Quality still the same?

[Jan M.]

Hi friends,

I am about to restore my daily rocker kettle. It's a black from 2004.
It's my very first new-bought kettle and so it's a special friend of mine.
I always took care of it. I wiped the ash out and when outside for some days I always use a cover.

BUT fact is it's in really worse conditions. The inside really rusty and the porcelain has some "cracks".
I have one MT from 1996 which was used at the end as flowerpot for nearly 10 years but it had not as much rust than my sheltered daily rocker.

My opinion is (I really restore a lot kettles) that the quality in the early 2000s was not as good as before.

What do you think ?

[hawgheaven]

Hmmm... Sounds like excessive heat caused some problems. Porcelain cracking is usually caused by that. I'm not sure if the mfg factors are the same grade as they used to be, but who knows. All I can say is, I treat mine with love, and they love me back. Watch your heat.

[Jan M.]

Yes you are right. It looks like too much heat but I can guarantee that the kettle has never seen more heat than on chimney can provide and that's the point why I am wondering about the cracks etc.



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[MikeRocksTheRed]

You can see a big difference in old kettles vs newer ones.  60's, 70's, and 80's grill have a much glassier porcelain.  I don't buy into normal cooks causing problems with grills.  The grills are baked at somewhere between 1300-1500 degrees (off the top of my head), so your average cook is not going to be anywhere close to that.  I think rust and cracking is mostly due to manufacturing defects.  Most of the time it happens at weld points, like where the grate straps, handles, and leg sockets are welded to the bowl.  If there is anything wrong with those places the expanding and contracting due to heating and cooling is going to magnify any flaws.  Just my two cents.

[Jan M.]

Yes the crack is on the outside exactly opposite from a grate strap.
So you could be right.
Good point!


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[Bertl]

Hi Jan!
I agree with you in two points. At first, older grills do have more porcellain and you should use charbaskets.
I also had restored about 60-70 Weber kettles between 1970-2013 about. I had some 2009 which were rusted inside very hard. My experiences of very bad treadment was ash leaving over winter in the kettle which sucked humid and started to kill the kettle from inside like karies.
Watch Troys video with his beautiful limetwins about heat.
(I'll find and share to you)


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[Bertl]

https://www.facebook.com/WeberKettleClub/videos/1411293648939885/

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at this video you can see how heat can kill your kettle. For some cooks you need high temerature but it's best way is to use baskets or a slow'n sear.

[YardBurner]

Then you have my former IDIOT neighbor
who took a garden hose to the hot kettle
EVERY time to put out the fire.
Year round!  Now how cold do you think that
water was in the late fall and early spring??

Cracked the crud outta his kettles.  Only
got 2-3 years out of them before the were
trashed.

[Darko]

That's the customer Weber wants.

[Jan M.]

Haha that's cool.
I have a neighbour who threw his kettle in the trash because the temperature gauge was broken.


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[MacEggs]

I always took care of it. I wiped the ash out and when outside for some days I always use a cover.

What do you think ?

IMHO, covering kettles is over-rated.  I wonder if this is the cause ... just sayin' ... 

[kettlebb]

I have covers on the ones in the garage to keep the dust off but the cookers on the patio are naked year round.

[vader06]

I have covers on the ones in the garage to keep the dust off but the cookers on the patio are naked year round.

I do the same exact thing and keep my kettles covered in my basement.

[hawgheaven]

Then you have my former IDIOT neighbor
who took a garden hose to the hot kettle
EVERY time to put out the fire.
Year round!  Now how cold do you think that
water was in the late fall and early spring??

Cracked the crud outta his kettles.  Only
got 2-3 years out of them before the were
trashed.

Gawd. Some folks just don't get the thermodynamics. I knew better than that when I first started grilling, and it was not on a Weber. A Structo. Cheapo POS butt I made it last.. Yikes.

[YardBurner]

Funny thing, he couldn't understand why his lids
were pristine and the bowls were totaled.