Gas Ignition Lighter Thingy

Use the gas ignition lighter thingy to light the gas with. Of course.

ESSENTIAL USER NOTES

The gas ignition lighter thingy, generally known as the G.I.L.T., is a utensil found increasingly commonly in UK kitchen drawers but which typically finds itself limited in use to but one of its many functions - that of lighting the gas. This is very understandable, as the G.I.L.T. offers many advantages over the more traditional wooden match, not only by being larger and less fiddly, but also by being much more modern and in keeping with a wide range of other utensils, and by being available in a wide range of colours to suit the style of most modern kitchens.

As a thingy for lighting gas ignition, the gas ignition lighter thingy is very well designed, with a handle and switch at one end, and a small flame (when switched on) at the other. The extended distance between hand and flame, and the fact that the G.I.L.T. does not become shorter as the flame burns, is a major safety feature that confers a significant advantage over the traditional wooden match, especially when used by untrained kitchen staff. But where the G.I.L.T. really wins is in the multiple additional culinary functions that it has been designed to handle. These are broadly separated into three categories: external, internal, and extra-culinary functions.

External: as well as being perfect to safely ignite dishes served flambé, such as Christmas pudding, crèpes Suzette or traditional Mexican tequila sprouts, the G.I.L.T. is the ideal utensil for delivering a light, precise flame to many dishes. Often, in this regard, the G.I.L.T. is used as a substitute for other uitensils, for example, replacing a blow torch when making very small crème brulée, or as a substitute for a toaster when preparing toast-lite.

Internal: although it is typically the outside of food items that a recipe will specify requires heating, on occasions very specific dishes warrant heating of the insides first, with the outside left cold. This approach, known to chefs as the inverse baked Alaska technique, is particularly difficult with smaller dishes, but for these recipes the G.I.L.T. offers an answer. Its ability to be insterted into the centre of the dish, so as to lightly cook from the inside, enables chefs in top restaurants to perfectly prepare precision dishes such as pineapple inside-out cake and inverse profiteroles.

Extra-Culinary: as well as having many uses in the kitchen, the G.I.L.T. has a variety of uses elsewhere around the house. It's pretty much the only item, for example, that can be sensibly used when you need precision control of a small flame, especially indoors where similar utensils, such as blowtorches, oxy-acetylene welding apparatus, and military flame throwers can present a possible fire hazard. When the effect you are after is more singe than immolate, the G.I.L.T. is the perfect choice. It's not just for lighting candles. From D.I.Y. applications such as stripping small spots of paint, to cosmetic application in unwanted hair removal and first aid uses such as removing ticks and cauterising very small cuts, the G.I.L.T. never fails to impress.

Making toast-lite using the G.I.L.T.