Interesting, considering Weber has forayed into the griddle market. Of course, having more than one brand doing the same thing in similar or different ways has worked for others in the past.
I of course love smoked meats of all kinds, but also like quick cooks like chicken portions, pork tenderloins, steak and fish. Really into cooking of all kinds.
My outdoor kitchen has a Lone Star Grillz Adjustable and it is wonderful. There also is a Pit Boss 5 Burner Ultimate Griddle and a Pit Boss Copperhead pellet grill.
There is an outdoor fire pit that has grilling capability and limited Santa Maria-style grill raising and lowering.
SnS Kettle
Napoleon 500 Pro gasser grill
Weber Slate 30” griddle
Gozney Arc XL pizza oven
Instant Pot Duo Crisper 8 qt
Cuisinart food processor
Kitchenaid Stand Mixer
Breville Smart toaster oven
Anova Sous vide (Pro version and Standard Version)
Cabella 15” Vacuum Sealer
Combustion Inc Wireless Probes (Gen2 upgrades)
Fireboard v2
Fireboard Spark
Fireboard Pulse (3) probes and S1G antenna
ThermoWorks RFX gateway and 2 RFX meat probes
Thermoworks IR gun
Thermoworks MK4
Thermoworks Zero
Thermoworks Signals
7 Shun knives (paring to 12" slicer)
Misen Chef's knife
Dalstrong Phantom Series Boning Knife
8-9 other knives (enough to get an eye roll from wife!)
2 Mandolins, 1 veggie spiralizer
Work Sharp E5 sharpener
Chef's Choice sharpener
Hone Rolling Sharpener
As a relatively new Weber Slate owner, I will be very interested to see what happens to that product and support of it. Probably nothing to worry about, but …..
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
I was afraid of something like this being in store for Weber once they were taken over by venture capital in 2010, then went public in 2021, floundering in the stock market for 2 years before going private again.
The press release says both brands will continue under their current branding. I bet we will get some consolidated corporate name like "Blackstone Weber" or "Weber Blackstone Products". Who knows. While for ME, Weber would be the premier of the two names, for the folks born since 2000, Blackstone is likely the more known brand. I guarantee you Blackstone probably moves more griddles than Weber moves gas grills.
I think Weber will stand behind any griddles sold and under warranty, but think we will see a shift away from griddles under the Weber brand name, as it would cannibalize sales of the Blackstone griddles.
MAK 2 Star pellet
Big Green Egg
Fuego gasser
Pitboss ceramic griddle
Eastman Outdoors wok burner
Ooni 16 pizza oven
Cast iron chimenea with pizza steel
Breeo smokeless fire pit, with Titan rotisserie and Titan Santa Maria style adjustable grate
Oklahoma Joe Bronco
It looks like Weber went public, then a private equity firm took it private, acquired all the stock, and installed their man as CEO.
Blackstone Products looks like it is private, with the founder (Dahle) holding significant equity (which will continue), with a different private equity firm also involved.
No indication, that I can find, as to whether one of the private equity firms will bow out.
Looks like Dahle will be the one individual with a significant ownership interest.
The 70th Anniversary Weber kettle I bought just went up in value. Probably will fetch twice as much for what I paid for it in 20 years. Of course, I'll be dead by then.
It will be interesting to see what new products come out of this.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
A guy I know in the biz has for a few years now been calling them the worst-run company with the best product. Maybe this will turn it around for them.
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