I’ve really enjoyed cooking on kettles over the years, as have many of us here. Once I got my hands on a SS performer, I felt like I had graduated to the next level of grilling and BBQ. Right around that same time, I also joined this site and got an education on cleaning and tweaking old kettles to get more life out of the. I wasn’t aware there were 26” kettles out there, but once I discovered they existed, I had to have one.
Several years later, I now have several 26ers, each thanks to members here both past and present . I love the versatility they offer. In my mind, the 26er is the perfectly sized kettle and the best kettle made by Weber. (Of course, I haven’t seen a ranch in person yet, but I digress).
Like many of us here in the WKC, I hoped that Weber would heed our cries and produce the “bestest” kettle cooker ever—a Performer with a 26” kettle. Last winter I thought perhaps we had been heard when I saw the teases for a new charcoal cooker. Alas, Weber did create their version of the “bestest” kettle ever, but in a 24” cooking space and at a price that is frankly out of reach for me. With that dream effectively squashed, I went back to improving my cooks and using the numerous kettles in my arsenal.
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There is something about wafts of pecan wood smoke, a cigar, and brown liquor that taps into my limited creative soul. During one of these D&S sessions, I contemplated what to do with a performer I picked up cheaply that had been stuck on my deck for a year. I’ve been flipping grills to offset my charcoal purchases for a few years, but I won’t flip damaged goods, so because the lid was really rough, this was a parts piece that was taking up space. Finally, it dawned on me. F Weber, I’ll make my own 26” performer. The new style 26’er I also picked up last year already had a bale, just needed brackets. The 2nd generation performer frame could hold it, if I could simply extend the supports out 4” or so. And off I went….
I found a metal shop in town and had them cut and bend two brackets out of 16ga SS. I used a ball and peen hammer to manipulate the ears so they would conform to the kettle shape and attached them with ¼” SS screws/nuts. I also had them cut and bend two pieces of aluminum diamond plate to serve as the cross-members.
I then sawed the existing plastic cross-members in half and attached them to the ends of the diamond plate cross-members using aluminum rivets. I also massaged the grooves on the rear side of the plastic braces so I could re-use the bottom rack and the bin. i picked up a 3' piece of 3/8" steel rod at my local home center and cut it down to 33" for use as the axle. I also needed a couple of plastic spacers to allow the wheels to clear the bend in the diamond plate.
It really irritated me how easy this was using basically stock parts and realizing that Weber has essentially flipped us off thus far by not producing a couple of plastic brackets 4” wider than they do today and giving us a 26” performer.
Anyway, enough about that, I had to build a table. My metal shop wanted an arm and a leg to cut a SS table and I didn’t want to use the diamond plate up top. I scoured some old posts and saw a beautiful table made by a member
@glrasmussen who had helped me out in the past. I reached out to him and he patiently described how he made his table. While me woodworking skills are less than marginal, I figured I’d give it a go. Results were exactly in-line with my skill level, but fully functional.
So, without further ado, here is the OG Performer, finally put together today, 9/1/2016 to kickoff mod month:
I have not added the burner option YET for three reasons: first, I find I use the lighter cubes more than the gas igniter because i tend to forget when I have the igniter on, wasting fuel; and second, I don't want to hasten the failure of the charcoal grate in the 26er. I've noticed many deformed charcoal grates right where the burner is located and since the 26er grates aren't cheap like the 22" grates, I'd rather not see that happen. And finally, the hole for the burner is oddly shaped and I've done enough drilling into a 26er for 2016. Maybe next year...
Topic: Mod Month - The OG 26" Performer (Read 7384 times)