My Grandfather's Old Weber Kettle....updated with Pron!

[BobBrisket]

Interesting story behind this old Kettle. Back in about 1979 -80, my grandmother was at her brother's house and noticed he had thrown away this brand new grill. Well, she loaded it up in her car and brought it home. For many years, my grandfather grilled up good food on it. After his passing many years ago, my grandmother gave it to my dad. My dad has had it at his place for many years, but didn't use it very often, so he offered it to me. Letter Stamp A (1979) with the three Daisy vents on the bottom. Missing the ash catcher, but I can fix that. Looking good for her age in Kettle Years. :becky:

[BobBrisket]

Another shot....

[BobBrisket]

Inside just needs a good burn. Gotta say, that old grate is much heavier than the ones on my other two newer Kettles.:shock:

[1buckie]

Nice !!!!

Not all that many "A" Code '79's around.......the daisy wheelers make great smokers......sorta like my old guy "Bob".....probably a 76....no letter, but a lot like yours.............

[c farmer]

Looks in great shape for all that use.

[ShencoSmoke]

ThAts something special right there. Now get her in action!!!!

[THoey1963]

Classic....

[cowgirl]

Looks like it's in great shape Bob!
Don't forget to pass it on to your adopted relative.............me! :becky:

[BobBrisket]

Looks like it's in great shape Bob!
Don't forget to pass it on to your adopted relative.............me! :becky:

Noted in my Will!:becky: The Kettle Army. The Ole General has arrived. I'm running out of text space in my sig!:shock:

[1buckie]

Don't know if you want to gussie him up some, but Marty Leach makes those real snazzy handles & Brian O'Neal from Weber Kettle Club does up period correct ones too.....even double rivet ones like those...........

Both of their info is here:

http://weberkettleclub.com/weber-handles/

[1911Ron]

Great story and a very nice looking grill!

[Harbormaster]

Third generation owner. I think that grill qualifies as an heirloom.

You can salvage that handle Bob. A light sanding and a coat of Teak Oil and you're stylin'. Of course, the O'neal handles are outstanding for this vintage grill.

Congratulations on inheriting a really nice kettle.

[earthling30]

Very Nice

[Happy Hapgood]

Very Cool!

[lpevans8685]

It is amazing how well webbers are made and how long lasting they are. I love my 18.5 ...got it for free from my fiance's sister

[Cajun Ty]

Thats a nice grill :thumb:

[dadsr4]

That's in much better shape than my "A".
http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa345/dadsr4/kettleA2.jpg

[BobBrisket]

That's in much better shape than my "A".
http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa345/dadsr4/kettleA2.jpg

She looks good to me. Those ash pans are something else aren't they? :heh: I have fits sometimes with the one on my 18.5. :heh:

For now, gonna keep her stock. Handle has been sanded down and some oil rubbed in. Gave the lid and bowl a little rub down with evoo on a old rag. Some color came back, but it won't last long. Just wanted to hit a few scars and areas with some small rust patches. Can't wait to get her goin!

[Big M1ke]

She's a beauty!

[dadsr4]

She looks good to me. Those ash pans are something else aren't they? :heh: I have fits sometimes with the one on my 18.5. :heh:

For now, gonna keep her stock. Handle has been sanded down and some oil rubbed in. Gave the lid and bowl a little rub down with evoo on a old rag. Some color came back, but it won't last long. Just wanted to hit a few scars and areas with some small rust patches. Can't wait to get her goin!
I set another container on top of the ash pan to catch any ashes that drop through the vents.
I clip one of these over each slot in the ash pan itself to hold it onto the legs.
http://reputeofficeneeds.com/shopping/files/1262181309_BindersClipN00004.jpg
I then pick the whole kettle up and dump the ashes out before each cook.

[davefan360]

That is cool. I hope whoever you pass it down to will understand all the joy that has been cooked on that old girl.

