Just Like Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor (remember him?), I’m always on the lookout for cool grilling gadgets with “More Power.” That’s how I came across the Looft Lighter All-Electric Charcoal Starter.
I recently upgraded from using Weber brand fire starter cubes and man what a difference. Not only am I a sucker for the latest and greatest gadgets when it comes to technology, anything that could get me eating BBQ faster is high on my list.
Combine this with the ability to avoid smelly chemicals soaking into your food associated with most fire starter techniques and you’ve got my attention. It’s great that the Looft Lighter is also Echo-friendly.
I mean seriously, my old lighting method clocked in at about 25-30 minutes from the time I lit my coals until I could put my food on the grill. Using the Looft Lighter? I’m grilling in less than 10 minutes.
I think back to all those wasted hours when I could have been eating mouth-watering BBQ with my family and realized something; I’m never going back to my old way of lighting charcoal again.
And the coolness factor! Wow, let me tell you. Using the Looft Lighter Fire Lighting Tool makes you feel like you can conquer any BBQ challenge.
My neighbor even poked his head over the wall and had to come to see what I was using to light my grill. We spent a good 45 minutes talking about it. I had to load up my mini grill with charcoal so I could let him give it a try.
By the end of our Looft Lighter review, you’ll be armed with the pros, the cons, and the facts about the Looft Lighter 70018 Fire Lighting Tool to help in your decision-making.
Spoiler Alert: The Looft Lighter 70018 Fire Lighting Tool is just a better way to start your grill.
Table of Contents
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The Looft Lighter 70018 Product Quick Facts
Name: Looft Lighter All-Electric Charcoal Starter
Best place to buy: BBQGuys
Product Weight: 1.94 Pounds
Color: Black And Silver
Guarantee: 3-Year Warranty For Manufacturing Defects
Amazon US rating: 4.5 out of 5-Stars
My rating: 8/10
Looft Lighter 70018 Fire Lighting Tool Description & Features
Main Features | Fast Lighting | Built With Safety In Mind | Eco Friendly
“Looft Lighter Electric Fire Lighter will light your barbecue charcoal or fireplace logs in seconds without the use of lighter fluid or gas. Simply plug the Looft Lighter into a wall socket and then touch the nose of the lighter to your coals or wood.”
“The Looft Lighter’s patented hot airstream process blows hot air at 1,256 degrees Fahrenheit, igniting fires and coals in just a few seconds. No more chemical taste or smell from starter fluids or logs! The Looft Lighter is ultra-safe. It is equipped with a safety casing that cools to the touch within a few seconds and it switches off when you release the On button.”
Main Features
- Looft Lighter Heat Shield
- Aluminum Heat Shield For Safety
- 3 Meter Power Cord (9’8”)
- Temperature gauge: 1,256 degrees Fahrenheit
- Integrated Bottle-Opener In The Foot
Next, we’ll look at some of the benefits you get from using the Looft Lighter All-Electric Charcoal Starter tool.
Fast Lighting
Charcoal can be lit in as little as one minute. “After the ignition, you can either leave the BBQ to get ready on its own or speed up the process by using the Looft Lighter by continuing towards the same spot so the charcoal will be ready in just a few minutes.”
Built With Safety in Mind
“With no direct flame, the Looft Lighter is one of the safest fire starters on the market. The aluminum heat shield helps cool down the Looft Lighter quickly after use.”
Eco-Friendly
“You will never again need chemicals to light your fire, chemicals that are harmful to human health and contribute to CO2 emissions. With the Looft Lighter, it’s just hot clean air.”
My Thoughts on the Looft Lighter 70018 Fire Lighting Tool
Going from newspaper or fire starter cubes to the Loof Lighter BBQ starter is like going from a flip phone to a smartphone. What an upgrade! It lights a lot faster, and you don’t have to deal with the wind or worry about your fire going out.
Because they need to be plugged into an electrical outlet, they are not very mobile for say, camping, tailgating, or the like. But you won’t have to worry about charging the battery or refilling a propane tank like many of the other options on the market.
