Win a Really Nice Grill Cover from Empire Patio Covers - Ends 4-8-2012

Enter to Win a Free Grill Cover From Empire - Easter Drawing

It's that time of year - time to fire up the grill. That's the fun part. The "not so fun" part may be the clean up if you just let your grill sit out after the temperatures went down last season.

I keep my grills under cover which can be challenging, since I have around 30 grills. In some cases, that means they are under the porch or in the garage but not fully covered and protected. I can tell the difference as you can see with this nice Charbroil four burner grill with double side work areas.

How Did My Grill Get This Messy in the Garage?

You can see my grill looks pretty good, but it did get a lot of pollen and general outdoor grime over the winter even though it was in the garage.

If you can't see what I'm talking about, then here is what North Carolina pollen looks like in the spring even if you keep your grill basically inside.

Dirt Happens. Dirty Grills are a Reality.

I'm looking at a pretty easy clean up here, since I did store the grill over the winter. But, you know all that pollen and gunk can't be good for a grill.

Then, consider that many grills sit out in the weather all year and take a lot more abuse than mine. I was tempted to slip over to a neighbor's house for a shot of an uncovered grill and how that looks, but that would be rude and very un-Southern (not to mention I might get shot).

So, take my word for it, a covered grill fares much better. I have covers for about 1/3 of my grills. The covers take the brunt of the mess, and those covered grills are easier to fire up, have less rust problems, and they last longer.

OK. So We Know a Grill Cover is a Great Idea.

When you invest in a barbecue grill, it's a wonderful idea to buy a cover. But, we know how things go. A lot of great ideas do not get the follow up.

But . . . you're in luck (if you win).

Empire Patio Covers is offering two winners free grill covers. They sent me one to check out to see if I wanted to host a contest. I only host contests that I think offer real value to readers. I was impressed with my Empire Grill cover out of the package and then even more so when I put it on my dirty (but now clean) gas grill.

Jimmy Helped Me Get the Grill Cover Out and Cover Up MyBBQ  Grill Investment

Excuse my wrinkles here. You are seeing my grill cover just out of the package, so it's not had time to shake out. I wasn't so sure about ironing it, and I really doubt most buyers would. Well, my Mom might . . .

I can tell you that this is a good quality outdoor grill cover. I've looked at a lot of them (and own several). This one is sized well for standard gas grills with various sizes. They also have straps under with easy-to-use but solid clips. That's not a critical element here usually, but I saw issues with a grill cover at a house we rented at the beach last summer. The house owner had to buy bungie ropes to keep the cover in place. That grill cover was skimpy (unlike the Empire grill cover which covers this entire very large gas grill). And, the Empire is a heavier material as well. So, we're really talking apples and oranges. This grill cover is the real deal, and you don't have to buy bungies.

So . . . How Do You Win a Grill Cover?

I keep my contests low tech and simple. I hate to jump through hoops and have to sign up for all kinds of stuff to enter, so I don't ask you to do that.

First, check out the grill covers at Empire. You'll see that they are sized for gas grills (the most popular selling). Then, check out the colors (right on the page link).

In my comments here, tell me which grill cover you'd like and why you need or want a grill cover.

Be sure to leave some way for me to get in touch. I don't grab your contacts (in case you wondered). But, I do need some way to let you know you won.

Grill Cover Winners

I'm inviting family over for Easter, so I'll have one of the kids draw the two winning names. I make slips and put them in a bucket (the names - not the family kids). Then, I ask for someone neutral to draw.

The deadline is midnight EST April 7, 2012 for the free grill covers, and the drawing will be on Easter April 8, 2012.

I'll contact the winners after we wrap up our Easter fun here and allow three days to get back in touch.

Empire takes care of the prizes and getting those out to the winners.

Extra Entries?

I know a lot of contests include extra entries, and people like to up the odds. I want readers to add entries only if they want to and they add value. We can see why I am not in sales (-:

With that in mind, here are some extra entry options:

1. Invite a friend to enter and have them mention your name in the comments, so I'll know to add another slip for you. They can just put BLANK sent me.

2. Tweet this free gas grill cover contest and tag it #cyndiallison. That's my Twitter name, so I can look up those entries.

3. Link this contest on Facebook and add a note in my comments here at Barbecue Master to let me know you did that.

4. Google plus the contest and again let me know here in my comments.

That's a total of five ways to enter, and you don't get stalked or get junk email or contacts. On the other hand, you might win a really nice grill cover, and when I do contests, I often find new grill friends which is always a good thing.

Happy barbecue grilling. Good luck to all. Wish everyone could win. It's definately worth a shot. These are very nice grill covers.