[BobBrisket]

Little more detail to the story behind it. Two of her brothers were farmers and two others owned a large and successful produce distribution company delivering fresh produce across Texas, New Mexico, and beyond. They were a large family and the other brothers and sisters helped out by working at the produce company etc. So they probably bought the grill to try out "charcoal" and after using it once, decided they didn't like it and tossed it out.
At that time, she was either driving the smurf blue Chevy Vega, which she won in Las Vegas at the slots some years before! Or...it could have been her Chevy Nova. I can imagine her breaking it down and tossing it into the trunk or hatchback of either one and bringing it home. :)
On Saturday, when I brought it home, I flipped it over and started pulling the legs off. They weren't on the right way, so the handle was off to the side and moving it around was not easy. My dad's like...."what are you doing to it?" I said, the legs are on wrong so it's not as easy to move around. Once I up em on the right way according to the handle, he's like oh wow! Well, your grandpa and I had put it back together like that and it was that way ever since. Just kinda gave me a , "Hmmphhhh!" :mmph::-D In my defense, I have been wanting to fix those legs for a long time.......but wasn't my cooker, so I let it be! :-D. The OCD in me finally let loose!

[ncBBQtx]

Great story, love the smurf Blue Chevy Vega won at the slots part. :-D

[Fwismoker]

Looks great and great memories for you!

[SPRfree]

great story great webber

[thunter]

Very nice! :thumb:

[mtm29575]

Not only do you get a great Kettle, you have an heirloom with memories. I hope I can pass mine down to my boys someday.

[Big George's BBQ]

Very nice Bob That looked like one my father use to have His predated that Wish I had it

[akoda]

I love the metal handles. I have a "D" and have added a gold ash can. It was my fathers and still one of my go to grills.

Here it is before the new handles
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--qYczc57mgY/Ugo57g22j3I/AAAAAAAACg4/FPH5wxES0Js/w1043-h783-no/IMG_0443%255B1%255D.JPG

[frognot]

Good lookin' grill & cool story behind it.

[Banjoe]

My hat is off to the men in your family. They certainly know a great thing when they find it.

[Stingerhook]

Thanks for the story. So are we going to see what it does or is it going into the museum?

[BobBrisket]

Thanks for the story. So are we going to see what it does or is it going into the museum?


That grill cooked up lots of burgers, dogs, and LOTS of chicken as that is what my grandfather enjoyed most. I know for a fact it has never really been used to smoke anything like a butt or a brisket........hmmmm, just bought a lil 10lb brisket at Wal Mart earlier today. I see brisket in the next day or two! :heh:

[Tonybel]

Beautiful!!!

[BobBrisket]

Might as well as break her in the right way! Very nice 10lb. Packer with very little fat. Set me back $25. Got some hickory chunks going. My NFS/Acu - Rite made a full turn after 220 and kept going. Seems Kettle temp was somewhere around 290. Now my therm is farked! Gonna see if I can recal it with some boing water and turn of the dial! :mmph:
Using some Brisket Rub from Pepper Palace that my wife picked up while in H-Town. Good stuff.

[BobBrisket]

2.5 hours in. Looks like a HNF brisket! Added a lil foil deflector. Might toss in a couple beer cans with water in em just get things a little moist. Doing a honey do off the list and cooking so doing it as I go. Kettle is rocking it!

[BobBrisket]

4 hours in and IT is going from about 140 - 145 from flat to point. Rain clouds forming. Might find myself under the porch later on. Yard and da hood smellin good!

[BobBrisket]

Bout 5 hours in and IT at 152 - 155. Gonna add half a chim of lit coal to replenish and get temps up a bit.

So tell me.....foil, paper, or naked for the remainder of the ride? Wind picked so battling that. Otherwise, pulled a lil burnt sliver off and flavor and smoke is great. :-D

[Wornslick]

Great story, bet there is some good MoJo in that kettle!

[BobBrisket]

Ok, wrapped! More later. Half chim of lit added and some fresh on top of that. From here, the Kettle is closed. Now at 151 after open lid, and all the other jazz. Hand test on the Kettle lid and she is HOT! :-D

If things go my way, I'm hoping for some slices on white bread with some Tabasco peppers on the side as a lateish snack and then brisket and fried eggs and something after that. Back to the honey do project tomorrow too.

[BobBrisket]

Great story, bet there is some good MoJo in that kettle!
She's got her mojo going! One thing I noticed is she's a bit leaky due to lack of use for a long while. My other Kettles don't leak around the lid. She's getting there. Gotta get that patina and seal made!

[BobBrisket]

IT is rising nicely now. :-D. Not IT! Internal Temp!:lol:

[c farmer]

Looks like it is serving you well.

[1buckie]

She's got her mojo going! One thing I noticed is she's a bit leaky due to lack of use for a long while. My other Kettles don't leak around the lid. She's getting there. Gotta get that internal patina and seal made!


