Stephen marketed this first grill as “George’s Barbecue Kettle.” It sold for $29.95-the equivalent of around $270 today. A popular early nickname for the ovoid grill was Sputnik. “It’s a hard shape to manufacture because it takes really, really big presses to draw steel.” The design was also totally different than the boxy grills of the day. Grill efficiency lies in other design details, he explains, such as the positioning of the grates and air dampers.Įven so, “there’s a bit of a mystique in the shape,” says Kempster. “It reflects heat well, but we haven’t been able to prove it reflects heat any better than a square or a rectangle,” says Kempster, noting that the interior of kitchen ovens are rectangular. But over years of testing, this assertion hasn’t held. “The unique dome shape reflects the heat evenly all around, just like a kitchen oven,” according to a Weber ad from the 1970s. The original grill was marketed as "George's Barbecue Kettle." After creating the initial version, Stephen made many changes, including the addition of wheels and a taller lid as well as coating the body with a porcelain enamel to keep it from rusting.įor a while, Weber-Stephens Products claimed the original kettle grill’s round body was superior to other grills on the market. The lid also allowed backyard cooks to easily snuff out the coals when they were done cooking and prevented the barbecues from filling up with water. The enclosed dome shape sealed in the smoky barbecue flavors and gave backyard chefs better heat control while cooking their meals. The new grill design resolved all the pain points for consumers back in the 1950s, Kempster explains. “That was research and development in 1952,” Kempster laughs. So the pair grabbed a pick from his tools and punched some holes in the lid. The fire went out.” One of his neighbors was watching the spectacle and chimed in saying, “George, you gotta let some air in that thing,” according to Kempster. “As the story goes,” Kempster says, “he took it home, he fired it up with charcoal, and it didn’t work. So Stephen took two of the half spheres for the buoys and created a grill. So in 1952, fed up with ruined meals, Stephen set out to make a better grill.Īt the time, Weber Brothers Metal Works was filling orders for metal buoys for both the Coast Guard and the Chicago Yacht Club. FOOD exhibition, National Museum of American History Weber published several grilling guides, providing instructions on how to grill and touting the benefits of the covered grill like this cartoon from The ‘How’ of Covered Barbecue Cooking. Even worse, backyard chefs had to breathe in the excessive smoke from the grill top and the meat rarely had an even cook. Big winds could kick up ash or set the precious meat ablaze, and rain would fill the grills with water. But the open-top design of these devices left the meat vulnerable to weather. The appliance was composed of a metal box or tray to hold the coals with a grid iron resting above. “My father knew that one of the best ways to bring families together was through a shared meal enjoyed in the great outdoors,” his son Jim Stephen, now chairman of Weber-Stephen Products, once said.Īt the time, the popular design was an open charcoal brazier. Stephen and his growing family, which eventually included 12 children, frequently gathered to enjoy food cooked on the grill. He often worked on fabricating and selling innovative products, including mailboxes and fireplace equipment. He had an inventive mind “always tinkering with metal and springs and gadgets,” says Mike Kempster, chief marketing officer at Weber-Stephen Products, the current name for the company, which changed in 1958 when Stephen took over. worked in sales at Weber Brothers Metal Works, which his father ran at the time. Founded in 1887, the Chicago company produced a range of metal products, from hinges to wagons. The domed charcoal grill, which many foodies swear gives the best flavor, traces its roots back to Weber Brothers Metal Works. The Weber name is inextricably tied to backyard barbecues, but that wasn’t always the case. But despite all the high-tech grilling gear, at least one classic has survived: the Weber kettle grill. They cater to the technophile, sporting built-in thermometers and light-up knobs. These days, many of the grills rolled out onto patios across America look more like spaceships than cooking devices. Labor Day often means sun’s out, buns out.
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