When the weather cools down so do the online finds. Time for BBQ Year in review

[CharliefromLI]

A recent update to the "show your pit" thread http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/show-your-pit!/465/
got me thinking about how many changes my line up has gone through.  This was my second season of buying kettles on craigslist and Ebay. I'm not the vintage collector some of you guys are, but rather I try to keep this hobby in check by forcing it to finance itself.

Here in the Northeast, BBQ is seasonal for "most folks". Obviously if you are reading this post on this site you, like me, aren't most folks, but sadly craigslist buying and selling is more of a reflection on "most folks" not diehards like you and I.

After a busy summer. fall 2014 was a time of disappointment and hopelessness when things dried up. Now a year wiser, instead of wallowing in despair, I am applying what I learned the first time around and I will look back on the 2015 season and some pretty amazing highlights of the past year.

Last fall was fairly quiet. The only CL find I saw for months was a 18" kettle near work. I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out to be a BarBKettle not a one touch.


The cooking highlight was definitely doing a thanksgiving turkey on my One Touch Platinum.
It was hands down preferred over the other bird that was cooked in the oven.


The rest of the holiday season was fairly quiet but the new year got off to an early start in January when I was able to get in on some of the home depot closeouts when the 2014 lineup was replaced by 2015's. A performer silver on clearance was bought sold and the proceeds were put towards an 18" WSM.

The Spring saw three local gas assist performer finds. Two were sold and one became an epic father's day gift for my father in law. 


Those sales and the sale of my one touch platinum were parlayed into my new Performer Deluxe that will be the centerpiece of my collection for years to come. My spring was spent learning to cook on the new performer.

The summer project was my quest for a cheap DIY Pizza cooker. The pizza making process is an ongoing learning experience, but this search lead me to one of my biggest restorations to date as I was able to rehab a kettle that was hit by a falling tree leading to some bent handles and leg sockets. I even took that kettle on a beach house vacation and cranked out some really great cooks on it.


After Labor Day, as expected things started to calm down but not before one of my best scores of the year. I had two near misses on 26" kettles but a 22" WSM popped up 15 minutes away for a very good price. Despite jumping on it within an hour of posting by the time the seller was available to meet they received other calls far outbidding me. I really didn't want to spend more than the original asking price but the seller had better offers on the table so it was a tricky situation. In the end I paid a little bit more but they threw in a few extras that were easily worth the extra money so I really did get it for the initial asking price. My 18" WSM was sold to offset the cost of the 22 and to cover some mods for it.

October 2014 Lineup                October 2015 Lineup
22" One Touch Platinum                22" Perfomer Deluxe
2 Modded ECB's collecting dust    22" WSM
Smokey Joe Gold Mini WSM        Smokey Joe Gold Mini WSM
Smokey Joe Silver                        Smokey Joe Silver
                                                     22" One Touch Gold "Pizza Cooker"
                                                     18" BarBKettle


I'll keep my eyes open for any new deals that may pop up over the coming months but even if nothing pops up I am looking forward to some awesome cold weather cooks.

When the spring comes back, and people start cleaning out their garages again, craigslist will fill up again and I will be ready for season 3.

I would love to hear some of your highlights of the year.



 

[CharliefromLI]

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[GregS]

whow!  nice year charlie!   

[Cochise]

Great write up! One of the best things about this hobby is we can keep playing till were old and out to pasture. Many more seasons to come!

[jcnaz]

Awesome topic, Charlie. This should be on the homepage!

[Josh G]

Great job Charlie.  Happy Hunting!

[charred]

Nice post! Thanks.

[1911Ron]

Thanks for sharing!

[CharliefromLI]

Thanks Guys.