BBQ Dragon Charcoal Starter Fan — Lights Charcoal in 10 Minutes | Cordless Variable Speed Fire Blower for Grills, Smokers, Fire Pits, Fireplaces & Campfires

I have NEVER in my life had a more agreeable customer service experience. I'll gush about the product in a moment but I had to begin this review by sharing what happened. My BBQ Dragon melted. I don't know exactly what happened, but I think it was a mixture of my unearned confidence and a perfect storm of swirling wind and super hot coals. Regardless, a word of warning. Don't leave it unattended. The thing works so ridiculously fast that there is NO reason to walk away. Learn from my failure, future BBQ Dragoneers! Anyway, it melted and I was heartbroken. Picture a 38 year old man, holding this thing in his hands like a suddenly deceased and much loved family pet. His nine year old son patting him on the back, fully aware of how sad his father is. I swear to you I am not making this up. He literally said "I'm sorry dad, I know how much you loved it." So, with little hope, I reached out to the company to see if there was any kind of warranty. THEY SENT ME A NEW ONE! Can you believe that? No thousand questions. No making me feel like I was trying to scam them or get something from them for nothing. Stephanie just basically said, "Oh wow that stinks. We are gonna send you a replacement." I'm smiling while typing this. Just blew me away. Oh, and the Dragon itself is amazing. Does exactly what it says it does. I souse vide my steaks, get the chimney of insanity (who names these things? I love it!) ripping hot, and sear each side for about 30 seconds. From cold grill to nicely browned steaks I want to say about seven minutes. If you have EVER found yourself trying to blow some air on your coals, or waving a fan of some kind at them to wake them up, just buy this thing right now. I promise you, you will not regret it.

I’ve owned this product for 8 1/2 years now. It’s always worked great. I stopped using batteries because it does consume the batteries very quickly. Now I use a power bank and a USB cable to run the fan and that works perfectly . The only complaint I have is that it is loud. It rattles quite a bit. It’s easily adaptable to any grill so that is a plus. The size in the product is also a plus.

***Update**** Updating from 2 stars to 5 stars for great customer service. I contacted customer service and told them about the problem my dad and I had with the fan. They responded to me the same day and I had a tracking number for the two replacements by the next day. I have already received the new fans and am very happy with how they backed their product. Thank you for restoring my faith in your company. I am glad to have the new fans because I really like the concept and it speeds up my charcoal lighting process so much. The fan also really helps with re-lighting the leftover coals I have from previous cooks. I really liked this fan and used it with the BBQ dragon chimney. Unfortunately, after only using it a few times, the plastic switch broke and it would not turn off unless I took out the batteries. I had purchased the fan and chimney for my father as well. On a recent visit, he told me that his plastic switch broke and had the same issue. I really like the convenience of starting my charcoal quickly, but the quality of the construction is not quite there yet. We'll see if customer service does anything for me or not.

