Weber, Inc.

From a consumer perspective, Weber is the perfect American company. 

In 1951 George Stephens, a sheet metal fabricator in Chicago, crafted the first Weber Kettle Grill.  George was part owner of the Weber Brothers Metal Works and he liked to grill.  He took the top and bottom parts of metal buoys the company made for marine enterprises and fashioned a kettle grill for his personal use.  He made some for his friends, then he sold some to his friends, then he started to sell a lot of them to everybody.  He tweaked and improved things until he created the classic Weber Kettle.  The kettle has changed little over the last sixty years.

The Metal Works was a family owned and operated business that was founded in 1893.  Based on the extraordinary products and services they offer, I am not surprised that they are thriving 131 years later.

Every August, I batten down the hatches in Jacksonville and get ready for a three month move to Ann Arbor.  I really do tie a lot of things down.  We spend the most active part of hurricane season away from our house in Ponte Vedra.  So, I try to get everything ready for whatever hurricanes may pass by in our absence.  A key part of the preparation is anchoring all of my barbecue equipment and outdoor furniture.  The tables and chairs go in to the garage but the Traeger pellet smoker and Weber Summit grill stay tied down on the Lanai.  They both weigh around 200 pounds so I don’t like to move them very far.

This year, I decided to give them a thorough cleaning and that started me thinking about what a great company Weber is.  I burned all of the grease accumulation out of the inside of Summit and cleaned and polished the stainless steel outside.  When I finished, the grill was close to new in both appearance and operation. All eight of the burners work perfectly, the stainless steel was totally rust free and perfectly polished.

Why is this a big deal?  This grill is at least 25 years old and has been pounded extensively by me and my brother in law, Dennis Gray.  Dennis is a world class barbecuist and he used the Summit for many years in Chicago.  It stayed on his patio in all four seasons.  He and Connie moved to Florida.  His new home included a fabulous outdoor kitchen so he gave this magnificent piece of equipment to me.  It was one of the finest gifts I have ever received.  So I have grilled, smoked, rotisseried, or fried at least two tons of barbecue on this grill over the last five years.  Dennis has easily prepared another ten tons.  The grill went through Chicago winters and, probably worse, salt air at the beach house.  After 25 years, it springs back to new condition with a two hour cleaning.

I am a man who knows barbecue equipment.  I have owned more than 75 different smokers and grills.  Charcoal, gas, and electric.  Nothing has performed like the Weber Summit and nothing has come close to the longevity of this grill.  So I think, “Well, that’s a Weber for you.”

“That’s a Weber for you.”  These people have been providing such outstanding products for so many years that we have come to expect the very best from them.  We take it for granted.  Making quality products is not an accident.  It is a business philosophy.  Weber has incredible empathy.  They put themselves in the shoes of their customers and they make things that best satisfy the needs of everyone who uses them.  If it isn’t outstanding, it doesn’t make it to the market place.

How many Weber products do I currently own?  I have three different kettle grills: an eighteen inch model, the classic 22 inch kettle and a forty year old 25 inch kettle.  I have three Weber Smokers: two 18 inch models and a 22 inch beast that can smoke twelve racks of ribs.  Of course, I have the Summit propane grill.  I have given away more Weber smokers and grills than I currently own.  To the best of my knowledge, all but one of the Weber products I have ever purchased is still in use.  I bought a classic Kettle for my lake house in 1990.  It stayed on the deck for 25 years and the leg supports finally rusted out after a lot of hurricane seasons.  This was the only Weber I ever took to the junk yard.

In addition to the grills, I currently own twenty or thirty Weber accessories.  Rib racks, fish racks, rotisseries bars, griddles, Bluetooth thermometers, etc.  The designers at Weber put themselves in the weekend pit master’s seat and rolled out some very useful equipment.

The Weber “Deluxe Poultry Roaster” is a great example of the way Weber develops products.  Many years ago an innovating barbecuist stuck a chicken on an open can of beer and smoked it.  The chicken was very moist and flavorful.  Beer in the butt chicken became the rage.  It is a little difficult to get the chicken off the beer can, especially when everything is about 200 degrees Fahrenheit.  So different entrepreneurs developed “Beer in the butt” tools.  You could buy a little rack that held the beer and chicken in place on the grill and made it easier to remove the chicken for carving.  These accessories would set you back five to fifteen bucks.  So the Weber engineers go to work.  They develop a holder that captures the juices from the chicken, controls the moisture content, makes it very easy to remove for carving, is non stick and dishwasher safe.  The process using the Weber tool is easier.  The results are perfect and very consistent.  Clean up is as easy as possible.  For this, Weber will charge you $49.  I own four of these things.  I often do chickens two at a time and I have a house in Michigan and a house in Florida.  I use them a lot, not because they are Webers but because they make the best chicken.

Weber support is fantastic.  For example, I needed a grate for my 25 inch kettle.  I called product support and they asked me if the kettle was purchased before or after 1998.  I replied that it was made somewhere in the mid 1980’s.  “Okay, the pre ‘98 kettles are a slightly different diameter.  We will have it to you in a couple of days.”  They have not made that grill since 1998 but they had a replacement grate to ship me in 2023.  They know that we are still using these kettles after 40 years and the grates can’t hold up forever.  So they make and stock replacements.   I wonder if my great, great grand daughter will still be able to get a replacement when she is using my 25 incher in 2077?

Finally, Weber grilling and smoking instructions are spectacular.  Their R&D team includes some of the best barbecue chef’s in the country. When you knock off a day to make some barbecue, you want the results to be noteworthy.  I want my guests to grab me by the lapels and demand to know how they can smoke ribs like these.  More importantly, I want to be able to make ribs, for my own personal consumption, that are exquisite.  I considered it a complete victory when my friend Bubba said, “These may be the best ribs since Eve.”  There are a lot of steps involved in making World Class Barbecue.  Maintaining the grills and smokers can be complex and the recipes can be very involved.  Not only does Weber have staff who can answer questions about these things, they have compiled 15 to 20 volumes of instructions and cookbooks.  Every time I have created a meal using one of these manuals, the results were excellent. 

Another great example of Weber empathy.  Using a classic Weber smoker, my smoking time for excellent pulled pork is 14 hours.  That is a challenge.  If I am having guests for a feast at 7:00 PM, I have to start firing up the smoker at 4:00 AM.  I bought the “Weber Greatest Hits” cookbook and they have a recipe for pulled pork that required 9-10 hours.  If you are in a barbecue contest, you’re up all night anyway.  However, for personal consumption, starting at 4:00 AM is pretty inconvenient.  The Weber Chefs recognized the problem and went to work.  The recipe in the book uses the same smoking temperature as mine. How can we get the internal temperature of the pork shoulder to 195 four hours sooner?  The cookbook calls for injecting the pork shoulder with a mixture of apple juice and other things.  In essence, the cooking and tenderizing is accelerated as the marinade heats up inside the roast.  I followed the steps and prepared perfect pulled pork in 10 hours.  No change in taste.  Just 4 hours less smoking time. That means I can get started at 7:30 AM.  Thanks to Weber skill and empathy, we are eating a lot more pulled pork these days.           

So way back in 1952 when George Stephens decided that he could make and sell a pretty good grill, Weber forged a commitment to provide the best possible solutions to their customers.  72 years later they are still following that business plan.  It may take a little more time and the products may be more expensive but let’s put the best stuff in the hands of our patrons. Don’t you wish that every American Company followed that business strategy?   

I know that if I am ever in need of a marker buoy, my first call will be to Weber, Inc.