Classic - Electric Charcoal Starter & Fire Lighter, Superheated Air Technology, 1300°F in 60 Seconds, for BBQ Grills, Smokers & Fireplaces

I have been an avid charcoal griller for decades and have used a variety of different products and grills. Lighter fluid pollutes the food. Charcoal starters which require to be lit by a match have been a pain and unreliable. Reviewer must understand that I grill live in SW Michigan and grill outdoors all year. In the winter I start the grill in the garage and then heat it outdoors. Electric starters work but may require monitoring to determine if they ignited the charcoal and can be time consuming. Some of the cords have been damaged by heat ( OK that can be my fault). My wife bought this for me as a Christmas gift. It is amazing. Hardwood charcoal glows in 30 seconds; has flame in a minute and flame is alive and spreading in 2 minutes. 15 minutes later and no trips outdoors in 30 degree weather; the grill is ready for cooking.

Hi, So I was using a loop style electric starter and it was good, but one day I lost track of time and part of the handle melted so it was time to buy something new. So I've used this about 10x already and I really like it. Unlike the loop, once I get the fire going, I don't have to come back and pull out the hot iron and place it on a plate since I have a deck and not a patio. This guy stands by itself but I still put the plate underneath just in case, but it never fell or anything. Now, there are videos and things about how to use this starter. I've found what works best is to build a small mountain like pile of lump charcoal. Then I press and hold the starter on it and after a bit you'll get sparks. I tend to see if the coals are list or not yet and I might hold it there a little longer. After the coals are going, I start to pull away slowly and hold air on to the coal so it gets very Red-Orange. Usually by then it is lit and I let the other coals start to heat up on their own. Another benefit is I can lower the grill quite a bit now and when guests want to make smores, I just remove the top grill (mine has a middle part of the grate that can come off) and blow some hot air on the coals and they get nice and hot and re-light well. I couldn't do this in the past with the iron-loop. One thing I don't like is sometimes the air is so strong it can throw more sparks in the air, so just be careful and aware of that. But not nearly as much as when I had to pull the iron out of bottom of the charcoal. So maybe this one is neutral. Lastly, my coals don't move now. I can set them how I want them and they light and stay in place. With the loop, because it was on the bottom, when I pulled it out, the coals would be displaced and I had to re-arrange them to help even the heat. So it works well. I'm pretty happy with it. I've even used to to re-light unlit coals from a few days ago, but it took a little more time to catch, but it did light. I'd suggest using a few pieces of new charcoal mixed in and you you finish off the stuff from the previous burn. I hope this helps others. Good Luck and Great Grilling!

A family member recommended this Looftlighter for our Kamado Joe Jr. grill. I balked at the price, but after using starter blocks and another brand electric lighter, I decided to give the “real deal” a try. I am not sorry. This is a wonderful product to start a charcoal fire. No chemicals, easy to use and it produces great results. You MUST follow directions in order to get the most out of it. I bought a heavy duty extension cord as our deck does not have an outlet. This lighter fires up around 1500 watts, so if you must use an extension, get a good one that is heavy duty and rated for outdoor use. Place the charcoal to your liking with a bit more at the center of the pile. Touch the Looftlighter directly to the wood and wait for sparks and a glow. Immediately pull the lighter back a few inches concentrating on the same spot. This will allow the fire to come up quickly at a nice burn rate. If you want to speed things up a bit, you can light another section in the same manner. You do not want to keep the lighter touching the wood directly for a long time as you will damage it. The fire will spread on its own. Timing and temperature is up to you according to how you use your grill. On the Joe Jr., I close the lid after it gets going with top and bottom vents fully open until it reaches the desired temperature. Then I adjust the control tower and bottom vent to stabilize. By the way, I am a 74 year old woman completely new at this. If I can do it, so can you. I highly recommend the Looftlighter as a great accessory for grilling. It makes Kamado grilling pure joy!

Worked well briefly but the over-temperature sensor began to shut off the unit in under 2 minutes after 4-5 uses. It took too long to reset to be able to start the charcoal. I tried several things to work through it but it was not usable. Switched to a butane kitchen torch. Maybe I got a bad one but don't want to pay a premium (again) to find out.

I think the reviews complaining of melted exteriors must be user error. It's not a fire brick, you don't place this in the coals. You hold it above the coals for a minute or two and they light. No melting the tool involved. My 1st Looft lasted almost 8 years of regular almost weekly use through the year round California grilling season. The fan eventually died, which I read is not unusual, and I'm happy to replace it with the same thing. Huge improvement over MAPP torch, or fire-starter blocks, despite how weird it seems before you've tried it.

This is an excellent product for those folks who grill food often; it is a real time saver in terms of igniting the charcoal. You won’t be disappointed.

I once left the tip too close to the briquettes and the tip of the heat shield melted off. It’s aluminum so I should have been more careful. Other than this, I think it’s a very good product. I have always used the chimney and newspaper all my life. I originally thought this was just a heat gun what’s the big deal, but turns out it really works much better than the chimney. The most important factor for me is it significantly reduces the amount of smoke, because it heats up the charcoals before they are ignited. Then the fire propagates much faster than traditional fire starters because of the forced airflow. I can still smell a little smoke, but it’s really minimal and I don’t need to close all the windows when I start the fire outside.

Works great to quickly start wood or charcoal.