I'm back to grilling with Charcoal because of FiAir

[FiAirChief]

I gave up grilling with charcoal over 30 years ago because it took so long to get to cooking heat.
I recently got rid of my propane grill and bought a new Weber OneTouch Gold 26.75" grill.
I made the switch because I finally found a way to get charcoal up to cooking heat FASTER.
Actually, I didn't FIND a way. It didn't exist.
So I CREATED a tool for the job.
I call it FiAir.
FiAir is a handheld battery powered blower created specifically for stoking charcoal or wood fires.
My tests with FiAir have proven that charcoal can be brought to cooking temperature in easily HALF THE TIME of usual methods.
I am preparing to bring FiAir to market and want to share what I've learned in the process.
I joined this community to learn and share.
Happy to be here and actually add something new to the discussion!

I really believe FiAir will change the debate between Charcoal vs Gas for grilling. Anyone who switched from Charcoal to Gas (or is considering it) because of the time it takes to get to cooking temperature -- you may want to reconsider. If you want to see what i mean, please go to youtube.com and do a search for FiAir. Prepare to be amazed!

FiAirChief

 

[Captain Morgan]

someone check it out and let me know. If it's cool, I'll let it stay.

 

[Puff1]

Checked.......ditch it. If the guy can't post the link himself?

 

[bigwheel]

Sounds like a guru which lacks a brain. Sorta like an battery powered fan. They had them at Wally World this summer. Now I did not go to the link. I am way too busy to be chasing rabbit trails.

 

[1MoreFord]

youtube doesn't return any hits.

 

[Nick Prochilo]

We have another product that will get your fire up to speed real fast also..........................a chimney!

 

[Puff1]

We have another product that will get your fire up to speed real fast also..........................a chimney!

Hey Cap...ditch this one too.

 

[Nick Prochilo]

We have another product that will get your fire up to speed real fast also..........................a chimney!

Hey Cap...ditch this one too.

Powder Puff speaks again!

 

[FiAirChief]

I see you're skeptical.
That's perfectly understandable. I didn't expect you to be an easy crowd. Especially to a newbie with wild claims.
But that's fine with me because I was looking for an ACTIVE community to share with.

I thought about FiAir for 12 years, searching to solve the problem for my wood fireplaces.
All a fire needs is AIR. It should be easy. But there was nothing reasonable out there. I thought about it so much - I finally decided to do it myself.
I hired an excellent industrial designer with other consumer products on the market to help me design and build a prototype.
We actually went through 3 prototypes refining until it was right.
I knew we had it with prototype 2 when I tested it on the first charcoal fires I'd built in decades.
And the taste!
I loved it and so did my wife (one of the big reasons we switched to gas in the first place).
So when I saw how well it worked in those first few tests, I knew I had something that really works.
Now I'm waiting for production quotes. I'm hoping to be able to make them here in the USA, but everyone says that's practically impossible these days.
I'll have to wait and see on that.

Anyway, I didn't want you to have to work so hard to check out FiAir.
I'm sorry you couldn't find it on youtube. I should have just given you the links.

Here they are:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9MKe84IhmM>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etOo1OQJNcg&feature=related>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vYRGrGijNY&feature=related>

Please know that I joined this group with serious intentions.
I'm trying to get honest reactions to something I've spent years and about $25,000 getting to this point.
I've tested it and it works.
But will anyone else be interested in buying it for about $20-25?
Please look at the videos and decide for yourselves.
If you have questions, I want to hear them.
Your opinions really matter to me.

Thanks -

FiAir Chief

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Well in the words of Bigwheel, I'd gladly try a free version of one, just for experimentation, to report back to the masses here. I'll even waive my usual consultation fee just to benefit the BBQ Central community!

 

[bbquzz]

Well in the words of Bigwheel, I'd gladly try a free version of one, just for experimentation, to report back to the masses here. I'll even waive my usual consultation fee just to benefit the BBQ Central community!

Thanks Nick ... We don't say it often enough ... THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO FOR ALL OF US!

BTW I could do the same thing as the FiAir just putting my "Dustbuster" in reverse.

 

[john pen]

If a complimentary sample was sent to me, I also would be willing to try it and post a full review, however, my attorney will not allow me waive the usual consultation fees...

 

[ScottyDaQ]

You could probably market it to backyard grillers...but not here.
It's not an original product, there are numerous others like it and none have really caught on as a "miracle product" for the real BBQ community (people that really know what they are doing)

But, like I said... you could sell this to backyarders. Best of luck to you!

 

[Nick Prochilo]

One of the things that we are missing here is that he is losing some serious beer drinking time! While I'm waiting for chimney to get ready, I easily down 2 or sometimes 3 beers!

 

[LarryWolfe]

I use Matchlight and have no issues???

 

[swampsauce]

You could probably market it to backyard grillers...but not here.
It's not an original product, there are numerous others like it and none have really caught on as a "miracle product" for the real BBQ community (people that really know what they are doing)

But, like I said... you could sell this to backyarders. Best of luck to you!

Is that people who cook on a bbq instead of eating bbq?

 

[Puff1]

I use Matchlight and have no issues???

:supz:

 

[john pen]

I like to soak mine in a mixture of gas and diesel for two hours before lighting them. Much better flavor than using lighter fluid !

 

[Nick Prochilo]

I like to soak mine in a mixture of gas and diesel for two hours before lighting them. Much better flavor than using lighter fluid !

I'm assuming it's biodiesel?

 

[FiAirChief]

Thanks to all of you who made the effort to see the FiAir videos on youtube.
I hope more of you will at least take a look.
I appreciate ALL of your comments because you are the people who take BBQ and grilling seriously and are a big part of my target market.
Being such a NOOB, after I dug deeper into BBQ Central, I realized that most of you are into SLOW cooking.
I still thought you might want to get to the cooking part faster, but maybe not.
Thanks to ScottyDaQ for point that out.

When I was looking into ditching gas for a Weber Charcoal grill I learned about the big debate between charcoal and gas.
Most people preferred the taste of charcoal but were moving toward gas because charcoal took so long to hit cooking heat.
That seems like a lame reason to give up the taste of charcoal, but that's exactly what I did decades ago.
That's why I'm so excited about FiAir. It feeds the charcoal fire what it needs and the fire feeds me faster!
But I'm learning that not everyone wants to cook fast.
Maybe that's why Kingsford came out with their "Slow down and Grill" campaign -- to try to turn that negative into a positive.

Still don't YOU want to get to cooking a little faster when you grill instead of smoke?
Since both my wife and I worked really busy schedules all our lives, we didn't have time for slow cooking.
And when the kids were young -- grilling fast was a form of self defense!

We still grill steaks, burgers, hotdogs, pork sirloins, fish - backyard stuff - just like ScottyDaQ said.
And we still usually want to get to it fast.
So when I was finally able to test FiAir on a charcoal grill, I was really happy to see how well it worked.
It meant I could use FiAir in my wood fireplace AND make the switch to charcoal!

It's been too warm to make many tests in my fireplace, but this summer was great for grilling.
I did over a dozen tests - with more to come if the weather ever improves here in Pittsburgh - and ate great every time.
Since I timed all the tests, I know 2 things:
I was getting the coals up to 450°+ in as little as 7:30 and never more than 15 minutes.
In every test we were taking our food off the grill while most people were still waiting to cook.
For a lot of people, that's good news.
Oh - and did I mention FiAir is FUN! Some of you might like that too.

I'll be putting the FiAir website soon with a lot more information.

Anyway - thanks for your comments. Keep em coming.