Not impossible the lid's just slightly out of round.....it happens moving / storing them sometimes......a very gentle bear hug, if it's apparent where the leak is

Nice lookin' kettle cookup thus far !!!!

[BobBrisket]

Not impossible the lid's just slightly out of round.....it happens moving / storing them sometimes......a very gentle bear hug, if it's apparent where the leak is

Nice lookin' kettle cookup thus far !!!!

She's round, just no build up on the inside or around the lid edges. Don't know if you guys place the lid on your Kettles the same way all the time, but I do. OCD. Lid handle must be perpendicular to bowl handle. To me, at least, that way it always closes the same way all the time. It's a sickness. I know. Gotta get her going with my program!:wacko:

[BobBrisket]

We are at 180 IT and rising pretty quickly. No mo lid crackin! 7 hours in.

[BobBrisket]

Ok, cracked her lid really fast to see how the fresh coal was going. In great shape and running a meat meat IT of 190 now. Might have this puppey resting in the next hour or so. Smellin good! I garontee!

[BobBrisket]

IT of 198 now. Gonna start probing for da butter.

[BobBrisket]

My next investment....a thermapen! Gonna be pulling the slab and resting in a bit. Probing nicely right now, but needs a little more heat and brisket foreplay.

[BobBrisket]

Shhhhhh, it's resting!

[1buckie]

She's round, just no build up on the inside or around the lid edges. Don't know if you guys place the lid on your Kettles the same way all the time, but I do. OCD. Lid handle must be perpendicular to bowl handle. To me, at least, that way it always closes the same way all the time. It's a sickness. I know. Gotta get her going with my program!:wacko:

"Lid handle must be perpendicular to bowl handle. "



........or not.......mine are 180 degrees from wherever the fire is.........


It's a sickness................ or merely a preference (that way you don't have to treat your Weberitis.....:roll:)

[BobBrisket]

"Lid handle must be perpendicular to bowl handle. "



........or not.......mine are 180 degrees from wherever the fire is.........


It's a sickness................ or merely a preference (that way you don't have to treat your Weberitis.....:roll:)

Pretty much the same. Fire is always parallel to coal bowl handle. This is getting mathematical. Wtf! Brisket is in limbo right now. It doesn't know where to go or what to do. It's in a brisket hangover!:decision:

[BobBrisket]

Now the rain is coming down. Pretty well planned cook, for a cook that wasn't really planned with the weather in mind! Getting a nice downpour. I'm dying to spread open the paper and see the brisket, but gonna let it rest a bit more. It's on that stove top in a casserole dish with a couple towels over it. The house now smells like rain....and brisket!

[BobBrisket]

The reveal in parts. I laid down a flat sheet of foil on the grate so that when I put down the papered brisket it would not tear or leak. As for the paper, (I don't want to start this debate again!), but I used some kraft paper. A very thin type I found. I then sprayed the length I used with some of that spray cooking oil spray deally. Making it grease proof. No odors, no whatever. If I die later from it, you will know.:sad: or not:-D

[BobBrisket]

Right now, I'm slicing, so pardon me!

[BobBrisket]

Now I'm eating. Lemme digest here a bit!

[BobBrisket]

Burp! Almost there!:twisted:

[BobBrisket]

Okay, I don't get to cook brisket as much as I once did mostly due to time now and also cause they are freakishly expensive too. Gonna take my time with the pron just like I did cooking it. Using the foil bottom helped preserve the juice. Nuff sed.

[BobBrisket]

^^^^ How many of you are eyeballin that burnt end on the right? Sorry....first thing I ate. It was farking delish!:-D

[BobBrisket]

:hand:Hold on, lemme get a brewskie!

[BobBrisket]

It's gone. Sorry.:sad: This one little morsel makes a whole days cook worth it!!!!

[BobBrisket]

Another thing I did was flip it while in the paper. Might as well let the top soak a while too. Fat cap up, down, sideways.......hmmmm:boxing::rant::noidea:
Each side got a soak.

[BobBrisket]

Alrighty then. What's next?
Booked or separated or whatever it's called. Very little waste. This packer was select and thankfully had a thick even flat and very little fat. All I removed was that big knot of hard fat by the point. Ooooze time! Small point. Oh well, more thickness than point!

