So what else can I blowtorch?

[NulloModo]

I think a torch is much cooler than a scale or a thermometer. After all, all those do is measure stuff, and a torch, well torches! Man, before I buy a torch I should probably invest in a fire extinguisher...

[Grub]

So what are some good blowtorches?

Do you have to get a specialized food blowtorch, or can you just go get one at a hardware store?

[BryanZ]

I use a simple Benzomatic that I think is suitable for food use. I found it in my garage a few years back and haven't noticed any harmful side effects, so perhaps ignorance is bliss. I must admit, however, that I have not been as ambitious as others. I generally use mine for the occasional caramelization of sugar on deserts and for tuna (Nobu Matsuhisa style).

Edited July 15, 2005 by BryanZ (log)

[LindaK]

Hey, honey your legs need a shave= Blowtorch

Hey, aren’t you going to wash that fork that just fell in the litter box= Blowtorch

Hey, the pizza guys unibrow is distracting me= Blowtorch

Hate that annoying ear wax build-up=Blowtorch

This could go on forever!

I know I’m going to be deleted!

I'm glad they didn't! delete you, that is.

[etalanian]

Marshmallows. For S'mores.

[Shalmanese]

So what are some good blowtorches?

Do you have to get a specialized food blowtorch, or can you just go get one at a hardware store?

←

I have a benzomatic as well found here. On the side, it says:

This fuel, and byproducts of combustion of this fuel, contain chemicals

known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and

other reproductive harm.

Which sounds rather ominous yet perusing the MSDS linked to on that site yields no obvious carciongens. I think they just mean CO which does certainly cause lots of worries in high doses but should be fine as long as your using it in a well-ventilated area.

edit: fixed link

Edited July 18, 2005 by Shalmanese (log)

[Patrick S]

Hmm. Propane itself is not classified as a carcinogen by any of the major cancer research agencies, such as The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the US National Toxicology Program (NTP). Propane is also not a mutagen in the Ames test, that it, it does not induce DNA mutations, which is the primary mechanism whereby carcinogens actually induce cancer. Toxicology reviews of propane also state that propane does not cause reproductive or developmental problems. Carbon monoxide is also not known to cause these things. I don't know what it is in the fuel that is supposed to cause these effects, but I'm pretty sure its not the propane.

'Combustion products' are a different story. Any time you burn organic matter, you create or pyrosynthesize new compounds, some of which are toxic and or carcinogenic, but that applies to all forms of flame cooking, not just blowtorching.

[bleudauvergne]

This weekend we had fun with a blowtorch and a norweigen omlette. That's an ice cream cake covered in meringue which is sometimes broiled but much more fun blow torched and then flambeed with rum.

I have seen people make instant caramel with sugar which they pulled into strings to make a pretty garnish on a dessert.

[nathanm]

I love my blowtorch, and use it for many things, particularly browning or crisping roasted items that need a touch up.

I use it quite a bit to brown things that are cooked via sous vide, which is a wonderful cooking method but it does not leave things brown or crisp.

Torches are far more intense heat than any broiler. This is a problem with some foods because parts will burn before the rest is brown. To some degree you can control that by moving it rapidly and holding it farther away. However, at some point you're better off with a broiler.

Propane is as safe as gas cooking is. MAPP gas and butane are similar. I would certainyl not cook with an acetlyene torch however.

[EdS]

These blowtorches sound exciting.

I've always been paranoid about them. Specifically, when I see someone use one, I'm thinking that somehow the flame is going to go inside and the thing is going to turn into a big bomb and blow the place up.

Can someone set me straight? Are these things safe?

I wanna torch stuff.

[Shalmanese]

A flame needs fuel, oxygen and heat. Outside the torch, it can get all 3. Inside the torch, not enough oxygen can get in to make fire so it's perfectly safe.

[EdS]

A flame needs fuel, oxygen and heat. Outside the torch, it can get all 3. Inside the torch, not enough oxygen can get in to make fire so it's perfectly safe.

←

Awesome! Thanks, Shalmanese. I'm going to buy myself a new toy.

[Grub]

Sorry to beg about this, but could I please have some more advice on torches?

[nathanm]

Simple propane torches are available at Home Depot or other hardware stores - they connect to the top of a propane canister. You light them with a sparker, which usually comes with them.

Fancier torches are self lighting.

They are as safe as a gas stove. There is no way they can turn into a bomb through normal use. However, if you let propane leak out with the torch unlit ....well that is like having a gas leak.

[Richard Kilgore]

Yes, just go to Home Depot or something similar. The self-starting ones with a trigger cost only a few bucks more.

[Ducky]

Yup, any old hardware store will have these in the plumbing department.

I have used mine for years. Before I discovered "spatchcocking" in this forum, I used to e.g., use the torch to brown the bits on the bottom of the roast chicken that never got quite brown enough in the oven.

Any fresh fish, sliced into sashimi-sized pieces can be very nicely seared with a blowtorch - and then topped with, say, lemon & garlic butter or a soy & wasabi reduction.

This is one of the most versatile tools in our kitchen.

My wife always leaves the blow-torch to me, and on more than one occasion our dinner guests have been amazed to hear my wife yell from the kitchen "honey, it's time for the blow-job".

[Patrick S]

You might want to test the torch before you buy it. Some cheap torches have a tendency to go out when you turn them upside down and move them side to side. The first cheap torch I bought did that, and thus was practically worthless.

[radbertus]

One thing I've found is that torches with a head set a right angle, like <a href="http://www.bernzomatic.com/bernzomatic/consumer/jhtml/detail.jhtml?prodId=BernzoProd100003">this one,</a> are a lot easier to use then the traditional head. The 90 degree angle means that one does not have to hold the fuel cylinder at weird angles when engaged in torching things.

