The older you get, the more expensive your toys get...

Congratulations on the new cooker!

A little late- but hopefully get this in before you cook again- -

I use a Wagner Paint Stripper heat gun. It was maybe $20 from Amazon. Wear a glove on the hand you hold the gun in, as sometimes the lump will spark a bit. Touch the metal end of the heat gun to the lump and hold there for maybe 30-45 seconds (60 at most) and you should start to see smoke and the lump will glow. Move it back a few inches and let the hot air continue to stoke that part of the lump. If I am doing a low and slow- -that's all I do (and then it does take a while to come up to temp, but I'm also letting it heat a big ceramic deflector). But if I am doing something more hot and fast, I'll light another small area on the other side of the firebox with the same method. I'm usually ready to throw meat on within 15 minutes.

The other night- I new a thunderstorm was bearing down on me- and I was cooking steaks- -so I lit 3 places and then kept running the hot air over each one. I was searing/cooking in no time flat. [still got drenched and almost struck by lighting- but the ribeyes were some of the best I've done :-D]

Congrats on your new toy. I just missed the road show in mobile Alabama.i hope a big joe is my next cooker.when I saw a big joe in person I was amazed at the size. Pics do not do it justice.

mcdeadstein said:

Pick up a cheap 2 setting heat gun, I have a harbor freight special but if you want something slightly better i think Wagner makes one. Works better than a torch or the starters plus no fuel to worry about as long as you don't plugging a cord in.

The combination of the heat plus the forced air fires up the kamado faster than anything else i've seen.

Click to expand...

I use the the Wagner heat gun on mine, but my is next to the house and plugin.

mcdeadstein said:

Pick up a cheap 2 setting heat gun, I have a harbor freight special but if you want something slightly better i think Wagner makes one. Works better than a torch or the starters plus no fuel to worry about as long as you don't plugging a cord in.

The combination of the heat plus the forced air fires up the kamado faster than anything else i've seen.

Click to expand...

This is what I use. Be mindful of sparks. I use a mesquite lump local here in Phoenix and it will get the sparks flying once it starts burning.