Check out this video to see it in action.
Let’s See How the Looft Lighter 70018 Measured up to My Expectations
Quick Lighting | Convenience | Chemical Free Option | Quality Build | Built With Safety in Mind
The main things I look for in a fire starter are:
- Quick Lighting
- Convenience
- Chemical Free
- Quality
- Safety
Let’s see how the Looft Lighter measured up to my list.
Quick Lighting
I was able to get a hot fire going in 2 minutes and my coals were completely ready in between 7-10 minutes on average. This blows away my old methods and my family couldn’t be happier getting dinner on the table that much quicker.
Convenience
This tool is not a light it-and-forget-it option like a charcoal chimney starter or fire starter cubes. You actually have to hold the power button down for the duration of the light. At about only two minutes, it was not a big deal and the convenience of being ready to cook that much faster was a big plus.
Not having to transfer hot coals from a chimney starter to the grill and not worrying about having matches or a lighter on hand is convenient too.
Chemical Free Option
There is no need for lighter fluid, match light-type charcoal, or lighter cubes which all have harmful chemicals that can be absorbed into your food. The Looft Lighter Fire Lighting Tool is Eco-Friendly using just hot clean air.
Quality Build
So far, I have found the Looft Lighter to be a sturdy and well-made gadget. I can speak firsthand on longevity as I have owned and used mine for several years. I have read many reviews where people are saying theirs is 5-plus years old and still going strong.
On the flip side, I have seen a few reviews stating that their Looft Lighter stopped working after only 6 uses or so. This has not been the case for me. Those reviews all seem to be a lot older so hopefully, so I am confident they have ironed out that bug.
Built With Safety in Mind
Not having a direct flame, I have always felt quite safe using my Looft Lighter. It is as easy as pointing and pushing down the power button.
The handle is long enough to where your hand is far away from the heat and flames to not be an issue. I would suggest always wearing a pair of good heat-resistant grilling gloves while lighting your coals regardless. There is always the chance of a hot spark landing on your hands.
The heat shield is made from aluminum so it cools down quickly. Having to hold down on the power button the entire time is a built-in safety feature. This way you cannot start it, set it down, and forget to check on it causing it to overheat.
Final Thoughts on Our Looft Lighter 70018 Fire Lighting Tool Review
The Looft Lighter 70018 Fire Lighting Tool stacked up very well to all my needs and added an additional cool factor to the mix. Lighting my grill with “More Power” (Grunt, Grunt, Grunt) has made me a happy man.
The only gripe I have is that I don’t have an electrical outlet close enough to my grill so I have to use an extension cord to use the Looft Lighter. It is really a small inconvenience when you compare it to how easy it is to use and the time saved.
Bottom line, Yes, it initially cost me a little more money but I will save money in the long run by not having to continually buy other fire-starting alternatives. For me, the extra cost is more than made up for by the safety, speed, and added convenience. My always hungry and impatient family agrees too.
Would I recommend the Looft Lighter 70018 Fire Lighting Tool? That would be a Yes for this product!
If you have any questions about my The Looft Lighter Review or want to leave advice of your own, leave a comment below. I hoped you found this review helpful, and that you are one step closer to joining me in “The Grilling Life”!
Cheers,
Pat G.
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Patrick Ginise
Grillmaster/Web Owner
www.thegrillinglife.com
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A backyard warrior, certified carnivore, lover of good whiskey, self-proclaimed grill master and I’m Living The Grilling Life!
I have a passion for cooking with live fire and smoke, no matter the weather. I’m a real person just like you, who loves outdoor cooking and BBQ. Food, fun, and time spent with family and friends are what it’s all about! It is my mission to take my passion and knowledge for outdoor cooking and all things BBQ and share this expertise in techniques and grilling equipment with you. In other words, Living The Grilling Life!
