Weber Gen1 SS Performer

[Old Dave]

I have had this wonderful old cooker on my “want list” for a few years although I wanted it in either Red Mist or Plum color but just couldn’t find one that was in good enough shape to restore in my area.

 



Finally an older gentleman in a little town about 15 miles from the house listed a black Gen 1 SS Performer on the Craigslist along with the original cover that looked pretty good.

After seeing it, it did indeed look pretty good but had the wrong lid on it and he didn’t know that as he had bought it used. It had some other problems but I thought it would be a good project to start with as the older Weber parts are pretty easy to get.

I had it in my mind that I didn’t want black as I think about 75% of these cookers came in black but I think this black one will make me a fine cooker. (I’ll keep looking for something suitable in red mist or plum).



Decided to keep the standard Weber lid that was on the cooker as I have never really liked the thermometer mounted in the handle of the lid on the Gen 1 Performers. I purchased a Weber short thermometer along with the Weber Bezel and installed it into the lid. I also purchased the small plastic piece for the vent adjustment tab and installed it and this took care of my lid problem.

Cleaned her up a little and washed all the crud off and found I had a pretty nice old Performer. Purchased new castors and a few other items and got the grill ready for use.





Gonna be fun using this Performer.





I have a SS rotisserie setup that I think would match up nice with this SS Performer and I might just make this my go to rotisserie charcoal cooker.

[pbe gummi bear]

That looks really good. It should last you a long time!

[zavod44]

Good to go.....beautiful. The roti set up looks really snazzy on there

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[Maxmbob]

SSP is a favorite!

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[WNC]

Great job on the restore!
I think you're really gonna like this one

[Travis]

Very nice Dave. Maybe a snazzy wood handle would dress er' up a little. Make you like the black more is what I mean. Hey, is that a rib-o-later? If so, when you get around to it, can ya tell us what you think of that? Thanks!


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[Old Dave]

Very nice Dave. Maybe a snazzy wood handle would dress er' up a little. Make you like the black more is what I mean. Hey, is that a rib-o-later? If so, when you get around to it, can ya tell us what you think of that? Thanks!


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Travis,

I do have a few of the standard Weber wood handles and will put one on the cooker to dress it up a little.

No, that is not a Rib-O-Later but I do have one and haven't tried it on any of my Weber cookers.

The rotisserie setup is an EZ-Que all stainless setup and I have both the 6" as shown, and also the 8" baskets. I use this setup on several of my cookers. This company is no longer in business and they also made many different parts for the Weber line of cookers.



This is my Rib-O Later in a pellet grill. It does a nice job on some items and especially with ribs. It's really just not what I would call a rotisserie cooker as the meat really doesn't rotate. However, with something like ribs, each slab will get very even heat all thru the cooking process. I think it would work well on a kettle with ribs but I would still prefer most other meats in a rotisserie setup that turns the meat over as it cooks. I think a fellow would get a more moist product with a standard setup.

I will try it some ribs in the kettle in the future and post something on how it came out.

Dave

[Geezer]

There's nothing wrong with that black Performer.  It looks good.

[DirectDrive]

Beautiful restoration !
It's always great to see an old Weber find its way to a good home.

[Jon]

That is a beauty all cleaned up. I personally dig the black performers. Got a stealth look to them.

[mhiszem]

Great looking black Ssp! I just got a Ssp also and I love it. They are fairly easy to repair and the parts are easy to find.

[beemerron]

I picked up a similar rig a couple months ago off CL for $100. I replaced the grate w/ the fancy center cut out type and added a lid thermo (must not be original lid, eh?). I found out today the the modern cover won't fit so I returned it and will order the #8701 later today. I'd been using a little weber for the last few years but it's always windy where I live and dumping ash was a hit or miss thing. I'll post a pic when I can figure how.

[RottiGuy]

I really like that performer, very nice!!!

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[Neil_VT00]

Great looking grill. I'm digging the SS roti on it.


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[captjoe06]

It l;ooks like the frame is pretty solid.  Must have been kept in the garage.  Congrats!