Bright Spark 1-Piece 12 x 4.5 x 6 cm Catering Blowtorch,Grey

Easy to attach to gas cartridge (which I bought separately) - simply position it as directed, gently press in and turn, like fitting a light bulb. Wait 2 minutes with the yellow knob facing upwards (apparently this 'warming up' period reduces flares). When ready to use, turn the yellow knob anti-clockwise slightly and press (you'll hear it click). Adjust the flame by turning the yellow knob. Unlike the smaller blow torches, there is little likelihood of the gas running out when you're doing your third creme brulee. Also, no leaks, as can sometimes happen when you're refilling the smaller blow torches with lighter fluid. The A4 Bright Spark gas cartridge costs £2 and will last a long time. To store, I simply detach the nozzle from the gas cartridge, keeping the latter out of harm's way. The flame can be as gentle or as strong as you'd like: by adjusting the flame you can lightly colour meringue on Baked Alaska or sear a roast before it goes into the oven. This is a proper chef's blow torch and the performance does not disappoint.

Rather than for any DIY or mechanical purposes, I bought this as an aid in cooking. Granted, the aforementioned categories probably do fall into the realms of cooking, but at varying levels. First off don't just use it for "cooking", an oven does the job far quicker. I've tried a couple of other brands of kitchen blow torches in the past, one cheaper and another about the same price. With both I had issues with refuelling them, and one struggled to ignite when it was most needed. To that end, the Bright Spark hasn't let me down. It's very easy to set up, I think some people have had issues screwing on the torch to the canister, but after a couple of practice goes it's plain sailing. The ignition of the torch, as you would expect is instantaneous, and you have excellent control of the flame intensity. It it is very well made and although it does have some plasticky looking parts, but they are soundly manufactured and should last! Other than the kitchen I've also used it for lighting the BBQ, and if the BBQ takes too long to get going, just blowtorch the food! (From a food safety point of view though, the latter's not recommended, use a welding torch instead).

It is a lovely piece of equipment with a strong, stable flame. Previously, I purchased a smaller blow torch that needed to be filled up with butane gas. Initially that worked fine, but after about 2 months, the flame wouldn't work as well anymore. The Bright Spark on the other hand uses a twist and click mechanism to attach on to butane cannisters (you can find them in outdoor shops, usually used for portable stoves). It is convenient and you don't have to fill anything up. Some might find the flames a little bit large, but it makes things so much easier. Using this for cooking just speeds everything up. So far, there has been no problems with this, and after a month I'm still on my first cannister of butane!

I've knocked one star off because of my experience yesterday. I hadn't quite twisted the top all the way onto the gas canister, keeping in mind it is only a small twist and there's no 'positive' feel to it if you know what I mean. But because of that it turned into a flame thrower! Woooo! So people make sure it is firmly twisted on, give it an extra push, and it's fine. Used it for quite a while after this and no probs. Nice strong flame used little gas even though using it for quite a while. Hopefully will last a lot longer than all the cheap versions I've bought in the past...

Edit review - April 2016 I have used this bright spark regularly for 10 months now. It still lights first time and works like a dream. I never think twice about popping out to the garden with a frying pan full of newly cooked sausages to blitz the skins dark (I hate chewy sausage skins) or to crust up the fat on the edge of a thick steak or dry up the sticky sauce coating on babyback ribs or to sear the soft skin on a leg of lamb. I love this device and strongly recommend it especially if like me you have tried and failed with so many alternatives. The large Bright Spark gas cartridges (bigger than you expect) also last for ages. I bought 4 in June 2015 and am still using the first one! If you are in two minds about this, don't be, just buy it. Original Review - June 2015 Having tried a few of the 'pretty' kitchen blowtorches (the one piece stainless steel types etc), they all had downsides ranging from losing the flame when tilted, not lighting easily, losing gas when stored, tiny flame jets or having trouble refilling the gas from refill cartridges. They were all cheaper then this unit and all ended up in the bin due to never working properly, or at all, when they were needed. This Bright Spark unit has started out well. I bought it together with 4 x Bright Spark gas cartridges. It arrived at about 3.45pm last Sunday literally as I was taking some sausages out of the oven to go with a pork roast so I assembled the torch (simple), pressed the yellow button igniter (which worked first time) and blasted the dull skin of the sausages to give them that 'just bbq'd' look. The torch is powerful, seems foolproof, doesn't go out when tilted (yet) and is far better than anything I have tried to date. It is now Wednesday and I saved the review until I had stored the torch for a few days to ensure it does not lose gas and it still weights the same 432 grams it did when I stored it on Sunday. This torch does the job well. It is slightly bigger than I expected and produces a better flame than I expected. All in all I am very pleased indeed and therefore give it 5 stars.

High quality construction and a perfect fit for the gas canisters that I have lying around for the camping stove. Easy fit and simple lighting / operating procedure. Fully adjustable for cooking or DIY uses. Loads of uses in the kitchen if you read the little guide with it! Against my better judgement and usual practice, I had bought a couple of little cheap chef blowtorches previously which were rubbish. Fortunately one was damaged anyway so I got that refunded. This is different class. You get what you pay for and frankly this is not expensive anyway for the quality it is. If you are in the market for a chef's blowtorch, get it. Forget the cheap rubbish.

Bought along with the recommended (frequently bought together) gas cartridge. Unusable due to incompatibility between recommended gas cartridge and torch. Ended up heading into town and buying a smaller chef's torch or my brulee would have only been creme! So why do you list them as frequently bought together? This S6 catridge is a screw type and the Bright Spark 1-Piece 12 x 4.5 x 6 cm Catering Blowtorch,Grey is push fit In addition when cancelling order and returning you need to wait in for Hermes to collect (due to gas cartridge not being allowed through royal mail); Hermes will be collecting some time between 8am and 8pm, they do not offer shorter slots.

I was very happy with my old kitchen torch until it broke. I used it to finalize my home made Neapolitan pizza and now I was afraid of not being able to find a proper replacement. I was wrong, this thing is amazing. Like the previous one I had, you just need to push it on the A4 gas cartridge (see picture), you rotate it and you're all set up. It seems decently built and it generates an amazing flame (video attached).