Long time lurker, griller, and smoker here. I've grilled and smoked in restaurants as well as in the back yard. Used a lot of equipment.
I'm going to tell you a story.
A sad story of struggles, trials, and tribulations. You will laugh, you will cry. A story of eventual triumph against all odds, but at what cost?
read on!
I'm definitively not new to the Weber name. Have been cooking on one on and off for over a decade. In fact, my OTS is the first thing I can remember buying "for the house" when my wife and I moved into the home we are in back in '99. The Patio was uncovered and the OTS sat in the elements for years. We pulled some great food off that thing and I loved the simplicity of it all. Fire and meat...That's it.
ALL OF A SUDDEN in 2002....BAM!! kid!
As a result of having fewer hours in the day, we opted for a propane grill. Bought a Cadillac of a grill - it had everything. Side burner, places to put stuff, lots of area to cook on. It was quick, and the Weber was relegated to the corner. Still in the elements, but now under a patio cover, it sat. It sat through ice storms, wind, wide temp swings, 5 tornadoes or so and the remnants of a tropical Storm. I'd go out and pick it up out of the yard after particularly terrible weather. ALL OF A SUDDEN in 2006....BAM!! kid! Still cooking on the gas grill. It is beginning to show it's age, but working well. I've replaced a few things in it, The Burners, the starter isn't worth a damn so I use a wand lighter. It's starting to rust out even though I've kept the investment covered and under the patio cover. Weber still in the corner, covered in dust, webs. I assumed a large family of small mammals, or perhaps a chupacabra has taken residence in the kettle by this time.
...time passes....
A couple of years ago, we get a Mastiff. She decides to eat the gas grill. Yes...eat. She took to it, chewed on the gas line, and pulled various parts of it off to the point the integrity of the thing was no longer safe. Structural or otherwise. I took it apart, Set the tank aside for another project, but trash the grill. It went right to the dumpster and I pulled the Weber out. I opened it as you are taught to lift rocks away from you in the wilderness. (I was a boy scout after all) I expected a rabid badger to leap out and eat my face. The epic struggle would have been...well...epic. Nothing jumped out. I inspected it, There were a few cobwebs in there, but it was otherwise in pristine condition.
The original nickel plated grates are still good, The vents work, the finish cleaned up very well. In fact, the only thing that is wrong with the little Weber is the wheel keeps falling off. (There's likely some deep philosophical observation one can make with this due to the fact that I have a bum ankle but we'll skip that. ) I plan to upgrade some of the parts to some point, but right now, they are working well.
So the Weber and I are back in business. We're cooking again and were pulling great food off the Weber. we go prancing slow motion-like through fields of wildflowers in the spring. I've had my eye to on smokers, been looking at many of them from uprights and UDS to offsets. I drooled at the Okie Joe Series and almost pulled the trigger on one.ALL OF A SUDDEN in 2011....BAM!! kid! Initial outlay of cash would be heavy and there will be additional mods to get it to "work right." I remember the little Weber I have in my backyard. I try to smoke on it. (why didn't I think of this before?) and pull off some fantastic Q. Temp control was a breeze, Fuel consumption wasn't over the top...It's did a fine job of it.
Based solely on my experience with my OTS and the hundreds of stellar reviews the WSM gets I'm convinced that the WSM is the way to go. I've gone to saving my dollars for a 22.5 WSM and also I'm starting to run out of room on the 22.5 OTS, I might need the 26.75 as a result of the way those kids like to pop up.
I'm not buying anything other than a Weber. That much is clear.
I'm going to tell you a story.
A sad story of struggles, trials, and tribulations. You will laugh, you will cry. A story of eventual triumph against all odds, but at what cost?read on!
I'm definitively not new to the Weber name. Have been cooking on one on and off for over a decade. In fact, my OTS is the first thing I can remember buying "for the house" when my wife and I moved into the home we are in back in '99. The Patio was uncovered and the OTS sat in the elements for years. We pulled some great food off that thing and I loved the simplicity of it all. Fire and meat...That's it.
ALL OF A SUDDEN in 2002....BAM!! kid!
As a result of having fewer hours in the day, we opted for a propane grill. Bought a Cadillac of a grill - it had everything. Side burner, places to put stuff, lots of area to cook on. It was quick, and the Weber was relegated to the corner. Still in the elements, but now under a patio cover, it sat. It sat through ice storms, wind, wide temp swings, 5 tornadoes or so and the remnants of a tropical Storm. I'd go out and pick it up out of the yard after particularly terrible weather. ALL OF A SUDDEN in 2006....BAM!! kid!
Still cooking on the gas grill. It is beginning to show it's age, but working well. I've replaced a few things in it, The Burners, the starter isn't worth a damn so I use a wand lighter. It's starting to rust out even though I've kept the investment covered and under the patio cover. Weber still in the corner, covered in dust, webs. I assumed a large family of small mammals, or perhaps a chupacabra has taken residence in the kettle by this time....time passes....
A couple of years ago, we get a Mastiff. She decides to eat the gas grill. Yes...eat.
She took to it, chewed on the gas line, and pulled various parts of it off to the point the integrity of the thing was no longer safe. Structural or otherwise. I took it apart, Set the tank aside for another project, but trash the grill. It went right to the dumpster and I pulled the Weber out. I opened it as you are taught to lift rocks away from you in the wilderness. (I was a boy scout after all) I expected a rabid badger to leap out and eat my face. The epic struggle would have been...well...epic. Nothing jumped out. I inspected it, There were a few cobwebs in there, but it was otherwise in pristine condition. The original nickel plated grates are still good, The vents work, the finish cleaned up very well. In fact, the only thing that is wrong with the little Weber is the wheel keeps falling off. (There's likely some deep philosophical observation one can make with this due to the fact that I have a bum ankle but we'll skip that. )
I plan to upgrade some of the parts to some point, but right now, they are working well.So the Weber and I are back in business. We're cooking again and were pulling great food off the Weber. we go prancing slow motion-like through fields of wildflowers in the spring. I've had my eye to on smokers, been looking at many of them from uprights and UDS to offsets. I drooled at the Okie Joe Series and almost pulled the trigger on one.ALL OF A SUDDEN in 2011....BAM!! kid!
Initial outlay of cash would be heavy and there will be additional mods to get it to "work right." I remember the little Weber I have in my backyard. I try to smoke on it. (why didn't I think of this before?) and pull off some fantastic Q. Temp control was a breeze, Fuel consumption wasn't over the top...It's did a fine job of it. Based solely on my experience with my OTS and the hundreds of stellar reviews the WSM gets I'm convinced that the WSM is the way to go. I've gone to saving my dollars for a 22.5 WSM and also I'm starting to run out of room on the 22.5 OTS, I might need the 26.75 as a result of the way those kids like to pop up.
I'm not buying anything other than a Weber. That much is clear.
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