_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=H8XYJSVP0WZ8JT7Y4M8H&pf_rd_r=H8XYJSVP0WZ8JT7Y4M8H&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=b06eab98-0cec-5447-b00f-fda6f47086b9&pf_rd_p=b06eab98-0cec-5447-b00f-fda6f47086b9&pf_rd_i=13299251

[EdF]

Well, there's also this guy: https://bbqdragon.com/product/bbq-dragon-2/

I can personally attest to its effectiveness and versatility (like say, after a kamado indirect you want to do a sear).

[EdF]

Attjack No argument. It works - it works!

[JGo37]

How good is the clip - you can really clip it to a hot kettle?

[EdF]

It's out in the garage at the moment, so can't look. But I don't remember any issues. Have to admit that most often I just attach it to the port on the "chimney of insanity", so don't use the clip much.

[Huskee]

I don't see how it's a cheap replacement of the BBQ Dragon when it costs so much more. Seems overkill to me personally. BBQ Dragon is a great tool FWIW, and it used to cost $60, now only $40!

[scottranda]

Looks too expensive for what it is. The BBQ Dragon has its quality faults, but 2 dragons is basically the same price as the fan you have in your original post.

[hogdog6]

I love my dragon.

[aladdin4d]

I almost hate to do this because I think it's an interesting concept but well, I'm me, so here's a breakdown of what I see.

1. A commodity cooling fan of some type. Could be for electronics or something else entirely but whatever it started out being meant for, it's made in numbers to big to think about making it inexpensive.
2. An ON/OFF switch.
3. A commodity battery holder.
4. A bracket/plenum to attach it to the kamado.
5. With this lovely warning

   Do not use long time after lighting the charcoal to prevent the grill heat from damaging the fan!

6. Which tells me I'm looking at Grade A Chinesium materials.

Call it 10-20 bucks and an afternoon or two to duplicate it. Throw in another 10 and you can add a PID temperature controller. Double the budget, still cheaper than this thing, and you can end up with this:

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1199972/my-diy-temp-control

I have no doubt it would work but there's just no way it's worth what they're asking for it.

[Histrix]

$15 no batteries needed:

[EdF]

I used one of those for a few years, until the bellows rotted out. It was an antique my wife found somewhere.

[BriggsBBQ]

When I had a bde I used a squirrel cage fan I had laying around the garaged. Before all the dragons and auto controllers and such.....gets the fire started super quick.

[EdF]

Good thinking!

[Mosca]

"cheapchineseblowertoreplacebbqdragon"

The blower is $70, the BBQDragon is $40.


I don't use either, for that kind of money I can wait. Typically I'll light the BGE and prep the food while it comes up to temp.

[WVsmoke]

I have use a Louftlighter for the last two years with really good success. I also use it to start a fire in my wood burner in my home. I works even better there. Added bonus it is also a bottle operner. It cost about $80.

[SmokeyGator]

Don’t need anything like that. Natural ventilation is sufficient.

I use a cheapo Harbor Freight heat gun. List price is a whole whopping $15, but they sell for $10 all the time. It gets hot enough to ignite charcoal (lump or otherwise) and the airflow stokes the fire once lit.

When I want it hot NOW I use the heat gun to light the lump in 3 or 4 spots, open the bottom and top vents all the way, and leave out the grates. After a few minutes I stir the coals and wait a few more minutes. It’s ripping really quick. Put in wood chunks, the grates, and there you go.

If I don’t want blazing inferno mode, either don’t use any fans (way too easy to horribly overshoot the temperature then good luck cooling it down) or you really want a thermostat controled fan.

https://m.harborfreight.com/1500-wat...not%20provided

[Mosca]

And it's not too hard to bring the temperature down at the beginning, before the ceramic is heated up. All you have to do is open the top and let the air out. Then choke down the vents. Also, adding the platesetter brings the temperature down as well.

[Spinaker]

Just buy a Benzomatic TS8000. That is all you need to start your kamado. Honestly, this is one of the more ridiculous things I have seen for a kamado. (And that is saying a lot) You don't even need a BBQ dragon to light a kamado, why would I want a more expensive product to do what I can already do, better with a torch?

[scottranda]

I have this torch plus a Bbq Dragon Fan. Perfect combo. But the torch can be used solo, I just like to speed things up.

[Fire Art]

Torch and a heat gun which I have several being a plumber