Awesome review of the Looftlighter! This is a gadget I am going to get for my husband for Father’s Day. You say you have to hold it down for the duration of the light, does that mean if we use it for starting a fire, we don’t need fire starter logs or what have you to start the fire, just to hold this until the logs ignite? 2 minutes is awesome if that is the case!
So glad yo found this review useful. It really is a great gadget for starting fires of all kinds. You won’t need firestarters anymore. They work well for wood also.
Great review. Like yourself, I too love to BBQ. After reading this review, I will be looking into one of these come the spring. Until then, my Barbecue is frozen, being in Canada. Do you know if these are available in Canada as well as the U.S.?
It’s great to hear from another BBQ enthusiast, Tom. Did you know that the Looftlighter is great for starting wood fires too? It can work for home chimneys and fire pits as well so you don’t have to wait until Summer to get use out of it. I also checked on Amazon and it is sold in Canada as well. Let me know how you like it when you do get the chance to purchase one.
Great review. I use charcoal because I don’t like the gas grills but am always put off by the smell and sometimes taste if I use too much lighter fluid or try to cook too quick. This sounds like a great option! The only thing is the video says be cooking in sixty seconds and you said 10 minutes. Quite a spread. Is there a reason what you’re doing is different?
Great question Dennis. Although the Looftlighter will have your coals lit and flaming within a minute in most cases, I prefer to close the lid with the vents open at that point and let my grill come up to temp slowly. It’s almost always better to start cooking after you have a hot grill and grates. I also like to let the fire have the chance to spread to all the coals and become a little ashed over for a nice and even heat distribution. This usually takes me 7-10 minutes depending on the weather. This will allow for your food to cook more evenly. So while it is possible to start cooking right away as the video claims, you will get better results if you give it a little time. But even at 10 minutes or less, that is still a lot faster than my old method. Hope that makes sense. If not, send me a message and we can discuss further.
Hi Patrick, this is the kind of gadget that I would have always dismissed had I not read your review. I think you had me at 1,256 degrees – that’s crazy! More than anything else, if this gets your coals ready in 7 minutes like you say, then I’m sold. I live in the UK where you are lucky to get more than 7 minutes between rain showers so anything to speed up prep time is a winner for me!
I noticed you mention it is not cordless, for me this is a bit of a challenge given I normally grill at the bottom of the garden away from the house – are there any quality alternatives that are cordless?
Great blog as always, thanks buddy!
There are definitely alternatives out there that run off of butane or rechargeable batteries. Just by doing a google search you should be able to find several. One of the better cordless options I have seen is the Bison Airlighter. It is USB Rechargeable and has a Refillable butane fuel tank. A smaller portable option would be nice for campouts and the like. Thanks again for stopping by Mike.
So, I’m not the BBQer in my family; my husband is! I think you’ve just identified his birthday present this year 😛 Thank you for sharing this, I’d never heard of this thing!!
Ashley
Your husband is a lucky guy to have you. I’m glad I was able to help.
This is really amazing! I simply hate using lighter liquids and other chemicals to get the grill going. I shudder to think about all those poisons ending up in my food, but lighting the coal using natural methods takes so long time. I wonder, can you use this if you choose to heat your grill with wood? We do that sometimes when we want to make smoked fish.
It really is a great tool for lighting your grill. The good news is, it works great when lighting wood as well. I use it for just about every fire I build both indoors and out. It is a convenient and fast alternative.
Great, thnx. I will probably order one.
Let me know if I can be of any help.
Very neat idea! I wonder if the wife could use one for a curling iron?! Just kidding but seriously this is a quick convenient way to get the grill started up. I will admit that I take way longer than necessary to light my own grill just so I don’t have to cook the rest of the meal and my wife ends up doing the rest of the meal while I am “slaving away ” on the grill in my lawn chair!
I will consider getting this gadget because it is cool but I won’t show it to my wife, haha more relaxing time!
Thank you for this review!
Cheers
You are a man after my own heart David. I can’t tell you how many times I have slowed down a cook just to get a little more “me” time outdoors. It is very handy though for the days you just can’t wait to get the food on the table.