Stars & Stripes Kettle


 
Chris Allingham said:
Having thousands of spare blue and white parts laying around seems unlikely to me. Differences in the white color may be due to how the blue bleeds through the white, or different whites being used on each part.

My take is that it’s not as cool as the one I saw at Weber HQ years ago, but I understand the limitations in trying to do this affordably in mass quantities. I say good on Weber for doing something fun and different!

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Yes Chris, a prototype is often much more carefully finished since they are, obviously, pre production.
The manufacturing process is designed for speed with a little more latitude with respect to color.
I think it is a very cool kettle, I don’t have room for one but, I like it! There is a hot air balloon quality that I fine appealing!
Daisy wheels? Of there was a way to clean more easily I’m absolutely in! Temp control is so much more delicate. As I said before, I started with daisy wheel vents and they were just fine!
 
Chad-Burnt to a T said:
Well for starters, it's actually kind of ugly. You have two different whites that stands out bad. It looks like a circus tent to me. Most people don't want the old school method of 3 daisy wheels they also want an ash catcher. Not sure if they have the p vents, but Iove mine. I don't need that much control on a 10 minute cook which my grill does most the time. Steaks, burgers, brats, and dogs. I use a vortex for chicken so wide open is all I need.

There where probably a lot of blue lids with white bowls laying around. If not the white stars and bowl stripes should be the same color. I just don't dig it much to be honest.
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Hey Chad!

I can appreciate the appearance isn't for everyone. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say.

However, all the parts of these grills were made specifically for this project. We have very tight inventory control protocols, and there weren't just a bunch of extra parts laying around that we decided to throw together into a new model. That's simply not how we do business.

The bowls are coated in a Dark Blue enamel. It's the predecessor blue to the current Deep Ocean Blue enamel that's on certain Master-Touch models. The bowl is the Ivory color enamel that is also used on some current Master-Touch.

The stars are a silk screened porcelain enamel, which are all hand-applied. Yes, they are slightly brighter in white than the ivory on the bowl, however, that's simply a byproduct of that specific manufacturing process. The red stripes are hand applied onto the Ivory bowl.

Regarding the "daisy wheel" style vents, they are a throw back to the Bar-B-Kettle design used on all kettles prior to the invention of the One-Touch Cleaning System in the 1980's. I can understand why someone would prefer an enclosed ash catcher with a One-Touch Cleaning System, but that would have added cost which would be passed along to the consumer and we wanted to offer something really unique at a more competitive price point. As many have mentioned, the trade-off is that you do get more precise air control due to the ability to really fine tune and dial in the airflow.

I'm sure none of that information will have magically convinced you to all of a sudden fall in love with a Star Spangled Kettle and run out to buy one, but I hope it gives you a little background on why they are designed the way that they are.

Thanks!
John
 
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