The 5 best crème brûlée torches

A crème brûlée torch isn't a separate device. It's a gas torch with a jet flame, exactly the same thing we call a lighter, and you'll find them in our crème brûlée torches collection.

If you search for a torch and see lighters everywhere, you might think you're searching wrong. You're not.

The best crème brûlée torch for most people is the Champ High Quattro at 14,95 euro. It has four jet flames side by side, making the flame wide enough to caramelise a ramekin in one go instead of ten little passes.

The lock button also keeps the flame burning without holding it down, and you'll notice that after four desserts in a row. All five are in stock with us. The heavier Champ Extreme weighs 333 grams, and you'll feel that after four ramekins in a row.

Sugar caramelises at around 160 degrees, and it has to happen fast. Linger too long in the same spot and the custard underneath warms up with it, and you lose exactly what it's all about: a crackling layer on a cold cream.

A torch that's up to the job does three things well. It gives a jet flame instead of an ordinary yellow flame, because a jet flame burns under pressure at around 1300 degrees while a yellow flame gets stuck around 800.

It has a flame that's wide enough, so you don't have to work in patches with one edge already brown before the other has started. And you have to be able to keep it burning longer than a few seconds without your thumb giving up.

On those three points, the five torches below are in order.

Making the odd dessert for the family? Then the Champ High Quattro is more than enough. Wide enough, hands-free, and not expensive.

Regularly torching for eight people? Get the Champ Extreme. It's heavier, but it doesn't heat up in your hand when you keep going.

Little space in the kitchen drawer? The Atomic Quattro is the smallest model with four flames and has an adjustable flame height.

Does the torch just sit out on the counter? Then the child lock on the Champ Tatin is worth it.

Looking for something that works, as cheap as possible? The PyroTorch Quattro costs 9,95 euro and has the same four flames as the number one pick.

Flame width

This is the difference between a minute's work and five minutes of fiddling. One narrow jet flame caramelises a circle of an inch or two; four flames side by side cover a good part of the dish in one pass. For one dessert it barely matters, for six it does.

Table torch or hand torch

A table torch stands upright on a base: you put it down, pick it up, burn and set it back. A hand torch has a grip and sits in your hand like a pistol.

Both work fine for crème brûlée, but a table torch is handier if you're working through several dishes, since you can just set it down in between. All five above are table torches. Looking for a model with a grip instead? Check out our hand torches.

Continuous burn without your thumb

A dish easily takes twenty to forty seconds of continuous flame. On a torch with a lock button or on/off slide, you lock the flame and just hold the torch. Without that button you're stuck squeezing, and that gets annoying by the third dish.

Gas or electric

There are electric crème brûlée torches with a glowing plate you press onto the sugar. These melt the sugar rather than caramelise it, and you won't get an even layer. A gas torch with a jet flame does the job better, faster and for less money.

Refillable or disposable

All five torches above are refillable with butane gas. A 400 ml bottle refills a torch dozens of times and takes ten seconds. Disposable torches seem cheaper until you buy your third one, and it's no coincidence you won't find any disposables in our refillable lighters.

Whether you'll use it for anything else too

Most people don't buy these torches just for desserts. The same jet flame lights a barbecue, a fire pit or a wood stove, and a long stick lighter like the PyroPen Turbo works fine on sugar too, just slower because the flame is narrow.

Mainly lighting a fireplace? Have a look at our top 5 best fireplace lighters.

For the vast majority of people, the Champ High Quattro is the best crème brûlée torch of 2026. Four flames, a lock button and 14.95 euros is a combination the rest of the list can't get around. If you torch more often and more, the heavier Champ Extreme is worth the extra money.

Still in doubt? Then take your time going through the whole list. They all do the same job, they just don't all do it equally fast.