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My $60 Craigslist find...

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For my first-ever BBQ'd Teacher post, I decided to elaborate a bit on a posting I did to BBQ-Brethren.com. It deals with my newly-attained Weber 22.5" Kettle with a Weber Rotisserie Ring.


This past week my nephew brought down a Craigslist find I lucked into last weekend (Wisconsin Rapids, WI to Oshkosh, WI for those of you in Wisconsin).

I waited until this morning and then looked closely at what I had.

  1. One-Touch Silver kettle (new enough to have plastic handles)
  2. Weber Kettle rotisserie and ring
  3. Four generic BBQ skewers
Pretty decent shape overall, but I still took the wire disk on my angle grinder to the racks and had to get rid of a bit of rust on the counter-balance.


Took some dish soap and fine steel wool to the lid, ring, and body. Looks nearly new.


It took a bit of time, but I managed to use to fine steel wool and dish soap to get most of the old grease out of the bowl and lid.


I used the wire wheel on my angle grinder to take off the rust and hard-crusted "gunk." It shocked my how close to "new" this started looking, especially when I looked up the date code on the lid and found this Kettle originated in 2006.


Honestly, this small amount of work led to a VERY clean set of racks. I felt like the Barbeque Master who received a filthy WSM and bottle GooGone from the makers of GooGone. After some honest labor, I might as well have a brand-spanking new grill. I didn't end up using GooGone, but the feeling of satisfaction seems similar. I wonder, though, if Goo Gone would have saved me time on this job? Hmmm...without running an experiment, I'll have to leave that unanswered for now.


I may never use the skewers, but heck, they were FREE. You quickly see how some scrubbing and grinding made for like-new equipment.


If I'm being honest, the ring took almost no effort to get clean. When I read the ad, the poster said "only used a few times." Right.....I thought. I've read that before. I have to believe that, in this case, the grill received a few uses before the owner lost interest.


The motor looked in good shape, but a brother from the BBQ-Brethren pointed out that I should open up the motor, check the contacts, and use a little white grease where the rod enters the motor. I will finish that task this week and intend to see how it fits on my Bucky Badger UDS at the campground (That is a post in its own right).


And, after a good 2-3 hours of work, the "new" Weber Kettle took its place on the driveway with the 18.5" WSM and my ever-present pepper plants.


After spraying down the insides with olive oil and starting a fire, I figured I might as well cook something. Why waste a perfectly good fire? After adding a piece of pecan wood, I have to say....


This bacon-wrapped tenderloin steak ranks among the best I have tasted - from a restaurant or otherwise. I guess this new kettle should work just fine.


Note: I have always had an interest in grilling, but I grilled the way so many "lost" weekenders grill - heat it high and get it off before it burns too badly. While researching "instructions" that students in my Grade 12 technical communications class could create, I stumbled across plans for a UDS. I quickly located a used barrel and started a rewarding journey as I learn to actually BBQ. In this blog, I hope to document my growth as a farker.

Comment (1)

Nice blog and what a great find you scored on Craigslist. I look forward to seeing your UDS build.

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