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Industry Interviews

Is This The Best Way To Light Charcoal? Looftlighter & Looftlighter X

If you’ve been following new products in the BBQ world, you’ve probably heard of Looftlighter, which is taking the world by storm and making charcoal grilling an easier option for any night of the week, and no longer just for the weekend.

We’re going to be talking about the Looftlighter and the brand new portable Looftlighter X electric fire starters that are aiming to change the way we light charcoal.

Below you can watch and read our interview with the Looftlighter team at the HPBA Expo in 2020.

Interview Begins Here:

David: Hey I’m here with Kevin from Looftlighter, and you have a product that is kind of revolutionizing the way that we light charcoal. Tell us about it.

Kevin: Yes, we started in 2004 looking for a better way, a quicker way, a cleaner way and a greener way to light your fireplace and charcoal. So Richard Looft came out with the Looftlighter original, and it was kind of an accidental discovery based on a hair dryer and a curling iron.

So, the way it works is you have a heating element and you have a fan. You light it, and it gets hot, which it is hot right now, and you touch it to the charcoal, and you wait to see it turn orange that usually takes about 30 seconds or so.

Once that’s done, the fan kicks on and it lights it. You don’t get dirty, you don’t have any chemicals, you don’t waste any time and you’re set to go and barbecue your foods or light your campfire.

So, fast-forward to this year, and we decided to make it portable. People want to go camping or RV-ing or have a big piece of land and they need to burn things, so we created the Looftlighter X.

It runs on a 36 volt rechargeable battery, and it’s very simple to use. It has a safety switch, which you press while you hit the button to turn it on. When it comes on, it turns red.

The unit is on a 60 second cycle, and you place the tip of the unit against your charcoal. The cast iron pan that we are using is super hot, and you can see the sparks coming out as the charcoal is being lit.

You’ll hear a discernible difference in the sound of the Looftlighter X as the coal is lit, and that’s when you pull the unit back and the fan kicks up to stoke the fire.

The Barbecue can be lit in less than 5 minutes.

David: So what you’re essentially doing is enabling people who want to cook with charcoal on a weeknight, which let’s be honest, charcoal isn’t usually a weeknight thing.

Kevin: This solves that problem. Alot of people will tell you that they’d rather have a gas grill than a charcoal grill because with gas all they have to do is press a button and it starts. They might not like the way that it tastes, and they would prefer charcoal, but they’re in a hurry and it’s during the week.

The looftlighter was designed to take the time of lighting charcoal out of the equation. If you take the Looftlighter and you wanted to be ready in 5 minutes to cook with charcoal, it’s designed to do that. Just pull it back after the first coal is lit and the fire will spread from coal to coal lighting up the entire grill.

It means that you’ll actually be up and cooking faster than you could be on a gas grill.

David: So if people are looking for either the corded model or the new cordless Looftlighter X, where can they find out more information about Looftlighter?

Kevin: They can find us on our website at www.looftlighter.com or any of the social media channels. We have a lot of great resources on our social channels including videos and demos of the Looftlighter in action.

David: Question of the Day –

Are you currently using the Looftlighter to light your charcoal? Which model do you use? Let us know in the comments section below as well as your thoughts on this new portable Looftlighter X that’s about to hit the market.

And if you want to check out some of our other coverage from the BBQ Expo, we’ve got a whole playlist out, and you can find that on YouTube by clicking here.

By David Gafford

David Gafford is the founder of The Barbecue Lab, a YouTube channel and website focused mainly on reviewing outdoor cooking and outdoor living gear. David puts his analytical and teaching skills to work, helping viewers make fully educated decisions on the equipment they purchase for their patios.

But helping people get geared up in the backyard is only part of his passion. David’s real mission is to equip 500,000 people to gather their tribe and experience community by creating unforgettable experiences around food and fire.

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