Americans love to grill out at all times of the year.In fact, according to the 2010 Weber GrillWatch Survey, almost half (49 percent) of all 2010 study respondents cited they grill or smoke-cook year-round, including 37 percent at or below freezing temperatures. But, when it comes to cleaning the grill, there’s no love.
A local father and his son say they have a created a solution that takes the scrubbing out of cleaning the grill. The Grill Blaster doesn’t require brushing, though it does come with a steel brush “just to get rid of the ash.”
“The simplicity is the key,” said son Chris Kehler.
“We just know people hate cleaning the barbecue.”
It’s simple: Wrap the Grill Blaster’s adjustable metal frame in aluminum foil, place on the grill, close the lid, turn on high for 15 minutes. “And it’s done,” Chris said. “You can even store it in the grill.”
Dad Lee Kehler, who has lived in Lake Wylie for six years, originally designed the concept 30 years ago with a former work partner in a “very rudimentary sense.” Lee explained the Grill Blaster raises the temperature to 600 to 700 degrees, “like your self-cleaning oven.” It works through a process called sublimation – super-heating the gas around the grill’s surface. And, it’s eco-friendly, using no chemicals. “It stands the test of time, and it works,” Lee said.
Chris, who lives in the family’s native Canada with his wife and two children, said they eat about five meals a week off the grill. “It fits into our lifestyle,” he said. “I grill out at home all the time.” But the problem is clean-up and leftovers. “We get lots of mice and rats living close to the ocean that feed off leftovers in the grill,” he said of living in Vancouver. “There’s nothing more gross.” So two years ago, he went looking for a solution to grill cleaning other than the usual brush scrubbing. He thought about his father’s grill cleaning system and took it home. “I researched and found I couldn’t find another product like it,” Chris said. “I used it, and I liked it. “This thing carbonizes everything, so the next time you barbecue, you know nobody’s been visiting your barbecue,” he said, explaining cleaning can be done before or after using the grill.
Like his father, who can be credited with helping to design better packaging seals for such foods as potato chips and even Oreo’s new rip-top design, Chris knows good marketing. He owns two businesses – a music ripping company and a construction company, following a 12-year career with Best Buy in merchandising and store design. “It was nothing like what you see here,” Lee said of the work his son did on the Grill Blaster. “He took manufacturing and retail apart and brought it to where it is today.” After researching the market in North America for production and finally in China, Chris improved the Grill Blaster, making it bigger and constructing it of heavy gauge nickel and chrome plated steel, improving foil specifications. Then he added graphics and better packaging for marketing. In the spring, the duo hit their best sales price at $20. “It was going to be five times as much to produce a one million piece order,” Lee said of production in North America. According to testimonies online at GrillBlaster.com, Thomas Haughton III of Lake Wylie is a fan. “I purchased a Grill Blaster and it has worked great. The Grill Blaster works the way the directions say and removes the previous meat or fish particles from the grill grate. I would recommend this to anyone that has a grill.”
The Kehlers said next year, the Grill Blaster will be sold at London Drugs, a chain of Canadian retail stores with headquarters in Richmond, British Columbia. “The plan is really to get it into the Walmarts, Costcos and other home improvement stores in the world,” Lee said. “If I ever had a dream about this, it’d be to get it in the big box stores and sell one with every grill. That’s the ultimate.”
However, if the Grill Blaster doesn’t take off, “we’ll look for the next thing that makes sense,” said Lee, who co-owns thriving Remedics Restoration Carolinas based in Fort Mill with wife Dianne, and has ventured into other business ownerships in the past, including a bread bakery. “I got the bug from watching him,” said the 40-year-old Kehler of his father’s entrepreneur spirit. But the businesses and even the Grill Blaster are about more than money. “It’s a great thing for us to discuss,” Lee said. “I just always knew this was a good concept.”
Chris agrees and hopes it inspires his 6-year-old daughter, Emily, who is a “cheerleader” for the grill cleaner. “It’s nice to have a home-based, family-based business that can teach about business and hopefully, build something she can be involved in,” he said. It’s about family and their future. “I love putting my own money on the line. Then we know we’re spending as a family and we can control our destiny,” Lee said.
For more information about the Grill Blaster, call 866-496-2079, e-mail lkehler@grilblaster.com or visit grillblaster.com.
Lee Kehler, youngest son of Cornelius S & Frieda Kehler, resides in Lake Wylie, South Carolina.