Essentially, it's a battery powered turbine-style fan. I suspect the folks who own the company don't allow feedback on their website because of potentially negative comments. Likewise, their Infomercial-style YouTube Video also does not allow comments. Perhaps for the same reason? While the product is probably okay, I really don't like using lighter fluid on my briquettes. Unfortunately, you really need an accelerant to use this product. I've used a chimney-starter ever since I got one... and I believe that's still the way to go if you want to light briquettes without the lighter fluid flavor on your food. This is direct rebuttal to the Informercial-style YouTube Video entitled "BBQ Dragon Vs. Lighter Fluid Vs. Charcoal Chimney" where the representative states "...now I don't actually use a charcoal chimney, a lot of people like this because you can use newspaper instead of lighter fluid. I don't buy into that argument, lighter fluid is fine..." Well, sorry, but lighter fluid is not fine... because you can taste it on your food. So, I'm sorry... but I don't buy into your argument. So let's agree to disagree. I really wanted to like this product, which is the reason I bought it on Amazon. If I could have bought it at Costco, I would have (for easier returns). The build quality is not bad, but it chews batteries pretty quick... just like another reviewer here on Amazon had mentioned. Another reviewer mentioned theirs melted (I guess it was left unattended). In either case, there are quite a few drawbacks with this device. Going back to the YouTube video, I'd have to disagree with the results. Not the ones with the lighter fluid, but the chimney starter results. Perhaps the chimney used wasn't that great. I did my own version of the experiment (I should have recorded it), using my Weber Chimney Starter. In my version after 9 minutes, the coals are plenty burned through and flames are visibly shooting out the top (similar results to YouTube Videos posted by others with the Weber) [I don't own stock in Weber, by the way... nor am I an employee]. Perhaps you didn't put enough newspapers on the bottom? Or used some wet charcoal? In either case, my results didn't quite match the YouTube Video... but the representative did use a different brand of Chimney. On the BBQ Dragon YouTube video, the coals were still just "smoking" after 9 minutes. So, again, quoting the BBQ Dragon Rep "...I don't buy into that argument..." So, while it is probably a good tool... for $50-60, it's a bit pricey. For the money I would buy the chimney starter. If you really want something similar, you can probably get a blow dryer and do the same job (of course, you'll need an extension cord for that). In any case, I did give it a shot... but I don't recommend this product.

UPDATE: After two grilling seasons, I have to admit I'm not using this to light charcoal anymore. If you're lighting charcoal in a chimney, this will get you cooking faster, but I think it adds a new problem: by the time the top coals are lit, the lower ones have burned through quite a bit. So overall it feels like I'm getting a faster light at the expense of wasted fuel. Considering the short lifespan of a briquette, that can mess with the cook. It's not really worth it to save 10 minutes, but I guess it's nice to have the option if I'm in a hurry. What I am using it for is as a supplement to the Slow-N-Sear, and for that it's AWESOME. I've been relying on the reverse sear lately for just about everything but for steaks especially, I've never grilled such good food before. The concept is that you bank all or most of your coals on one side of the grill, and cook your food with indirect heat until you're about 10 or 15 degrees shy of your target temp. Then you put the food over your coal pile, which is way hotter than you'd normally cook with. That's where you get dark, flavorful crust (no grill marks; the whole surface is a giant grill mark) with total control over temperature. The problem with this setup is that even with a big pile of charcoal, it's not going to be that hot after 10 minutes of covered indirect cooking because it's been oxygen-starved. Enter the (BBQ) Dragon ... you can turn the coal pile into a glowing red inferno in a minute or two. The BBQ Dragon isn't so much a time-saver anymore; it's saving moisture in your meat while you quickly get your sear zone hotter than would otherwise be possible. I don't feel any differently about the quality or features of the BBQ Dragon, but its role in reverse-searing has turned it into a must-have for me. ORIGINAL REVIEW This product sat in my cart for a long time before I decided to pull the trigger. I knew what it does, and knew that I really wanted my charcoal lit as fast as possible ... I just couldn't get past that price. I felt like I was going to get ripped off buying what is nothing more than a common fan, probably only priced as high as it is because it's marketed to grill enthusiasts (and we love to spend money on this stuff). Well, I can't say that I think it's worth, for example, half the cost of an entry-level Weber charcoal grill. I'd feel pretty good paying about $30 for this. But I was wrong to think that this is not a unique product. You're paying for a good idea. Nowhere else will you find a small fan that a) is built to be heatproof, b) has a long, flexible neck, c) is cordless, and d) can be recharged. Those features are why you can't "just use a hair dryer." Well, you can, but you'll have to stand there holding it, and you'll need to be near an outlet, and you will only have one free hand to get your charcoal lit. There's no possible way to position anything else correctly without holding it. I tried a regular fan once and after seeing the difference some moving air makes, I knew I had to buy the real thing. Let me mention some common beefs in other reviews: That Battery Latch: Yes, it's weird. Basically the entire end of one part of the handle comes off, and that's where the batteries go in. This end cap is your battery latch, and it's held in place by two flexible plastic clips that mate with holes on the handle. It's a design that I don't remember seeing before, and probably with good reason. My problem isn't that anything feels cheap or flimsy, it's that it's hard to get it back on once it's off, to the point where you feel like you're forcing it and may break it. Maybe some earlier reviewers had a different product run with thinner clips that are easier to insert but also easier to break? With mine, I would not enjoy taking it off and putting it on a lot, but with rechargables I don't have to think about it. USB port: I think it's great that you can bring your own batteries and charger to this system. The USB port is probably the worst part of this product, though. I have a really hard time getting the cable in there correctly. BBQ Dragon needs to tighten this up a bit. The handle: I haven't seen much mention of the fact that the handle can serve as a really sturdy base for the fan, making it free-standing. This would make it great for a campfire or fireplace. The flipside of that is that the handle is enormous - so big that it's difficult to squeeze with one hand. Documentation: No complaints here. There are diagrams for placement of the fan for different situations (for example, if you're lighting a chimney you should point the fan downward on the other side of the grill so that air loops around and travels up the chimney. This seems to work pretty well). If they didn't explain the USB charging before, that's been fixed now. Build quality: It's built like a tank, especially the handle, the neck, and the case of the fan (which is stainless and not plastic like you might suspect). Two exceptions are the terrible USB port, and the wiring inside the fan tube. I was a little surprised to see fairly bare soldered wire connections inside the fan. I'd think you'd want that stuff sheltered from the filth that's being constantly sent through the fan body. We'll see if that becomes a problem when this unit has been out there a few more years. I love this fan, and as long as it lasts more than a few years I'll be happy with my purchase. The build quality is great, it works well, and I love the recharging function. With some tweaks to the USB port and battery cover, and a $10 price reduction, I'd have zero complaints. 4 stars.

