Rare find or wishful thinking

[jacko1962]

Good morning,
I bought a 79-82 faded black 22 for 10 bucks. I am a bit confused on this and need the expertise of the forum. I attached pictures. The wheel has the outline to accept the weber whitewall. They were not punched. The triangle has the outer metal only not the 2 additional inner supports. All the vents are marked with a "K". The top vent has a "K" but now Weber logo. The kettle has no brackets to hold the upper grate just a lip. The original owner said this came out of the box like this. If anybody could shed some light on this or has pictures of the same it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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[jkolantern]

I only see one picture but that sounds like a Sears kettle. Bet it cooks grate!

[qrczak1]

You bought most probably (show more pictures pls) Sears economy kettle. It was built partially with Weber parts and partially with leftovers from Happy Cooker (that's why no "lips" to hold the cooking grate). As the kettle is K stamped so it's 1988 model.

[jacko1962]

Trying to upload more pictures but I keep getting errors. I will take a look at the Sears kettles to see if that is what I got. Makes sense that the Weber logo was not on top vent. Nice and heavy grill though. Thanks for the quick replies.

[jacko1962]

Looked it up and there it is. Are they good grills to cook with? If not i will make a 10 dollar fire pit out of it.

[qrczak1]

Or you simply have a Happy Cooker. More pics would help.

[qrczak1]

It's definitely good! Old, good quality which will last for few more decades...

[jacko1962]

Any links to some good pictures of this grill. Can not find much on the 1988. Really want to see the handles. Thanks

[Heyjude]

Didn't the economy wheels lack the whitewall and possibly not punched?

[qrczak1]

Here some pics of mine. I still didn't restore it. It's a L code from 89. I have wooden handles in pretty bad shape.

[Mike in Roseville]

If the lid fits the bowl, then its a cooker. Enjoy it!


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[qrczak1]

Right

[Jammato]

does the outer lip look bigger than a weber?

If it is a happy cooker, the reason it has no tabs for the cooking grate is the grate sat on a ash bowl that sat in the bottom.

Does it have an inner bowl with holes all the way around it

PS if it is a happy cooker it is a rare find, a great cooking grill and a sought after kettle among grill fellas

[swamprb]

if it has the internal ash pan its a score

[Jammato]

I think for long cooks I prefer my Happy Cooker over my 22 inch Masters Touch. For some reason it seems to keep temperature more evenly over the length of the cook. I used to use heavy duty tin foil on the bottom of the Weber to control where air flows, but the internal ash pan of the Happy cooker seems to do that by fluke of design. So long cooks using the snake method come to temp and are very stable. The down side is the ease of the one touch system of the Weber is lost to the fact you have to manually lift out the ash pan and pour the ash into a bag.
Now even though I like that, there are many improvements to the Weber I miss while using the HC, such as the Bale lid holder, built in thermometer, One touch clean up and such.
I think designing a internal ash catcher for the Weber would overcome those problems. Who knows, I may even get rich.

Anyway, if it is a Happy Cooker, congratulations you have not only a great cooker, but a piece of history that is getting rarer all the time. Clean it up and be proud a lot of guys would kill to have one in the Remuda.