[Smithy]

Grub, in case you're still wondering , these blowtorch canisters are fairly small - we aren't talking about things you have to wheel around as with a full-blown welding kit. They stand maybe 15" high and are easily managed with one hand. They are easy to find in any hardware store. We have used ours for sweating copper pipes, but we mostly use ours for lighting the wood in our fireplace, unless we've actually managed to get truly dry wood for the winter. I haven't experimented with using one in the kitchen, but I'm getting excited about the prospects now that I've read this thread!

The small "cook's blowtorch" is small and wimpy, and much more expensive because it's being marketed to the specialty group. In addition, I *think* it's usually designed for butane (I could be wrong about this). Butane is a wimpy fuel compared to propane.

My final advice to you would be to make sure you have a fire extinguisher nearby...not because the torch is explosive (that's been well-answered already) but because it's a powerful mobile flame. Once you get used to it, you may get careless about where you're pointing it.

What is MAPP, someone? Anyone?

[nathanm]

MAPP is a gas similar to propane that burns a bit hotter. This can be important for doing silver soldering or braising. Most (but not necessarily all) propane torches can use MAPP as well.

I have used it for cooking purposes but i have not found any significant difference. A propane torch is already hot enough that there is no increased utility in MAPP.

[Grub]

Grub, in case you're still wondering , these blowtorch canisters are fairly small - we aren't talking about things you have to wheel around as with a full-blown welding kit.  They stand maybe 15" high and are easily managed with one hand.  They are easy to find in any hardware store.  We have used ours for sweating copper pipes, but we mostly use ours for lighting the wood in our fireplace, unless we've actually managed to get truly dry wood for the winter.  I haven't experimented with using one in the kitchen, but I'm getting excited about the prospects now that I've read this thread!

The small "cook's blowtorch" is small and wimpy, and much more expensive because it's being marketed to the specialty group.  In addition, I *think* it's usually designed for butane (I could be wrong about this).  Butane is a wimpy fuel compared to propane.

My final advice to you would be to make sure you have a fire extinguisher nearby...not because the torch is explosive (that's been well-answered already) but because it's a powerful mobile flame.  Once you get used to it, you may get careless about where you're pointing it.

What is MAPP, someone?  Anyone?

←

Ah okay cool, thanks!

[origamicrane]

BUGS!!!!

Recipe for corinader bugs flambe

(as in insect, not bunny)

(although you could try it with bunny, but could be messy)

1. Take one saturday afternoon to cook up some satay.

2. Add a bag of coriander seed, cumin and fennel seeds.

3. Pour out 2 tablespoons of each into a pan for toasting.

4. Notice a little bettle crawling around in the pan take tissue and sqish bug.

5. Notice a few more bugs crawling around in the pan.

6. Look closer and notice even more bugs crawling around.

7. Start to get concerned that there is a bug infestation.

8. Look at the bag of cumin seeds, no problem.

9. Look at the bag of fennel seeds, no problem.

10. Look at the bag of coriander seeds, bug central!!!

11. Curse damn bugs!! and look to contain said bugs.

12. Get pissed off that entire 500g of coriander seeds are a write off.

13. Decide to make coriander bug flambe instead.

14. Pour entire contents of bag into pan and turn heat to max.

15. Take blowtorch and fry those suckers as they try to crawl out from the seeds and think thoughts of the magnificent 7 or anakin skywalker killing the tuskin tribe or real life enactment of "out of the frying pan into the fire." while singing Trammps - disco inferno

16. Grin like Jack Nicholson in The Shining as bugs become extras in Sarah Connor's dream sequence in Terminator 2.

18. Feel strangely psychotic but strangely better after decimating the bug colony.

19. Serve my perfectly done coriander bug flambe to oscar the grouch.

20. Wash the pan and working area.

21. go out buy new bag of coriander.

optional steps:

22. write it up on egullet and sound like a psychopath

23. reminds oneself that everyone on egullet is a food psychopath

hehehe!!

[curlywurlyfi]

if you scroll down about halfway through the first post in this thread, you will see Suzi from the UK forum nobly torching the surface of her lemon tart, to provide scrackly brulee topping to the waiting hordes.

[Darcie B]

For those interested in MAPP gas (one of the most easily obtained small cylinder/trigger types at hardware stores), I found this by googling:

MAPP gas is a stable, high energy fuel offering excellent performance for heating, brazing, soldering, metallizing, flame cutting and flame-hardening.

MAPP gas is a mixture of various hydrocarbons, principally, methylacetylene and propadiene. It produces a relatively hot flame (2,976°C) with a high heat release in the primary flame (inner cone) (15,445kJ/m 3 ), less than for acetylene (18,890kJm 3 ) but much higher than for propane (10,433kJm 3 ). The secondary flame (outer cone) also gives off a high heat release, similar to propane and natural gas.

MAPP is not sensitive to shock and is nonflammable in the absence of oxygen. There is no chance of an explosion if a cylinder is bumped, jarred, or dropped. You can store or transport the cylinders in any position with no danger of forming an explosive gas pocket.

As MAPP gas can be used at a higher pressure than acetylene, it can be used for underwater cutting in deep water as it is less likely to dissociate into its components of carbon and hydrogen which are explosive.

The MSDS on MAPP gas states that there is no carcinogenicity in any of the components for MAPP gas. View the MSDS here.

[lesanglierrouge]

Torches are great in the kitchen. If your creaming butter, icing or cream cheese in a kitchenaid try torching the metal mixing bowl to loosen it up. During the dinner rush, if you ever have a sea scallop hit the floor (professional and conscientious cooks never follow the 7 second rule!), you can oil and season a new one and torch the outside to caramelize and finish quickly in the oven.