HEADLINE: “FlameDisk is lighting a fire in market for tailgating gear”
By Serena Gilbert
MIDDLETON – Football season also means tailgating time. For many tailgaters, however, the prep and clean-up time cuts into their pre- and post-game fun. The Wisconsin makers of “FlameDisk” have made tailgating easier with a solidified ethanol pan that can be used in place of charcoal for grilling.
No more charcoal to haul. No more waiting for the coals to heat up before and cool down after. No more soot and ash. That’s the appeal of FlameDisk, which was developed by Middleton-based Solegear LLC.
About the size of a paper plate, FlameDisk users simply peel back the lid, light it through one of the outside holes, and they get a fire for at least 40 minutes – long enough to grill their tailgating favorites. Once the grilling is done, FlameDisk cools down quickly so tailgaters may quickly transition from parking lot to stadium seating.
FlameDisk also produces 90 percent fewer pollutants than charcoal, is recyclable and is made from a renewable resource. And it’s all in one tin that takes up no more room than a stack of plates. And you don’t even need to remember matches; there’s one packed inside.
"We struggled initially developing a disposable grill that would meet our simultaneous performance and cost targets,” said Chad Sorenson, president of Sologear. “At a projected $10 retail each, we didn't feel the concept was going to have mass appeal. There was a simultaneous trend towards more conservation and 'greener' products that influenced our decision to simplify the initial product concept,” Sorenson said. “That’s when we decided to have customers use their own grills and replace the charcoal with our unique fuel source instead."
FlameDisk is sold across Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and parts of Florida and the southeast United States. By spring 2010, FlameDisk hopes to be available at supermarkets, hardware stores and sporting good stores nationwide. At around $5 per FlameDisk, it is comparable in price to charcoal.
Afraid you’ll miss that smoky charcoal taste? Blind taste tests confirmed the taste of food cooked with FlameDisk is identical to food cooked over charcoal. And as the juices drip down onto the FlameDisk, the SmokerPlate catches the juices and burn-off to deliver that mouth-watering grilled taste.
FlameDisk works with any charcoal grill you have but unlike charcoal, FlameDisk heats evenly. There are no hot spots or cool spots as you would get with charcoal. This also means you can cook anything from burgers and brats to kebabs and corn on the cob evenly and efficiently.
FlameDisk heats up instantaneously which means you can get cooking faster and eating faster. And because FlameDisk doesn’t take hours to cool down like charcoal, you can be grilling and eating right up until kick off.
Sologear LLC was recently awarded Qualified New Business Venture certification from the state of Wisconsin. This designation allowed investors in Sologear to be eligible for 25 percent state investment tax credits.
Sologear has completed three rounds of investments totaling $4.6 million to date. It is raising an additional $5 million to fund new product development and upfront marketing investments over the next two years.
Sologear’s next project will be a portable grill. It is a triangular shape with 89 square inches of grilling space. There is also a lever on the side to raise or lower the FlameDisk to increase or decrease the direct flame. The bottom legs can be flipped up to save space while traveling. Sologear hopes to have the grill on the market by spring of 2010 with an estimated retail price of $20 to $25. This is designed for people looking to buy their first grill or for people looking for a smaller, more portable grill made specifically to be used with the FlameDisk.
Gilbert is a student in the UW-Madison Department of Life Sciences Communication.
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