Do you want to whip up impressive creme brulee like the pros? If you need styling and want to professional performance, you need the best torch to achieve that perfect brown topping on your favorite dessert.
These torches are not only for creme brulee, they are great for creating other culinary masterpieces like gratins and meringues, and perfectly seared meat.
Food torches have been used in culinary arts not only for decorating purposes but also to quickly melt or heat something. This tool is too handy and too useful to be without in any kitchen. Whether you’re a professional or a hobbyist, you need to have a creme brulee torch within your reach.
#List of The Top Creme Brulee Torch – Our Editor’s Pick
How to Choose The Best Torch For Creme Brulee?
Great food torches have features that differentiate it from the rest. When you decide to buy one, you have to consider these features to make searing safe and convenient. Customer reviews are also a good thing to consider when buying a torch because these are mostly coming from people who have experienced using the product.
- The torch should be able to reach a minimum of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit in order to be effective. The flame should be fast and blue otherwise, it will ruin whatever you’re trying to decorate.
- It should have an ergonomic handle to prevent it from sliding from your hands and eventually dropping. Grips should preferably made of rubber to make it comfortable to hold and it should have a stand at the counter. It should also be operated hands-free.
- A gas adjustment lever should be present so you can adjust the size of the flame. Flame size is important if you want to attain pro level decorating. A burn time of 60 minutes is always preferable for a food torch.
- A safety lock should be present that meets the Child Safety Requirements. You know how it’s like when those small inquisitive minds with quick hands are present, do you?
- It should also have a fuel gauge to tell you the fuel level. You don’t want to run out of fuel in the middle of the searing process.
- It should have an anti-flare neck that focuses the flame and can burn at any angle. A bad anti-flare neck can cause the flame to be bushy and unfocused, making the torch unsuitable for precision decorating.
Top 5 Best Torch For Creme Brulee Reviews
After taking all the considerations above, here are some of the best five creme brulee torches in the market today. I spent a lot of time researching and using these products just to come up with a balanced and unbiased review.
1. Eurkitchen Culinary Torch – Refillable Culinary Kitchen Torch
If you buy the EurKitchen Culinary Torch, you immediately defy two taboos; playing with fire and playing with your food. It’s so safe to use, it’s hard to burn yourself with this torch. It has a burn-free finger guard and a lock that prevents accidental burns.
It also has a gas flow safety lock that prevents involuntary lighting when kids and pets are around. Nevertheless, keep it out of the reach of children.
If this torch fails to perform as expected, the maker is confident enough to give it a year of warranty and a money-back guarantee.
Whether you’re a hobby decorator of a professional chef, this torch will give you unparalleled flame consistency, you can rely on it for all your searing aesthetic needs.
- Safe and easy to use
- Consistent flame
- Highly reliable
- None that I can think of
2. BonJour® Professional Cooking Torch
If you’re looking for a sturdy food torch, the BonJour Chef’s Tools Professional Culinary is what you’re looking for. It has a large heavy metal body, you can be sure its stable and you will really notice it when it’s in your hands. It also has a removable stand ensuring stability when on the countertop.
Perfect for caramelizing sugars, browning meringues, melting cheese on gratins, searing and crisps meats and skinning tomatoes. It has a fuel indicator which will inform you when to refuel. You will not run out of fuel in the middle of the decorating process. It also comes with a colored recipe pamphlet.
- Tough and stable
- Has a fuel indicator
- Consistent flame
- Flame slider can get finicky
3. BonJour Chef’s Tools Professional Cooking Torch
For restaurant quality desserts at home, the BonJour Chef’s Tools Butane Culinary is the best contender. This handy food torch is made from dye cast aluminum indicating a stable and strong construction.
It has a fuel indicator lever that tells you when it’s time to refuel. This handy torch is ideal gift item to a chef or a hobbyist who has all the tools that he or she needs.
- Handy design
- Strong and sturdy
- Easy to use
- Igniter fails from time to
4. Iwatani Torch Compatible Butane and Food Torch
When it comes to creme brulee torch, the name Iwatani is a name you can trust. This from Iwantani a simple and portable, it comes only with a neck and a head with the butane canister serving as the tank and stand.
It has an adjustable gas flow control and air regulating knob for easy flame adjustment. For easy lighting, it comes with the reliable Piezo Trigger Ignition.
