Side by Side Comparison of: Readitools vs Orblue

It's not just a culinary device. Great lighter for the patio.... And, You can turn the lock OFF! You're only one click away from a serious torch that hold a lot of butane. Great fit in your hand. Large enough you won't lose it.

Save your money on expensive cigar lighters.

This torch is really cool looking, it works great and it's built to last.

***ONE YEAR UPDATE: After a year of regular use, I am happy to report this torch is still working perfectly. I have owned many butane torches and not one has continued to function this long. Usually, the igniter fails or the jets become clogged. Not so with this torch. It requires no special care or fussy refilling techniques. I recommend that you use high-quality butane. I avoid Zippo and Ronson products which burn dirty and could shorten the useful life of any torch.

First let me start buy saying I love how safe this torch is. On nearly all other torches alike they have the pipe exposed which gets very hot after extended use I learned this lesson the hard way:,( but with the READY TORCH its pipe is surrounded by a vented cage so the ENTIRE torch stays cool to the touch. Since I am a chef moving fast this safety feature and the soft ignite button are my favorite qualities. On my previous torch my finger would get sore after a dozen or so strikes; that's definitely not the case here u can push that button hundreds of pain-free times and it usually always lights the first press(well above 90%). I was a bit afraid the torch and flame would be to small but I'm very impressed by the large flame and the size and quality build of the body of the torch. It has a nice quality weight to it and the base is ever so stable even sits on a couch cushion or a bed(never on of course!*)without tipping over. Of course you can't forget how good it looks. So far I think this maybe the best torch on the market definitely worth every dime. My only unanswered desire is does it last long without being refueled. A question that can only be answered in time.so I'll put that last aspect to test and be back with an update.

---Update: still enjoying this torch and just wanted to update the torch does last a good while between refuelings

Pros: looks sexy, heats things up when I need them heated up
Cons: very small tank size only lasts a few uses before I have to whip out the can of horrible-smelling butane again

Summary: if you're looking to do lots of concentrated cooking applications, don't get one of the little handheld torches. Just get a full-size blowtorch from Home Depot for $15. that said, if your utensils are very small and you don't want them to heat up too much, this handheld one is about as good as they come.

UPDATE: turns out I was filling it wrong originally. This thing is 5 star.

This little torch is not only a neat looking gadget, it's also very functional! It's super easy to fill and ignite, and I love that it has a lock switch for the ignition button as well. The gas adjustment switch and flame switch give you a lot of control over the type of flame it is producing. I like to leave it sitting out on my kitchen counter top because it looks so nice and sparks a lot of conversation. I've found many uses for it so far--toasting marshmallows indoors, creme brulee (obviously!), caramelizing bananas and other fruits for oatmeal, heck torch the top of your oatmeal while you're at it. try torching some brown sugar you've sprinkled on the outside of your french toast for an amazing crust sometime!

This is a great little culinary torch. Easy to use, multiple safety features, easy to refill. We use it for everything from caramelizing sugar to lighting the cold smoker pellets.

I received my torch and love it! I made Creme brûlée for Christmas and it was a hit! The torch was easy to fill and use for a fist-timer. The customer service was fantastic. I received an email video from the seller showing how to use the product along with a personal email thanking me for my business. The product and customer service experience had exceeded my buying expectations.

I purchased this for lighting my cigars. It is much better than using a small butane torch. It sits on my patio table and makes an impressive lighter. Note: the the trigger will not pull until the safety is lowered and this must be done each time you light. It is not a big problem and I like that there is a safety mechanism. If you smoke cigars, get one!

This was a great gift for my aunt. She loved it. The instruction video that was emailed to me after buying was incredible. Seriously the best instructional video I have ever seen before. I would highly recommend this product to anyone. She had never had creme brûlée before, and now that she has this torch she makes it every time I come over. It's really a good one.

I make creme brûlées regularly and have used another torch for a long time. Unfortunately it took forever to brûlée due to it's small size. Being a mechanic, it was a torch I used in my job. Fortunately, I found this torch and can highly recommend it to everyone. It really is simple to use, looks great in the kitchen, fits your hand comfortably but most importantly, it does the job reliably. I spent a lot of time viewing a lot of the torches for sale here, evaluating them the best I could. After receiving it, I could not be more pleased. It is better than expected and can highly recommend it to anyone looking for an upgrade or a first time buy.

not as hot as expected but good in every other way. Did not receive the book though I tried in every way to locate it as ebook

The tool worked as expected. The customer service follow up with regards to safety was very good. I also enjoyed having the recipe book to go with the tool.

Wow! I'm not one to easily impress... and typically I don't put a lot of credence into most reviews. At first I was concerned it might be like my other one... you know... the one with a really unique fill port which no one carries?

Well I gotcha covered as far as filling it: I found 'Newport Zero, Extra purified butane gas / free flints in cap / for thermal butane blablabla' works to fill it.

You use (I believe) the white tapering point, you kinda have to go in quick and firm, but be careful to not snap the can's fill nozzle - it seems to me when the fluid flows it hyperchills (wonder under what condition water does this) and the plastic becomes brittle.

