Friday, August 13, 2010

Grill Charms by Leslie Haywood - Barbecue Master Getting Organized



I've known Leslie Haywood for a while now and have an interview with this neat inventor on my Yes You Can Grill site. She came up with the idea of grill charms which are similar to wine charms but go into your foods on the grill to keep track of special grill orders.

It's one thing to have an idea and get something made, and it's another story to be successful getting the word out, and Leslie has done a fabulous job in taking her invention from the drawing board to the porches of home grillers across the nation. So, I have to give a shout out and say, "You go grill charm girl!"



The grill charms come in various sets depending on what you track on your grill (or what you need to). You could, for example, get the steak set and mark the different levels of doneness.

When I won a set of Grill Charms at Oshawa Ogre's Views, News & BBQ's, I was stoked and surprised. Fred and I chat on Twitter. I saw his barbecue grill charms contest and I do some giveaways too, so I usually support other bloggers by entering. I think, probably like many others, that I'll never win. But, there have been several online contests where I have won a prize. So, I'd say, "Be sure to enter!" You never know, and it's fun to get something cool in the mail even if it is all natural toothpaste for children which I am still puzzling over. That showed up in the mail, and I have teens, but we tried it out anyway. Pretty good stuff but kind of random looking in my bathroom with no kids in the house.

The set of grill charms I selected were the spicy or not set. It includes 6 grill charms. There are two hot peppers, two peppers with flames, and two peppers with x over them (mild of course). Here I am the hot Momma, my older son likes his food spiced up but not over the top, and the younger one is mild all the way. So, this means I can mark the meats and not have to keep track of which heat level is where on the grill and then on the serving platter.



Tonight I grilled chicken, and I had a spiced up piece with Stubb's hot barbecue, one with medium, and then two for Eli with KC Masterpiece Bourbon barbecue sauce (mild but bold).

I just pressed the grill charms in. They are about the size of a dime and the back has a little squiggle bar that keeps them secure in the meat or whatever you're grilling.

Then, I put the chicken in the Traeger and worked on some syllabi for classes which start next week. I'd go check and turn the meat now and then but not often (Traeger pellet grills are low maintenance). And, I did not have to think about which one was which on the pellet grill, since they were labeled with the grill charms.



Our chicken turned out great, and there were no questions or mix ups about which ones were which heat level. I gloried in my spicy grilled chicken while Eli chowed down on his mild chicken breasts.

The grill charms cleaned up easy and look brand new even after time in a smoker. I just hand washed them in a little soapy water.

Grill charms would be great gifts for your friends who grill but also a nice treat to pick up for home. It really did make it super easy to keep track of the different sauces and heat levels. And, it's always nice to simplify when possible.

As an added bonus, these also look real neat and impress folks. My son thought they grill charms were great and sends a hug to Leslie (-: for making sure he does not accidentally end up with my spicy hot grilled chicken. We won't tell him that he sent hugs. You know how teen boys are - kind of shy (-:

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