blowtorch or coleman stove

[runride]

what up? im back with more questions... many of you say that a blow torch works great.... how do portable/camping stoves work? it sounds a bit more "calm" than a blow torch...

[Mathazar]

Blow torches are AWESOME!!!!

My torch gets the coal REDHOT within 20 seconds.  When I set my
torch on high,  I get a 9 inch flame,  but I use the blue
part of that flame which is the hottest point and trust me.....SPARKS
ARE FLYIN all over the place.  Of course, that's typical of Golden
Coals.

This is where I got my torch from,  it's the first picture on the list,  and the HUGE butane cans last forever:

www.ChefDepot.net/minitorch.htm?

Don't even give it a second thought,  this torch will blow-away any portable stove

[cypress]

Yea and if you drop the damn thing you will blow away more than a
portable stove. If you dont want Golden Scars or Golden Accidents, get
the stove along with the top part of of a double boiler (the pot that
has the holes with it) and cook your coals safely like that. 

[Mathazar]

I'm confused by your comment, cypress 

The blow-torch that I linked him to has a safety button.  You push
the button to activate the flame,  and once you let-go of the
button the flame immediately goes out.  It's a lot safer, imo,
than a portable stove,  and it takes-up a HELL of a lot less space
on the desk. 

I keep my hookah,  ma'assel containers, coals,  torch, 
and spare can of butane on my desk surrounding my monitor.  Try
doing THAT with a portable stove.  Plus,  I believe a
portable stove is going to cost you more than the Messerchef Torch

[cypress]

Sorry I didnt view the pic. Its just one of my dumb a$$ friends burned
himself while lighting the blow torch. Goldens do have a tendancy to
puff up so maybe the blowtorch and the pot combo would work the
best. 

[Mathazar]

Hope your friend's okay 

This is the coolest torch 

It's like filling a lighter,  you just take the butane can, 
put it to the bottom of the torch, and press for 20 seconds,  and
on the low setting you've got enough butane to last a whole hour. 
On the high setting,  you're using up a lot more butane but you're
getting a MUCH hotter flame.  You don't have to take a whole 20
seconds to light the coal,  with direct heat you can light it in a
little over 6 seconds.  But if you want the coal REDHOT before you
place it on the bowl then 20 seconds is what you'll need.

[NERV]

if were talking quicklights than a match will suffice, i get 1000
matches for 70¢ at the supermarket, plus i find books of em all the
time, its practically free.

math, have you used that blowtorch on natural coals, how long does it take to light them?

[Mathazar]

[quote name='NERV']math, have you used that blowtorch on natural coals, how long does it take to light them?[/quote]

I've used the torch on The Lord (triangular coals) and Nour,  and
it takes approximately 1.5 minutes to get them going.  But to get
naturals redhot all the way through,  you need an electric coil
stove.  But I looked around and I couldn't find any portable
electric stoves that I could put on my desk.  That would have been
cool. The torch is powerful enough to get a natural coal redhot, but
the time it would take to do that would get the tongs SO hot you
wouldn't be able to hold them.

[NERV]

long story short, blowtorch is quicklights only, if you want a coil
that could heat up a coal, why not look into that hookah-shisha
electric heater? ive heard it dont work well for smoking with but it
sound small enough to use for lighting natural coals

[Puff]

 I use two methods to lite natural & japanese coals. wal-mart sells electric burner hotplate ( small enough to fit on desktop 10x10 ) for 7.99 and the other is a blowtorch. the hotplate works just as fast as an electric burner on stove, the blow torch only takes 6 seconds for natural coals. I have a full blown torch for cutting exhuast pipes from cars as i am a mechanic. I put on a glove, grab the coal w/ tongs and within 6 seconds the coal and tongs are red hot!

[Mathazar]

[quote name='Puff']I put on a glove, grab the coal w/ tongs and within 6 seconds the coal and tongs are red hot![/quote]

[Craig]

My vote is Coleman stove..and I only use natural coals(Except if it is an emergency )
I just got this one at the local Wal-Mart
[url="http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=533A700G&categoryid=2020"] [url="http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product"]http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/...ail.asp?product[/url][/url] _id=533A700G&categoryid=2020
I took a empty soup can, cut out the bottom, then put a grate (Made from the things you put in the sink to keep stuff from going down the drain) in it, about an inch from the bottom of the can.  Light the stove(Turn burner to low), throw some finger coals in the can, place it on the stove and walk away (All in the garage or preferable outside).  Then I load up my bowl and by the time I am done with preparing the bowl, the coals are nice and cherry red.
-Craig

[NERV]

so about that stove, how much does a tank of gas cost for it? does it
sitnk when its on? how many bowls is 1 tank of gas good for?

[Craig]

The Stove can also use UnLeaded fuel or Coleman White Gas...
The White Gas is pretty expensive.. I think like 8 USD a gallon, but that will last you a LONG time..
Here are the stats from the coleman site:




•
Powered by 1.1 pints of Coleman® Fuel or unleaded gas

•
1.75 hours burn time on high, 6.5 hours on low
So lets say you get 2.5 hours out of a fill up(Conservative considering most of the time you are on low setting).. takes 5 or 6 minutes to light coals.. that gives you 30 lights/bowls per fill up.
It is a little bit of a hassle setting things up an lighting, but you don't mess up your kitchen stove with ash and all.  The stove itself doesn't smell, but the natural coals when lighting give off some oder(I think it is the CO smell)... But I just place the stove right out my door and let i go, so no smell in the house..
If you have a Targe / Wal-Mart / K-Mart near by.. go check them out in the camping section.. they should also carry the fuel so you can get a better idea of the price
Let me know if you have any other questions..
-Craig