Ultimate Culinary Blow Torch, make the best creme brulee Free recipe E-book included with gift packaging & instructions | Hand Held flaming + Stand | Good for baking, soldering, dabbing & wax working.

I had written another lengthy review of this Ultimate culinary blow torch, but it seems to have gotten eaten up by the cybergods. So here we go again...First, some of you may wonder what a culinary blow torch is for. There are many uses, but the one I was most interested in is to use for putting a sear on steaks cooked sous vide (vacuum-packed in a water bath). One can cook the absolutely perfect to-die-for steak sous vide, but to make the experience restaurant-quality, you have to be able to do a (preferably) butter sear to cause the Maillard (browning) reaction that gives you that heavenly perfect-steak flavor. But it's kind of a drag to have to heat and dirty up a pan just to sear a steak, which is where the culinary blow torch comes in. (You can also use one to brown the top of a cheesy casserole, make various toasted items, or for flambés and desserts like the classic Crème Brûlée. It's pretty impressive when you do this at the table.)The torch is easy to fill with butane. The instructions for the torch said 10 seconds, but my  Colibri butane  called for 3 to 5 seconds. I went the whole 10 seconds. The mechanism to ignite the torch involves pulling the red trigger while holding down the lock button, but after a few seconds you can release the lock button and the torch stays on. The little red knob on top of the torch adjusts the size and intensity of the flame; you want to shoot for only blue flame. To turn off the flame, you just press the lock button again and it instantly quits. One nice thing about this torch is the hand guard below the flame. Once you light the torch, you can remove your fingers from the top part of the torch where the flame is and hold it below the guard, which protects your skin from the heat.I confess, when I was offered this torch at a discount in exchange for my honest review, I was a little nervous about it. I'd tried another culinary torch that was tricky to use and, frankly, intimidated me and made me feel like it was in control of me and not vice versa. At first I thought this one was going to be the same thing, but I'd misunderstood the instructions. Many people, I think, have a tendency to think of "off" as turning a dial or knob counterclockwise. It's such a habit to do that, that that's precisely what I did. When I ignited the torch, it blasted out a very large, yellow-tongued flame that scared the bejesus out of me. DP was nearby, and he exclaimed, "You could burn the whole place down with that!" Then I read the instructions again and checked the adjustment dial; all the way counterclockwise is full-throttle on. When I reversed the procedure and started from just a little opened up from full clockwise (off), I was able to ignite safely and adjust it to a very civilized, usable, but still very hot flame. So just be careful and be sure you are doing it the right way...or you really could burn the whole place down with it!This torch does not take up a lot of room so you can always have it handy. You don't want to set it near a heat source, of course, but because I'm not using my crummy apartment stove for anything but as a spare countertop—all my cooking is done in a sous vide water bath, heated up in the microwave, or air-fried in my Multifry air fryer/oven—I keep it on the stove beside my spices and utensil crock where it looks nice and is out of the way.

***UPDATE*** After leaving this review, the company instantly shipped out a new torch and send an amazingly kind email. We received the new torch which works wonderfully. My husband was able to make his creme brûlée again, and this time, he had a torch that worked. I now have a happy husband, so now I'm a happy customer. Thank you!If I could give this zero stars, I would. My husband purchased this for my birthday, for a special dinner he was making me. Here we sit, on my birthday dinner, and the torch will not light. They send an e-book but it only has recipes with nothing for trouble shooting. So, I sit here watching my husband scramble to find one from our neighbors to complete the meal he worked so hard on. Save your money and keep your sanity.

I researched this tool a lot and finally decided on this one based on other reviews. For the price, it is a great little tool. It was somewhat frustrating that it didn't come with instructions but it's pretty simple to figure out and it works beautifully. The adjustable flame and on/off button make it much safer than others that I've used. Overall, I'm very happy with the product and though I do use mine in the kitchen, I could see how it would be good for other purposes as well. In addition, a few days ago, I received an email with a cookbook that now comes with the product so I look forward to using it even more!

UPDATE: I've reduced my rating to one star because this lighter has officially stopped working (on top of its cosmetic flaws). The ignition mechanism no longer works and its been less than 2 months.This lighter was packaged beautifully and works great. The flame is very strong. The reason I'm not giving this a perfect rating is because the knob to adjust the flame, broke off after the second or third use. I'm not sure how or why... I can still adjust the flame by placing the knob back and turning, but I shouldn't have to do that.The lighter works great and is very powerful. I'm extremely disappointed is it's durability thus far.

I bought this torch on a lightening deal because of the fabulous price...I had seen them advertised for nearly $60, so grabbed it. And I'm very glad I did..*packaged very well ( presentation was A+)*excellent instructions on how to fill it*Extremely easy to useNow I did not get this for searing creme brulee, ok? I got one because I can never find a lighter or a match, live in Wet, Wet Oregon, and burn a good deal of stuff from my garden...I needed a torch to light soggy bonfires outside as well as dabs around the house.I'm a gardener with arthritic thumbs...Not a laughing matter...And I am very pleased to say, this torch was easy to use & adjust...It isn't so large that it's scary (some torches belong in a welding studio) and it's actually very attractive if you do want to use it in the kitchen.I loved the fact that the instructions were for dummies...like me.... Writing " make sure the butane filling cannister has a long nozele " was greatly appreciated by this Butane Beginner.In five words:Great product and excellent value,