Greetings from the meat man

I believe I have been invited to join this blog for two reasons.

1) I am a certified barbecue judge with the Kansas City Barbecue Society and a card carrying member of the Atlanta BBQ Club. I am also a grilling fiend, so I know a little bit about cooking as long as it involves fire. (You may remember my grilled dessert story from last year. )

2) I am going vegan for a week for a story and Laura wants you to enjoy my misery.

Anyway that starts on Sunday, so I'll be sure to keep you updated on how that goes. I'll be going through my closet tonight making sure I have shoes (no leather) and clothes (no wool, no silk) that I can wear next week.

My reason for this post however is my new pigtail food flippers that I got for Christmas. The box claims to replace spatulas and tongs and nearly every other grill tool. The Web site says:

The sharp, spiral snare at the end of Pigtail’s tapered, stainless steel shaft is cleverly designed to lightly pierce the edge of virtually any solid food. A quick flip of the wrist and the food is turned over. Pigtail can handle almost anything from an 8 lb.rack of ribs, to hot dogs, steaks, chicken, bacon, French toast, shrimp, vegetables, you name it! The 19 inch Pigtail is great for outdoor cooking, but it is equally at home in the kitchen oven or broiler.

Everything I have ever read about grilling says that poking holes in the meat is not a good thing. Is there something different about "lightly piercing" the meat? I'll let you know how it turns out on some pork chops this weekend (my last supper before being vegan). In the meantime what are the rules about piercing the meat? Is there a difference between hooking the meat and poking all the way through?
-aj