I saw something today that will BLOW YOUR MIND!


 
Jon Tofte said:
It never stopped PK from selling grills with no built-in ash collection method. Two vents that open to the bottom. The "New PK" does include an aluminum bottom shelf that at least keeps the ashes off the ground. Many users put a large foil pan there to catch the ash. I have a very old PK that has no such provision.
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The main reason that I never bought a PK.
 
EricV. said:
That's a valid point, who knows if they will release this model, perhaps as a modified version of this replica. I would actually prefer an ash catcher & some way to hang the lid, I could always as add my own thermometer.
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I'd still like it to be original though, and add my own pan or whatever underneath. Never happen though, not in this sue-happy world.
 
C Lewis said:
The main reason that I never bought a PK.
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Definitely a design shortcoming, but they are still really nice grills that last forever. My restored one is at least 50 years old. With virtually everything made of aluminum (even the hinges are cast into the design of the top and bottom), these things are impervious to the rust monster that bedevils old Weber kettles.

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They were based on buoy design, that was a fairly normal “top” shape, it was the improved higher done lid that was the stroke of genius! The original is kind of cool but, no. I will continue to enjoy the last time anything was “New and Improved” which was actually true.
 
I agree, Timothy. But, I admit having one - even black - that LOOKS a little like the original would be a cool conversation piece to have in my office :smilekettle: !
 
C Lewis said:
The main reason that I never bought a PK.
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The PK360 has a plug you can remove. Makes it easy to clean out the ash. Just hang a bucket underneath, sweep the ashes in the hole. If it didn't have the plug/hole, it would be a pretty big pain....guess using a shop-vac would be the way to go.

The Weber one-touch blades do make it easy, but those are just another part that you'll have to replace every few years if you use the grill regularly.
 
I don’t understand how people need to replace ash sweeps “every few years” my grills see pretty heavy action and I’ve only replaced the ones in the overperformer once in 20 years, I just don’t get it.
I guess it must be the protective layer of chicken and pork fat!🤣
 
I caught the Harry Soo video (love his channel) and thought the 'replica' looked cool. Super cool that he gave Chris and his site a shout out.

In my opinion - that stand could be modified slightly and paired with the jumbo joe to create a really neat portable option. That would probably motivate me to open my wallet a bit and displace my smokey joe.
 
Chris Allingham said:
So...yes, this is what I saw that blew my mind. I received a text message from Harry Soo on Saturday morning, August 21, which is unusual because I don't get a lot of texts from Harry. It shows these two photos and says, "I'm open(ing) a box that Weber sent me"

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So I call Harry and we discuss what this is and theorize about why he received it...basically, during his numerous visits to Weber teaching classes and participating in influencer sessions, he's been telling the execs that they need to bring back the old buoy kettle. Harry figures that his constant badgering finally paid off and that perhaps this replica kettle is a thank you for his contributions to Weber. We both recognized this to be similar to or the same as the replica kettles seen at The Weber Grill restaurants, and the fact that it came in professionally designed packaging, not hand-packed as a one-off item, implied that this was not a one-of-a-kind object but rather something Weber had manufactured in quantity. The only question was...was this something new coming to market that regular folks would be able to buy, perhaps a limited edition item like the Glen Blue and Red kettles of recent years.

Mind you, at this point in August, we had not heard of the 70th anniversary kettles, so we weren't think of this as part of that collection of kettles.

We discussed the idea that it would be fitting for Harry to cook some of the old recipes from the early Weber kettle brochures, so I sent him PDFs of the brochures I have posted here on the forum. Again, at this point, we did not know (as pointed out in Harry's video) that this kettle is not intended for actual cooking. Only time will tell if Harry actually cooks on this thing.

So, I was really jacked after talking about this with Harry and I knew he was going to make a video on it. I was excited to think that maybe it was something coming to market in 2022, even as a limited edition. And my enthusiasm caused me to make the FATAL MISTAKE of posting this thread! I assumed Harry would reveal this kettle within a few days, but it took him 48 days! I'm sorry for the grief that caused some of you, it wasn't my intention to tease the situation for such a long time. Finally, I broke down and contacted Harry and told him about the mess I'd created, and he came back with the quote I posted on September 26.

Now, jump forward to September 28. I'm corresponding with Tom Fuller at Weber about taking down those 70th anniversary kettle images and I asked him about this replica kettle. He replies, "Let’s just call this a special request from a friend of Weber. These are replicas of George’s original kettle, but are not planned to be sold to the public anytime soon."

And now today, October 8, we finally get Harry's reveal video.


In conclusion, all I can say is I've learned this lesson: I will never again tease something like this where I don't personally have control over the timing of releasing the information. I know a lot of your replies were good natured, but still I could tell there was some underlying frustration and I don't want anyone feeling that. Sorry, it won't happen again!
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That's a tiny dog and it looks huge on the kettle. My guess it that's maybe 18'?
 
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