Update: See here for our revisited review of the Fat Boy

Dissatisfied with the retail selection of “culinary” blowtorches, most of which need to be refilled using a butane cannister, and most of which range between $50 and $90, I went searching to find something more suitable. My good friend (not that he knows it), Thomas Keller, recommended that I purchase one from a hardware store.

Enter: The Fat Boy. I picked this supersized and superpowered blowtorch up from Bunnings.

The cost? Around $30AUD. The verdict? Awesome. The sugar on my porridge? Caramelised. The cheese on my omlette? Perfectly melted. The hot cross buns? Slightly burnt – perhaps I was getting a bit carried away 🙂

Refill cannisters are $20AUD, and best of all, all you need to do is unscrew the brass torch from the used cannister and screw it onto the new one. Nice.