[BobBrisket]

Lemme see, what's next. Sliced flat. Not the greatest smoke ring.......who farking cares! Got to say, this is up there as the second best brisket I have smoked. Not using a drum, WSM, etc. Just a lil ol kettle. I will admit the whole, "probe like butter" is one frustrating concept. Warm butter, cold, peanut butter, apple butter.....wtf! But this one had that feel. Found that touch again.:heh: Never really get a juicy flat slice. Don't know if it exists and if it does, being so lean.....probably doesn't stay that way for long. Let's not get into cures, injections, etc. Ok, maybe we could. But not here. But, these flat slices broke apart and made for that break away, melt away feeling in your mouth. Some of you are probably imagining something else. :evil: this ain't WP! Maybe I needed more celery salt, seed, nitrates, silicone, implants, grenades.....whatever. I need a Bloody Mary with celery is what I need. SR's don't mean jack to me! :lol:

[BobBrisket]

Beer check. I'm good. Next.....the whole finger/bend/brisket yoga gymnastics pic. For those of you that get off on flexible meat!:shock:

[BobBrisket]

For those of you that like the point....don't make me call you out!:wink: Small point on this one sorry.

[malibulvr]

Looking great, I bet that was some fine tasting meat!

[BobBrisket]

Time to eat. I like my brisket sammiches with point, some mustard, a little mayo slick, some fresh onion and pickles. Why not a little hot sauce and a fresh pepper from my garden. Meat, sour, tang, and heat! Also a fan of potato bread!

[BobBrisket]

Where to now? Did I mention this was done on a Kettle? Wait, with a cheap bag of Dollar Store briqs? $4 for a 16.6lb. bag. Marked down from a whopping $7. Still have about 1/4 left. Not bad. Used some hickory and plum that I got from some Brethren a while back in some trades. I think it was the wood that made it!

[BobBrisket]

Okay, last pic and message. We get caught up in stupid chit sometimes here on the forum. If you haven't already read why and how this place came to be, you need to. Some need to read it again. Good Q and good food can be done on anything. It's ALWAYS the COOK, not the equipment. Okay, well, toys are nice and help, but you still gotta know how to play with those toys. Q takes patience. Sometimes, being a Mod and Member on this forum takes patience too. :roll::laugh: Thinking out loud there!:thumb: This place is founded on sharing knowledge. We share that knowledge over and over and over and then some with new members and people who are just getting turned on to the passion we share. That's how this place got started and what will keep it going. You are free to share anything here. (Almost anything!) We get into it about things like lump, wood only, cures, temps, equipment, cooking times, briquettes, therms, (of which I now need to buy a new one!), rubs, fat caps, :shock:, hooks, pellets, :shock:, yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda.....and other stupid stuff in other forums. After the end of the day, we are here because of one common interest. You know what it is. This place is about a whole lot more than that. Some get it. Some don't. Some never will. Hopefully they figure it out one day.

Over and out. Gonna eat another sammich! :thumb: Q, eat, and be happy!

Bob

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38314

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81360

[1buckie]

4:09 AM here......would you change your name to "Bob Breakfast" ?

I tried to wait up....I really did.........






......kettles....gotta love 'em !!!!!!!

[Wornslick]

^^^^ how many of you are eyeballin that burnt end on the right? Sorry....first thing i ate. It was farking delish!:-d

me !!!!!!!!!

[BobBrisket]

Even better the next day. Wife devoured a high stacked sammich a while ago. Said she had been craving that sammich all day at work. I think I may need to make brisket more often!
Thanks again!

Bob

[Happy Hapgood]

Bob, your post, story, pic's and food are a great example of what this forum is. You have me wanting to try a Select grade brisket after I swore off them two years ago in favor of Choice grade. I've learned alot about brisket cooking from being a member here and think I can create good BBQ from a lesser grade now.

Thanks for the inspiration!

[charrederhead]

Nice heirloom and a great way to pay it respect, w/ a great brisket cook!

What is that kettle color? Not really black.

[BobBrisket]

Nice heirloom and a great way to pay it respect, w/ a great brisket cook!

What is that kettle color? Not really black.

The lid has faded to a grayish color. She did a great job!

Thanks again!

Bob

[1buckie]

http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd520/1buckie/1st%202013%20chicken/3-6-2013%20%20Beef/3-6-2013Beef015.jpg


Fade Blackies....nothin' like 'em..............


Great cookup Bob Breakfast...I mean Brisket !!!!

[charrederhead]

So that began life as black as a new black one today, and faded to that?! Interesting.

I used to have a similarly-faded '95 26.75" OTS.