Despite its small form factor, this is a restaurant grade food torch that would give you consistent flame every time.
- Portable design
- Reliable typical of Iwatani products
- Reliable Piezo Trigger Ignition
- It doesn’t last that long
- Flame tends to be less focused
5. Sterno Culinary Torch, One Size, Black
Another portable food torch that made it to this review is the Sterno Professional Culinary Torch. Don’t let its small form factor fool you, it is a professional grade culinary torch capable of aesthetically caramelizing, browning, melting and whatnot.
Just like the Iwatani, this is also equipped with the Piezo Trigger ignition system that makes it easy to start up and shut off.
It’s difficult to accidentally ignite this torch because the safety lock protects against it. This is important particularly for those who have toddlers at home that might accidentally get their hands on this item.
Either upright or inverted, this torch will work without hiccups.
- Professional grade
- Anti flare design
- Safety lock protects accidental ignition
- Can be difficult to find a butane that fits
- Ignition can fail from time to time
Top 5 Best Torch Comparison Table
Product Title | Brand | Material | Color | Item Dimension | Review |
Eurkitchen Culinary Torch | EurKitchen | Aluminum | Black | 4.72 x 2.29 x 7.72 inches | |
BonJour® Professional Cooking Torch | BonJour | Aluminum | Black | 5.75 x 3.75 x 8.75 inches | |
BonJour Chef’s Tools Professional Cooking Torch | BonJour | Aluminum | Gray | 4.5 x 2.17 x 6.3 inches | |
Iwatani Torch Compatible Butane and Food Torch | Iwatani | Stainless Steel | Silver | 1 x 1 x 0.05 inches | |
terno Culinary Torch | Sterno | Plastic | Black | 22.06 x 9.25 x 5.93 inches |
How Does A Creme Brulee Torch Work?
Fueled with butane, creme brulee torches can reach up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. When the bluish flame touches the sugar crystals, it will immediately burn it into a delicious layer of caramel. This happens fast enough without waiting for your dessert to cool down.
Ironically, this torch works like your regular cigar lighter. It will consistently spew thin air propelled fire regardless of the angle that you’re holding it. With a food torch, there is better adjustment of the flame because you need it to be finer for precision decorating jobs.
Food torches are usually easy to light and have a metal fuel tank attached to its metal casing. This metal tank is refillable with butane and serves as a stand of the entire torch on a kitchen counter. There are designs that use the butane canister as the main body and stand. These are the portable types and we have a couple in this review.
Where to buy the fuel? Well, torches are usually sold empty and the fuel has to be purchased separately.
You can easily find butane canister at hardware stores, grocery stores, outdoor shops and kitchen specialty stores. You have to choose the butane canister to buy because there are those that are not compatible with your torch.
Some torches have recommended butane brands. It’s usually a good idea to take their recommendation because this means that the manufacturer has tested it to work well with their torch.
Creme brulee torch is a tool used to heat the top layer of different food items. It helps you to whip up an impressive dish like a professional. This is perfect for anyone who would like to achieve an ideal brownish topping on a dessert. The creme brulee torch creates a flame using butane or propane gas. The fire is essential for browning or melting the toppings for soup, casseroles, or creme brulee. This type of torch is also ideal for creating culinary masterpieces like seared meat, meringues, and gratins. Whether you are a hobbyist or a professional, you will need a creme brulee torch in your kitchen for perfect deserts.
How To Use A Creme Brulee Torch
For you to get the best torched creme brulee, you should remove the chilled creme from the refrigerator right before you get prepared to torch it. Secondly, you should sprinkle sugar granules evenly on top of the creme brulee until you cover it completely. For each ramekin, you should only sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar. When all that is done, you should push back the control lever and open the adjustment flame lever to its highest setting. Then take the torch’s safety off, press the ignition button, and lock the light with the on position. Once you have pressed the ignition button, the flame should ignite immediately.
The ignition button should be held downwards to prevent the flame from going off. You should keep the fire about 2 inches above from the sugar while moving it in circles, back and forth across the surface. As you heat the sugar, it turns bubble and brown. When heating, you should concentrate the flames around the edges first before burning the central point. When you are done with cooking, you can release the igniting button to put off the fire then adjust the flame until the flame length is ½ inch. Finally, release the ignition lever to turn off the flame and close the adjustment knob completely.