Now - I'm with the manufacturer on the hold-up-a-minute consideration after filling. The gas hasn't equalized and (think of the gas mixture of air and butane... where the air in this case acts like carbon dioxide in soft drinks... change pressure beyond a given threshold... and it's gonna fizz... so... long story short... you'll get a jetstream of expanding gas just like you get a face full of soda if you shake the can. So give it a minute to settle down after filling.

The Lock was engaged... which feels solid and true. Wasn't sloppy nor lacking in function nor usability. Clicks into place... un(lock)ed was clearly marked and the slide to adjust the flame feels as one would expect a quality device display. That said, I've owned previous torches; one which the slide lever would barely change volume at all... and i've had those where the slightest wrong movement set concern in ones heart as the flame goes out or jumps... but not this torch to my pleasant desire. You set the height and it stays.

When I first ignighted... for what ever reason - the volume was set to full +... so, a foot+ long flame shot out. The surprizing thing though wasn't the impressive sputtering flame - {beware long hair} ... no, it was the lack of activation before the flame lets out. There wasn't the typical click of some stone being squished... nor a click of electrical discharge... common with the electric lighters.

The trigger is surprizingly comfortable and useable under most conditions; lighting a cigarette might not be one of them.

Lastly, and the best part if it works without prompting(without having to set it full left, or full right... one way is jet, the other soft but volumeous flame, and the slide adjusts the tip type as you use it. You can go to a long pointy jet tip, to a long, but soft tip, to a short soft... each flame type serving a different purpose, but I wish to note it might not function that way as intended if you have to set it full to light in the first place.

They look nice just wished they would of mention they run a little small. If not for that they would be really awesome shoes for its price and very fast shipping.

Cons: Comes empty, you must fill it with gas.
It does not have an indicator for how much gas is in there (no gas window)
It has 2 modes, flame and torch, but it will only light in the torch mode, It will not light up in the flame mode.
Thus, the 4 stars instead of 5.
Pros: (In the torch mode) it lights up 100% of the time, never missed.
Very comfortable to hold and light.

good torch ! Except the ignition stopped working ..so now it's worthless unless I can send it bk to have it fixd ?? or have a new one sent too me ...overall I rate this a 4 stars due to the ingnition problem other than that great prouduct Orblue!

Pretty easy to start this bad boy up. Butane was simple to fill.

It would have received 5 stars but the plastic nobs & switches feel like they could break easily.

Works great. Small kinks from time to time with the sparking, but otherwise consistent flame.

Worked great for creme brûlée, not so great for charring eggplant.

Worked great at the beginning then started to fail after a few months... Very unfortunate thought it was high quality

Christmas present.... can't wait to see the receivers reaction.

trouble lighting randomly is frustrating. flame is not the best for caramelizing sugar on creme brulee. I have tried multiple culinary torches and have yet to find one that does the job. This one also has the feature to just be a lighter which is what we now use it for in the restaurant. It is an expensive lighter though.

Retuned it. Wasn't hot enough for sous vide browning.

This is okay for doing a carmelization on sugar, not enough oomph for searing meat or charring vegetables.

Yhe one we got only works in continuos mode. That is fine as it keeps you from having depress the ignite button throughout use. However this makes lighting tricky -- depress the ignite button while pulling the continuous mode button back. It is unlikely I can sen it back as it is full of butane.

First one I received didn't work well - hard to light, but customer service bent over backwards to get me a replacement quickly, and I didn't have to return the defective one. The replacement works fine! I give it a three, because it takes a while to char things like a plate full of slices of green bell pepper and tomatoes, and other veggies too. A larger full powered propane type torch for soldering works much faster on veggies. Those are the kind you usually see professional chefs using on TV.

I bought this and another at the same time, quite by accident. First complaint is NO DIRECTIONS. It took me a bit to figure out so let me save you the time. Fill with COOKING TORCH BUTANE by holding upside down and inserting the filler tube into the torch inlet on the bottom for about 10-15 seconds or until you see some bubbles. Wait a few mins to use. The safety switch on this torch is a small sliding tab underneath the igniter, which is the push knob on the back of the head of the unit. The flame height is determined by the little adjuster on the side. The two chrome "balls" on the sides of the barrel are the O2 adjustment which I recommend you do not touch because they are useless. Needless to say, this was not my fave. Though it will get the job done, ultimately, especially now that you have operating instructions.

It works but I bought it for sous vide searing -- and its not strong enough for that. It takes several minutes to get a reasonable sear on side. I use a pan to sear it AND add additional torching to the pan sear.

I've had this product for awhile, it's kind of a pain to refill, it doesn't get quite as hot as I'd like it too. It has browned/toasted meringue pretty well (although difficult to use to get super even, but maybe that's user error?), but I've never been able to get it to brulee sugar the way that I'd like it to. Also, my hand gets tired of holding down the button, and it sometimes takes quite a few clicks to get it to ignite. I wish I had purchased something else, but it hasn't been a complete waste of money.

