They say necessity is the mother of all invention and that is just the case with Grill Charms. Leslie Haywood is the Founder and President of Charmed Life Products, LLC, and she invented Grill Charms after a bad experience with some spicy Jamaican Jerk Chicken. As you might imagine, her husband mixed up which pieces of chicken were marinated in which sauce and Leslie got a spicy piece when she was expecting a mild one. That led her to develop grill charms so the mistake was not repeated. Her invention was so well received it even landed her a spot on CNBC’s “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch”. Take a look.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWRl7xQXdpQ
When I first saw Grill Charms I thought they would be perfect not only for tailgating but for use at home as well. My Mother-in-Law likes her steaks well done. Yes, it kills me every time I have to essentially burn and ruin a steak for her but that is the way she likes it. My wife likes her steak medium. I personally like mine on the medium rare to rare side. (Depending on my mood I like my steak so rare that a good vet can have it up on it’s feet in about 30 minutes.) So now with Grill Charms, my wife, my mother-in-law and I can essentially pick out which steak we want before they hit the grill and there is no confusion as to which one goes on first and which one will get just a few grill marks.
As I mentioned earlier, Grill Charms come in four different varieties; The Steak Collection, The Spicy Collection, The Charmed Life Collection and The Pink Collection. Here is a brief synopsis of what each Grill Charm Collection is all about:
The Spicy Collection – Grillers can offer mild, medium and spicy sauces and rubs without any confusion anymore. These three versions of Grill Charms offer a pepper with an X through it to indicate mild sauces, a regular pepper for regular and a pepper with fire under it to indicate spicy. No longer will you get dirty looks from someone that got a mouthful of spicy when they were expecting mild. Another great benefit to using the spicy collection, an unsuspecting tailgater that accidentally gets a spicy piece of meat won’t drink your entire beer cooler trying to put the fire out. That’s worth the price of buying an entire set right there.
The Charmed Life Collection – This collection has images of things like sailboats, martini glasses, four-leafed clovers, etc. Things that indicate someone is living a charmed life. These charms work great for people who have specific dietary needs like a low sodium or low carb diet. This way there is no confusion when the food comes off the grill and you won’t have to rush your pal with the peanut allergy to the hospital and miss the game. Just make sure those people with food allergies or taste preferences remember which charm they chose before they start drinking. It’s kind of like trying to remember if you were the race car or the shoe in Monopoly after a few Jagermeister shots.
The Steak Collection – While still uncooked, simply place the Grill Charms into steaks or burgers with the desired doneness charm. The Steak Collection uses letters such as R to indicate Rare, MR = Medium Rare, M for Medium and MW =Medium Well. (No Grill Charm with WD for Well Done but then again, if you have a person that likes it that way, they’ll probably be able to know which one is theirs by comparing it to one of the charcoal briquettes.) With the Steak Collection Grill Charms there is no more cutting into the steaks to find the one you want. You simply look for your Grill Charm and start eating.
The Pink Collection – The Pink Collection has charms similar to the Charmed Life Collection in that the symbols are those of a chef’s hat, ladies shoe, a swan, etc. The thing that sets these apart is that 10% of the proceeds from The Pink Collection will go to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation to help fund breast cancer research and find a cure. Leslie Haywood’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and she herself is a breast cancer survivor. You can rest assured that this is not just lip service to make you feel good that the company is donating to a worthy cause just to get you to buy their product. Leslie has two young daughters herself so you know she is desperately looking for a way to cure this disease so that her daughters do not have to face it in the future.
The introduction to this product could not have been more perfectly timed. The obvious uses for tailgating is quite apparent but Grill Charms would make a perfect gift for any tailgater or outdoor/indoor griller. Father’s Day is right around the corner and Grill Charms would be that unique gift idea for the dad that is sick of getting a neck tie every year. Graduation gift ideas are always a struggle and Grill Charms would make a great gift for that college grad that will be taking their tailgating to the next level now that they are officially an alumnus. Lastly, Grill Charms would be that unique groomsmen gift idea you are searching for. Grill Charms beat the hell out of the boring old engraved flask or monogrammed cuff links. (I’ve been in a number of weddings and I would have much preferred to receive a set of Grill Charms than the six or seven pewter flasks I have collecting dust in my liquor cabinet.)
Each box of Grill Charms, no matter the type of collection your prefer, is $19.95 for a set of six. Individual charms sell for $4 a piece. You can purchase them on the web at the GrillCharms.com.