Can I Use A Propane Torch for Creme Brulee
The cooking torch is designed to either use butane or propane to produce an intense flame that you use to torch your creme brulee. The creme brulee using propane is more affordable, and it also burns hotter than the butane. Propane gas doesn’t produce nasty things when burnt. It is also impregnated with sulfur odorants so that you can easily smell any gas leakage. Its flame is usually hot enough to oxidize all the gases, and nothing gets in your delicious food. To ensure that your propane torch has a fully oxidized flame, you should see a dark blue, short, roaring, and hissing flame. If the fire is yellow, you should know that your cooking torch has a problem.
Again, you can easily find a propane torch at most hardware stores and are inexpensive, unlike most other cooking torches. The propane tank does not explode, implode, rupture or come apart unless you break them.
However, propane gas is heavier than air, and a leaking cylinder can cause the accumulation of low levels of gas. When using the propane torch, you should hold it 2cm away from the creme brulee and then heat it evenly to get a brown and perfect torched creme.
How To Refill Creme Brulee Torch
For you to enjoy an utterly decadent dessert, your light should have a scorching flame. This creme brulee torch can produce a long lasting and intensive flame, so the heat source will require regular refilling. The torch is designed, keeping in mind the fast-pace in professional kitchens. They are constructed for easy-and-quick refilling on the fly.
When refilling the torch, you should first turn off the flame and lock the igniting button to prevent triggering it. Then turn your torch upside down so that you can locate the refilling nozzle. The metallic nozzle features a tiny and cylindrical component that you should hold in straight alignment with the can and torch. Then, insert the propane aerosol into the metallic nozzle and then push it. The exerted pressure will start the fuel flow automatically into the torch. You can now remove the propane can when the fuel compartment has reached maximum capacity. However, you should wait for at least three minutes before igniting the torch.
How To Torch Creme Brulee
When torching your creme brulee, you should first chill it for a minimum of four hours or even through the night. Take them out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before caramelizing for it to settle at room temperature. If there is any moisture condensation, you can remove it using a paper towel before sprinkling the white granulated sugar. Ensure you cover the surface of the whole ramekins, and the sugar is evenly distributed.
If you are making several creme brulee, you can pour the excess sugar in the next custard. Once you have finished preparing the creme, it’s now time to torch it. But remember that torches work differently, so you should follow the instructions keenly while lighting the torch and adjusting the flame length to be medium-sized.
Hold your torch at a distance and burn the ramekins as you rotate the flame. Move the fire closer as you rotate, and the sugar will melt to form droplets on the surface. While heating, the sugar will start producing little wisps of puff smoke as the sugar starts turning caramel-colored. You can also smell the sweet aroma of cooked sugar.
If the sugar begins to smoke excessively, you can pull away from the torch. Once the sugar has formed a glaze glass-like caramelized sugar at the top, you put off the flame and refrigerate it for about 10 minutes before serving it.
Most of the creme brulee torches in the market are perfect for both small and professional kitchens. With the best cooking torch, you caramelize your toppings quite quickly and have your delicious creme brulee served in minutes. They are easy to use and are also designed for easy and quick refilling, especially for a busy kitchen.
However, it is too good to follow all the instructions on how to light up or put off the torch to prevent any leaking, which may cause fire accidents. These creme brulee torches are not only for browning creme brulee but also potato gratin, French onion soup, cheese, and macaroni.
List of The Best Creme Brulee Torch At A Grance:
- Eurkitchen Culinary Torch – Refillable Culinary Kitchen Torch
- BonJour® Professional Cooking Torch
- BonJour Chef’s Tools Professional Cooking Torch
- Iwatani Torch Compatible Butane and Food Torch
- Sterno Culinary Torch, One Size, Black
Also check: Best Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Final Thoughts
All these creme brulee torches are professional grade ones but the clear winner here is the EurKitchen Culinary Torch. I just did not experience any hiccup with this torch and the safety features are just superb. The 1-year warranty and money-back gurantee tell me that the manufacturer is confident with their product.
I would not hesitate to pick any of the other torches when the situation calls for it and I don’t have the EurKitchen, but I know the experience won’t be the same. In fact, I did have a few hiccups with the other torches which told me that they are not on the par with EurKitchen.
How about you? What is your success story with any of these creme brulee torches? Would you like to brag about it in the comment section?