Very small torch, if not using for cooking buy something else. Not powerful enough for dabs.

Product dint head the book as mention.

This item arrived quickly and appeared to be just what I wanted - loved the design and feel of the product. When the butane I ordered arrived several days later, I filled the unit as directed and then spent an hour trying to get the torch to light automatically (tried it again a few days later with the same results) - it would not work. Following instructions to the letter, it simply would not ignite by using the button, even when "primed." If lit with a match it seemed to work fine (though I have yet to test it on a product) but that should not be necessary. I am returning the product (which may prove to be problematic since it is filled with fuel - I am waiting to hear back from Amazon) and will be looking for a new design.

Worked great for about 9 months, Now its staring to spit fuel and not work properly, Emailed Orblue about it have yet to hear a peep from them.

After only a few days of receiving this item, it broke. It is not made well and I sent it back. When it did work for a couple of days, it worked well. My torch would leak fuel out of the bottom almost immediately after filling it. It also came with no instructions at all, just a clear packaging.

The ignition release button does not function properly, causing the ignition button to get stuck in the "on" position. Generally speaking, this is made of thin, flimsy materials. I am returning it and looking for a better product.

Received it today and as soon as I took it out of the amazon box, it feel out of the plastic packaging. I don't know if I got some returned one instead of a new one or the packaging is just sub par. As other users said, there is no instruction what so ever in the package, just the torch. People who have used it before may not have a problem; first time users will have a hard time figure it out. Seems like they may have instructions on their web site, but that's still some extra step that I shouldn't have to take. A one page instruction is not really that much to ask for.

Difficult to load, and very wasteful of fuel. No instructions were included either, although there was a URL for online instructions printed on the packaging.

Got used one without recipe ebook.

This is my second unit. The first was replaced because of an ignition problem which I describe as "the torch has become a safety hazard. When it is ignited and turned downward to be used, it is flaming up! Then there is quit a lag in time from releasing the button to when the unit is no longer burning". This had evolved over time and the performance of the unit is not the same as when new. The company refunded my money for this unit.

Now with the second unit, it takes 8-12 "clicks" of the ignitor to get a flame, meanwhile you are wasting fuel. The flame is a bit non-steady. I will try a different product next time.

After using the torch once, it sat for awhile until my next brûlée; 2nd time, nothing. Gas but no flame. I'm very disappointed.

Waited for so long for this torch...Haven't work the flame at all and after one minute the other jet flame stop also. Just spending butan fuel for nothing. Plus haven't came with the ebook promised. Only nice was the design. Returning it...

Pretty lighter but there is a ton of backspray when trying to fill this lighter with a can of butane, possibly due to a design flaw. Also, the flame is TINY compared to other kitchen torches I've used in the same price range. This item is more of a cigarette lighter than a culinary torch, it would take a really long time to caramelize more than one or two sugar topped dishes with this "torch". It would absolutely make for a cool cigar lighter, but seems useless as a kitchen torch. I will be returning mine since I have not received an email response from the seller on how to correct the issues I had with the torch.

First one I received stopped working after 1 month of use. I contacted customer service and they were very cooperative and sent me a replacement immediately. I asked them about how to safely dispose the old one, and I still didn't receive a response yet after 1 month of waiting.

Overall, this item is very standard quality, don't expect something fancy or an item that will last long. Looks and feels so cheaply made

Received the order in great time, but the torch had at least two things wrong when it arrived. It's very difficult to get it to light and once it is lit, there is a fuel leak that causes it to continue to burn after the button is released. I don't know if this is due to a defective continuos flame controller or not, but the switch is pressed fully forward toward the off position.

Update: I still cannot give this more than one star because it was broken when shipped, and upon looking at the internals, I can say it is cheaply made (VERY cheap), but with a complete overhaul of the torch, I was able to get it to work. Due to the poor craftsmanship, it is very easy in shipping to have pieces come loose, or lines separate from their attachment, so taking it apart and putting it back together properly would probably fix most issues. Long story short, if you have minor technical ability, you can get to work, but I would recommend buying something different.

Complete garbage. Torch produces a flame no larger than a bic lighter. Now I am stuck with this paper weight, as the time required to send it back would cost me more than buying a better torch. DO NOT BUY!

This torch is not a good product. The first one I received did not function; the spark did not work. I exchanged it. The second one I received, after working for about two days, began to leak butane -- meaning, I did not need to push the gas release button in order for butane to be released. Not good. Needless to say, I returned it and bought a Newport, which is a much more reliable torch.

I do not recommend this torch.

this torch does not work well the flame is terrible and is is NOT SAFE …however customer service was great with an instant refund
I have used kitchen torches a very long time..and I would not recommend this torch to anyone EVER. it is not balanced well the disc that is stuck to the bottom fell off right out of the box so it was not non skid when you set it down… when you turn it off it does not go right off but you can not see or hear the flame so it could be a fire hazard in oh so many ways. I did not even want to replace it due to the poor design and for all the danger it is not even putting out a strong enough flame to do any kind of sugar work

but as I said? customer service was very kind and it was taken care of instantly