Yes! My Boy has a Kettle!

[jfmorris]

My 27 year old son called me Saturday to tell me he found a Weber kettle in good condition on the side of the road with a pile of trash in his neighborhood. Actually, his wife saw it and he went and fetched it home! He had been wanting to get a Weber kettle or other charcoal grill or smoker once they got a patio poured, and they had JUST gotten it poured 2 days earlier! This will join his Weber Spirit 3 burner.

I went over there yesterday to help move a gutter downspout that was in the middle of the new 14x20 concrete patio. And by help, I mean, I did it! Also got to see his find. It is a Weber Mastertouch, with the lid bail, ash sweeps and collection system, and by golly, it cannot be more than 1-2 years old. It has a bunch of unburned lump on the charcoal grate, and a very dirty cooking grate with that round insert in the middle.

I cannot believe his luck, as other than a gunked up cooking grate, this thing was PRISTINE. I expected to need to tell him how to restore the kettle, but its in better shape than my Performer. Now I just gotta teach him how to use it! Hard to believe what some folks just throw away too!

I am now thinking it is time to talk him into a trial membership here...

[CaptainMike]

Nice find!

[jfmorris]

Yeah - I wish I came across finds like that!

[mrteddyprincess]

That kid has an amazing dad, apparently.

[Draznnl]

Congrats to your son on the new to him cooker.

[kizeroy]

That's awesome! I just happened to see the One-touch Gold at Ace Hardware the other day and was shocked at how much they've gone up in the years since I bought mine! Getting one for free in that condition is amazing!

[jfmorris]

Yeah - this model is $275 on the Weber website right now.

[RonB]

Great find for sure!

[Allon]

Congratulations! What a find!
Good fortune comes in 3's...
AR is a great place to start, plus he will probably win the grand prize right off the bat with that kind of luck.

[Sid P]

Talk about getting lucky at the perfect time. Congrats to him!

[Skip]

Wow! Lucky Find.

[Panhead John]

Good find! Kudos to his wife for telling him about it…..

[Uncle Bob]

Well Jim, the story fits the discussion points that we've bandied about on here regarding the non enthusiasts who jumped on the outdoor cooking bandwagon during the pandemic. The folks tossing that thing probably thought it too messy of a way to cook (based on not cleaning the grate) and don't want to mess with the "hassle" of selling it used. It's not something new, in my youth I did a "side hustle" where I'd drive around various neighborhoods and pick up all manner of "treasures" at the curb on the night before garbage pickup. A buddy lived in an area where garage sales did particularly well so once a month we'd have a sale at his place to convert junk into grocery money.

[jfmorris]

Good point. I'll bet that is why this practically new kettle was sitting on the side of the road.

[fzxdoc]

Congrats to your son and his wife for such a lucky find. With you as a mentor, Jim, I'm sure they'll be expert pitmasters in no time!

Uncle Bob , your story reminds me of when I was in college, living in a large dormitory complex, working as a Resident Advisor to help pay my way through school. After most of the students vacated the premises for summer, I'd go through the hallways where the students were told to place all their trash before leaving and collect all the soda/beer bottles and return them to the store for the refund.

I made several hundred dollars that way, enough to help with textbook costs for the upcoming session. I was on full scholarship with a couple of side jobs, but that textbook expense at the beginning of each session was a killer, even with getting some credit for returning previous textbooks. Nowadays I guess that cans are more prevalent, so my moneymaking scheme would not fly for current students determined to graduate from college and grad school debt-free. Every little bit helped.

Kathryn

[Uncle Bob]

Necessity prompts motivation...............for some anyway.......

[rlozinak]

Congrats on his new cooker.

[scottranda]

My eyes are ALWAYS peeled for gems like that!!! 🤩

[MsTwiggy]

What a find!!! 🔥🔥🔥❤️🐿

[big_mack]

It won't be long for MCS to kick in. Since he scored the free kettle, he can starting spending that money he saved by not buying the kettle. Does that make sense? It makes sense to me. A fireboard and fan would complement that kettle better than a SNS IMO.

[tstalafuse]

jfmorris I wouldn't be so sure. Lotsa people on here looking to learn and you never know when you can teach an old dog a new trick.

[DaveD]

+1 for sharing that doc. There are new folks joining all the time, at every level of experience, and it is bound to prove useful to many if it even remotely resembles the signal-to-noise in Jim's posts...

[gcdmd]

jfmorris
If he's not ready to spring for a Slow 'n' Sear he could pick up a set of Weber charcoal baskets for 26 bucks plus tax and shipping (free with Amazon Prime).