Received this Medium BGE from a friend in 2020. He got it from his FIL, who I was told got it in the 90’s or early 00’s.
The bottom vent and lid bands were completely rusted through.
My wife got me a bottom vent two years ago and it sat in the grill in my small shed/workshop for another 2 years. In my way all the time, Until today!
A couple weeks ago I got some new bands on ebay for $100 shipped. Then ordered a cooking grate and felt seal last week. I did a quick and dirty paint job on the rusted nest this morning, not my proudest work, but I don’t care since I plan on building a table for it and my 26” weber kettle. The weber has been a trusty grill/smoker having smoked hundreds of pounds of meat for me and my family-friends over the past 8 years.
As with anything free, there are some boogers with this BGE. The interior ceramic charcoal bowl area is cracked, and I noticed today that the exterior ceramic is cracked too. I’m not too worried, I have a ‘run what ya brung’ mentality. I don’t have the money for a new BGE, but I did have $170 total investment to gamble on this one.
So tomorrow morning I’m gonna load her up for the first time in about a decade, throw on a small pork butt and then some wings towards the end. If my maiden voyage goes well, I want to do a brisket soon.
Really excited because this is my first BGE experience, literally never even seen one in action, or eaten anything off one. A total BGE virgin.
by mingee2020