Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I have made comments over the years that I have been on TVWBB about how much I would like to own a Weber Flat Top. If you haven't heard of this obscure grill, it was essentially a 1st generation Summit without a hood but instead with fold-out grease defectors and very cool sliding covers that doubled as side tables. Like its companion Summit grill, it was offered in both 4 and 6-burner sizes.
You don't see these very often at all here in the US, but our friends Down Under
loved them, and they were primarily targeted to the Australian market. I understand that even today finding a used one of these there is not as big a deal. Check out this Weber Australia advertisement and imagine yourself with a Crocodile Dundee hat on while you grill out on the barbie!
Well, the Flat Top has eluded me for years, but back this summer, @HankBates posted about a guy in NY selling a bunch of Summits (and a couple Flat Tops). I contacted him, and we had a really nice phone conversation about the challenges of restoring old Summits. I told him how I wanted one of the Flat Tops but that NY was way too far away. No problem! The seller, John Holt, attends the annual Home Show in Indianapolis for his regular business - he said he would be happy to bring it with him! I agreed to pay him electronically back then, based on the trust I felt in our conversation as fellow Weber Summit fans. John turned out to be a man of his word, and today I picked up my very own Flat Top.
John gave me a very fair price as this grill is obviously unrestored and has plenty of "Weber fade" on those cool sliding lids. That's OK, it is still such a unique find. By the way, John still has some Summit stuff left if you are interested. He gave me permission to share his email, so PM me if you are interested. In addition to the Flat Top FT-400, I also bought a nice smoker box and a bunch of Summit/'00-01 Platinum knobs, casters and especially cool two rare sets of THICK 304 stainless Weber grates with the fold-up trapdoor for accessing the below grate-level smoker box used in the 1st genaration Summit. (I will post more about the grates in a new post in my old thread about stainless rod grates.)
So, do I believe this Flat Top will actually cook any different than my same size 4-burner Summit if used with the hood open? No, not likely. But the Flat Top is just SO COOL
. I will be looking for that Crocodile Dundee hat, and maybe this summer will have some pictures to post of it in action. I will need a very large "Now that's a knife" to cut my steaks with
!
I will also be thinking about that Weber Go Anywhere looking "cooking pot" and a griddle. Also, might use the old-style stamped steel grates as shown in that advertisement. I would love to hear your ideas!
You don't see these very often at all here in the US, but our friends Down Under
loved them, and they were primarily targeted to the Australian market. I understand that even today finding a used one of these there is not as big a deal. Check out this Weber Australia advertisement and imagine yourself with a Crocodile Dundee hat on while you grill out on the barbie!Well, the Flat Top has eluded me for years, but back this summer, @HankBates posted about a guy in NY selling a bunch of Summits (and a couple Flat Tops). I contacted him, and we had a really nice phone conversation about the challenges of restoring old Summits. I told him how I wanted one of the Flat Tops but that NY was way too far away. No problem! The seller, John Holt, attends the annual Home Show in Indianapolis for his regular business - he said he would be happy to bring it with him! I agreed to pay him electronically back then, based on the trust I felt in our conversation as fellow Weber Summit fans. John turned out to be a man of his word, and today I picked up my very own Flat Top.
John gave me a very fair price as this grill is obviously unrestored and has plenty of "Weber fade" on those cool sliding lids. That's OK, it is still such a unique find. By the way, John still has some Summit stuff left if you are interested. He gave me permission to share his email, so PM me if you are interested. In addition to the Flat Top FT-400, I also bought a nice smoker box and a bunch of Summit/'00-01 Platinum knobs, casters and especially cool two rare sets of THICK 304 stainless Weber grates with the fold-up trapdoor for accessing the below grate-level smoker box used in the 1st genaration Summit. (I will post more about the grates in a new post in my old thread about stainless rod grates.)
So, do I believe this Flat Top will actually cook any different than my same size 4-burner Summit if used with the hood open? No, not likely. But the Flat Top is just SO COOL
. I will be looking for that Crocodile Dundee hat, and maybe this summer will have some pictures to post of it in action. I will need a very large "Now that's a knife" to cut my steaks with!I will also be thinking about that Weber Go Anywhere looking "cooking pot" and a griddle. Also, might use the old-style stamped steel grates as shown in that advertisement. I would love to hear your ideas!
.