Page from an OLD Weber Pamphlet

[Craig]

That smoke hood is a lot taller than modern roti rings. That thing is 12 inches high....more like a Cajun Bandit stacker than a roti ring.

With the old flatter lid there was almost no clearance compared to the newer lids. Maybe that is why they made the Smoke Hood (Roti Ring) so much taller than they are now. Just a thought.

Yeah I'm thinking on the BK-500's it' was burgers, brats, dogs, steaks and ribs only. As cool as these are (grail for sure) they were not practical for doing whole birds or hams/roasts. I'm doubting anyone was spatchcocking yet back in the 50s.

[1buckie]

Oh heck yeah !!!

Spatchcocking has been around for a good long time ~~~>

Helen's British Cooking Site

'Indian mode and sea fashion' adds the Victorian colonel's wife from whose cookbook this particular recipe comes. The word spatchcock comes from the dish - a happy rooster one minute and a rather flat-looking grilled chicken the next - all done with great despatch. This simple recipe was a favourite with army officers sent to India by sea, which used to entail several weeks' long voyage. Coops of chickens were kept on board and were a great treat for the bored passengers when despatched and cooked in this way.'

Spatchcocked poussins are a very long time British & French & Irish deal......

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tools-and-techniques/what-is-spatchcock.htm


Anyway.....back when those lids were FLAT (sound familiar? like when the Earth was flat?)

....steaks were a big deal quite often.....a pretty big T-bone or porterhouse cost a couple bucks, maybe.....not $28 like it does nowadays......but it shows just how together George was....only took a short time to figure out "If I'm gonna do a roast......"

[addicted-to-smoke]

Way cool! I love all the old pics and history.
Does it seem like the brazier model was without lid!? I didn't think they made a version without lids. I thought that was webers whole thing, the innovation they brought to the market.
Could it have just been a model trying to compete with the what was the common grill at the the time?
All pretty cool regardless

And in the modern era there's the Compact, which is now here in the States as the Jumbo Joe 22" Premium, a hodgepodge of the Jumbo Joe's squat kettle design but in a 22 size, and on legs instead of carrying handle/lid bale. $68 at Wal-Mart, for people that can't find the extra $32 for a proper grill.

[Craig]

I should rephrase that. I'm not sure if many folks here in the states were spatchcocking birds. I'm sure George and company knew of it and a few others but even now I talk to people outside of our realm and they've never heard of the technique but in all fairness half of them don't cook or BBQ or smoke.  Heck I didn't even know what it was until a couple of years ago. When I was in Missouri last summer I had people from neighboring cabins staring at me as I cooked breakfast on the kettle like it was some crazy new thing. I often forget how even today the majority of folks still only use grills for burgers dogs, the occasional grilled chicken breast/thighs and steaks and nothing else if at all. At least here in Nebraska. I work with people seemingly in awe of the idea of a Thanksgiving turkey roasting on a Weber kettle and that idea is more than half a century old. There's still much word of mouth to be spread.

[MacEggs]

I often forget how even today the majority of folks still only use grills for burgers dogs, the occasional grilled chicken breast/thighs and steaks and nothing else if at all.

Well put, and it's usually on a gasser.  I used to be that guy ... 

[1buckie]

I should rephrase that. I'm not sure if many folks here in the states were spatchcocking birds. I'm sure George and company knew of it and a few others but even now I talk to people outside of our realm and they've never heard of the technique but in all fairness half of them don't cook or BBQ or smoke.  Heck I didn't even know what it was until a couple of years ago. When I was in Missouri last summer I had people from neighboring cabins staring at me as I cooked breakfast on the kettle like it was some crazy new thing. I often forget how even today the majority of folks still only use grills for burgers dogs, the occasional grilled chicken breast/thighs and steaks and nothing else if at all. At least here in Nebraska. I work with people seemingly in awe of the idea of a Thanksgiving turkey roasting on a Weber kettle and that idea is more than half a century old. There's still much word of mouth to be spread.

No kiddin' man.....I feel it's at least somewhat our personal responsibility to show those people what's possible, eh?

I imagine split half chickens might have fit on those back then.....they're even a comp presentation in some places, but the risers being available pretty quickly & then the puffed up redesign of the lid just demos how much he / they were thinking about what they were doing back then......

Other noticeable thing is all the large roaasts & turkeys & stuff were in the brochures & demonstrations almost right after the newer lid happened......

[Craig]

Notice also how the early spits (without the smoke hoods) were meant to be used without a lid. Looks like they just clamped to the bowl.

[Idahawk]

Notice also how the early spits (without the smoke hoods) were meant to be used without a lid. Looks like they just clamped to the bowl.

Webers main competition at the time was Big Boy , they both attended all the trade shows and did cooking demos , sometimes side by side .i think Weber was getting " showed up " at these events by the Big Boys Roti set up and so they had to get something in the works to compete. The hood looks like a Big Boy brazier set up and likely spawned the roti ring . Once Weber started having the lids drawn instead of spun they added more height to accommodate large cuts .

In this early brochure they don't offer a roti , claiming there's no need for it .


In this 55-56 photo they have the clamp on version , but the lid didn't have clearance to be covered so I'm thinking this was among one of the reasons for the re-design

* this is only my opinion



  " Esto Perpertua "

[Idahawk]

Btw if that page Harris shared  is out of those two brochures that recently sold on eBay , I wonder if we get to see the rest ?


  " Esto Perpertua "

[WNC]

I wonder what #9 "no pea gravel required because of charcoal grate" means. Anyone know? Did you have to put a bed of pea gravel down for the coals to to sit on in those old open grills?

[Idahawk]

@WNC pea gravel was to protect the thinner " tin " manufacturers' product being produced in the 50s , even a Weber can't take prolonged exposure to the direct heat of the coals.


  " Esto Perpertua "

[Dan NY]

I wonder what #9 "no pea gravel required because of charcoal grate" means. Anyone know? Did you have to put a bed of pea gravel down for the coals to to sit on in those old open grills?

I was wondering the same thing. ^^^

Thanks for the answer @Idahawk