New member from South Africa


 
W

WernerNel

New member
Hi guys I joined this forum to be able to see the images in high quality. I bought my first Weber (brand new) with my first paycheck in 2016. A regular One Touch.

I have since upgraded it with the deep ash catcher system as well as adding a probe grommet.

On marketplace I picked up a Smokey Joe and set about searching for a pot to make it into a smoker. Here in South Africa pots of the correct diameter are not easy to come by but eventually I found a fitting stainless steel pot on Marketplace.

Also here second hand Webers are not cheap or in good condition so the Joe needed some love. I replaced the cooking grate with a folding one from Amazon and replaced the rusted leg hardware with stainless steel. I also removed the rust from the legs and painted them silver.

My third Weber was also a marketplace find. A slightly beat up Go Anywhere. I used a piece of stainless washing machine drum to form a protecting panel in the base as it has some rust. I also cut a hole in the side and added a gas burner to make a hybrid charcoal or gas Go Anywhere.

I then had a griddle top lasercut out of 6mm (I think 1/4inch in imperial) mild steel for smash burgers or camping breakfast cooking.

My latest purchase is a 1998 Weber with the 3 bottoms vents. All 3 leg sockets have broken off. I am in the process of fixing it up with the hopes of gifting it to a friend of mine. Converted to USD it costed $14 to give you an idea of how overpriced even secondhand basically junk Webers are here in my country

I look forward to absorbing Weber information from this forum 😁
 

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Welcome from Kalona, Iowa, USA. Sounds like you are finding ways to keep rehabbing and upgrading second hand finds and giving new life to old units. Your projects look pretty good to me. Keep up the good work! I'm sure you will finds lots of great information here. Enjoy!
 
Welcome Werner

Your in the right spot, its amazing what you can learn on this great forum and I see you already have Weberitis.
 
Thanks for the lovely welcome. Indeed I think I do have weberitis.

My first one was new, but then I see these second hand ones in need of saving.

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This was the marketplace add for it
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And this is just a basic clean, some stainless hardware on the legs and of course the rust removal and paint of the legs. The original plan was just to clean it and use it. The hardware I just replaced because the old rusty hardware was falling apart

The bowl and lid are actually in good shape so I'm still on the lookout for some 0000 steel wool to give the Joe a polish. Maybe even have a go at making my own legs or try and nickel plate these as the paint is not perfect.

But again the whole point was just use it. Then I start restoring and upgrading and modifying 😅
 
DanHoo said:
Welcome Werner,

I love to hear about different things being cooked across the planet. What do you enjoy cooking ?
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Thank you Dan!

Well what we enjoy cooking here is "braaing" which is grilling direct over a wood or charcoal fire. For a braai rump steak or T-Bone is always good. As well as our classic Boerewors (sausage). Lamb chops are awesome as well. Another great thing to braai is a "braaibroodjie". Basically a toasted sandwich cooked direct over mild coals at the end of a braai.

For the first few years of Weber ownership I used it as a "braai" then started venturing into roasting chickens.

Only much later did I start messing around with low n slow in it. Generally pork shoulders but I have smoked some ribs and chicken as well.

I hope it's ok to attach pictures to this thread
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I have tried searching but maybe I am using the wrong search terms.

The last Weber that I bought clearly needs the legs reattached. I have found some great info about using stainless bolts with fender washers to re attach the leg sockets that have rusted off.

I have also seen some Mini Ranch builds using 26" Kettles. Has nobody made a frame for the regular old 22?

I am also considering Smokey Joe or Smokey Mountain style Aluminium flat bar bent legs for a really Jumbo Joe build as my friend does not have a lot of space so a compact leg setup could be cool. I can't find any threads with this idea?
 
Hi guys just a little update on the 1998 EZ Weber with the rusted leg cups. I finally got around to making it into a gift for my friend. A little warning this was not a restoration as after cleaning it I realised the enamel is just too far gone. Cracked, and dull a steel wool clean/polish didn't help.

So I went about just making an interesting project inspired by the Mini Ranch Kettle 26"thread (https://tvwbb.com/threads/custom-mini-ranch-26-weber-kettle.77626/) but nowhere near as nice in execution. New Weber grills are extremely expensive here in South Africa $315 vs $140 on the US website. So this was a little budget project starting with the broken Weber I bought for R200 (+/- $10 American) and using scraps in my garage, I think the only things I bought new were the castors.

Just cleaned and made functional, rusted vents drilled out and put back on with stainless, and the lid handle which is starting to come loose drilled through and bolted as well. So while it might not last another 25 years it should bring someone else grilling and smoking pleasure for at least 5.

So here is the Micro Ranch Kettle 22" or is that EXTRA Jumbo Joe? :ROFLMAO: Nice and low for cosy grilling from the comfort of your camping chair!
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