Let's talk turkey. Or chicken.

It's no easy job to tie your bird's wings and legs to keep them close to the body while cooking.

But two Stark County inventors have come up with a simple solution in the quest for perfect poultry.

The Turbo Trusser is the brainchild of Brian Halasinski and Kirk Hyust. 

The stainless steel contraption eliminates the need for cooking twine and master chef skills in order to prep your bird.

"It's difficult to truss a chicken or a turkey and have it come out looking nice and not drying out," said Halasinski, a 1996 Perry High graduate. "How can we solve this problem? Our product is designed to be used with everything from the oven to a rotisserie."

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Cooks truss poultry to allow it to cook more evenly, retain juices and for presentation. 

"Just the holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter - 80 million turkeys are eaten in the U.S.," the 44-year-old Halasinski said. 

To use the Turbo Trusser, two wire hooks are placed in the stainless steel trusser and then attach to the legs and wings. The legs are then placed into the specially designed slots on the trusser. 

"That's it. Just hook and cook," he said.

The Turbo Trusser for turkeys is slightly larger than the chicken version. The product retails for $14.99.

It can be used with ovens, smokers, roasters, grills, rotisseries and deep fryers and is dishwasher safe.

The product was designed and manufactured in Northeast Ohio. Cleveland Metal Stamping stamps the shape and the wire is made by Wire Products of Cleveland. The packing is produced by Wadsworth Rohrer Corp.

"Being in the Ohio Rust Belt, it once was a manufacturing mecca," Halasinski said. "A lot of these companies are still here. Why not use these companies?" 

Halasinski and Hyust, with the help of Halasinski's wife, Bre, use a sealing machine to package the product and fulfill orders from their Plain Township warehouse.

The Turbo Trusser is available locally at Hartville Hardware & Lumber, Custom Fireplace Shop in Jackson Township, Ace stores in Kent and Akron, Mister Brisket in Cleveland Heights and other stores across the United States. It also can be ordered from turbotrusser.com.

They have shipped the product to customers in Germany, Italy, Chile, Australia, Canada, England and Scotland. 

Cindy Kandel, a divisional merchandise manager at Hartville Hardware, said they were excited to get on board. The hardware store likes to promote local products and carries local coffee and clothing brands, she said.

"We still see ourselves as a small town store even through we are not small," Kandel said. "We always want to give people that are trying to start a business and make them successful a chance."

They look for products that resonate with customers.

She said Trubo Trusser is catching the eye of some big-name grillers and Hartville Hardware wants to be part of the product's success.

"It's a lot of fun to say we've had them since the beginning. We want to give everyone that has a connection to us here and local a shot."

The pair, who became fast friends while Hyust renovated Halasinski's Jackson Township home about seven years ago, are no strangers to the invention world.

Hyust, a 1989 graduate of GlenOak, has seven patents on a wrench he invented and two patents on barbecue products. The patent is pending on the Turbo Trusser, he said.

In 2018, the friends came up with a stackable barbecue pan to make it easier to cook multiple dishes in a smoker simultaneously. Production of the Smoke Staxx Pans has ceased as they were unable to find someone to license and the project, Halasinski said. They raised $17,000 from a Kickstarter campaign to get it off the ground.

The pair had hoped to give the product to the investor to produce and sell while they earned a royalty, but they came up short and moved on. 

They also had several other ideas that never made it off the drawing board.

They decided to go it alone on the Turbo Trusser, said Hyust, a former contractor and now invention coach with Nevada-based Invent Right. 

"This is venturing," the 51-year-old said. "We are making, marketing and selling the product."

The Turbo Trusser launched on Nov. 1 surpassed $65,000 in sales in the first 90 days, Halasinski said. 

"We are moving fast and growing as quickly as possible," he said. "We just picked up a distributor in Canada that represents a lot of different barbecue products."

"It's pretty simple. We wanted to invest in a simple product that solves a problem."

Reach Amy at 330-775-1135 or amy.knapp@indeonline.com.