Works fine and priced right

It blows air…..

I've used this product for just about 10 time for 1 month. First off, this device is not amazing. It is not awesome nor superlative. It's just a fan attached to a flexible neck anchored to a clamp. But what it does is amazing and any superlative you can imagine. It so very drastically accelerates the burning of partially lit coals until they are raging hot. Additionally, the blowing air off the hot coals rapidly cause other coals to ignite and burn. This is such a HUGE time saver and, as childish as it may seem, its entertaining to watch the fire just glow and spread incredibly fast. Like watching a forest fire. Now the con: This is important in reviewing any product. It uses batteries. That's fine as I have rechargeables in mine. But the designers thought it would be clever to include a charging port on the device. Sounds great at first but It uses a USB port. Really? I'm gonna hook this up to my laptop to charge? Or my PC to charge it? No wait, I have to buy an adaptor to plug in the USB cord so I can then plug it into a wall. (no USB cord included) so I can then charge it. STUPID! I just charge the rechargeable batteries in their own charger as I am sure ALL users would do. Would I recommend this? Oh heck yes. I absolutely love this device. Very easy to use, the clamp is very powerful and holds the device secure and the flexible neck is rigid to stay where you aim the fan. This device is a must for any person who needs to accelerate partially lit coals in a big big hurry. Swell product and a big hats off to the developers. I'm impressed.

Muy buen producto, no es indispensable para prender el fuego ni mucho menos, pero facilita y ayuda muchísimo a elevar rápido las temperaturas, muy recomendado.

Combined with the chimney of insanity, this will start your lump charcoal real quick, just a few minutes. I was told it was fast, it is faster than I imagined. Fiited mine with Jugee rechargeable lithium batteries.

うちわで仰ぐのも楽しいですが、この製品に任せると半分の時間でビール飲んで待ってるといいです。 頑丈そうなんで、何年も使えそうです。電池はエネループ使えば良いし。

This thing works really well, I use every time I fire up our charcoal grill. I was a little disappointed when I learned that the unit can recharge batteries (rechargeable only) but none are supplied with the unit though- just a heads up to others.

Geniales Teil!!! Vor allem wenn die Luftzirkulation beim Grill nicht optimal funktioniert.