Serves: 5
But by 1951 these cookout rigs were still woefully under-engineered. No one was more aware of their shortcomings than George Stephen, a welder from Chicago. As the father of a growing family, George was used to personal sacrifice, but heck, a decent grilled steak would be nice once in a while! He had struggled with his flat, open brazier with frustrating results. If you didn't end up getting rained out, the slightest wind could blow ashes onto your hard-fought prize.
Well, if necessity is the mother of invention, then hunger must be its godparent. At the time, George worked at Weber Brothers Metal Works outside Chicago, welding large metal spheres together to make buoys for the Coast Guard. It was in these very spheres that his idea took shape. He knew a rounded cooking bowl with a lid was the key to success. He added three legs to the bottom, a handle to the top, and took the oddity home.
The neighbors called it "Sputnik" and had a good laugh--and a taste of delicious grilled steak. Suddenly George's "folly" was in such hot demand he couldn't make them fast enough. So he branched out on his own and went into full-time production. Some years later, George the legend met a young man from Kansas City, Missouri, who would help make Weber the grill of choice.
Mike Kempster was an enthusiastic salesman in the Lawn & Garden department of the Montgomery Ward store that was Weber's top seller. One snowy Saturday, George dropped by the store unannounced, hoping to discover the secret to their success. What he found was chaos. The store was running a special on 8¢ guppies that day and the department was short-handed. For some reason, all of Chicago was suddenly mad for cheap guppies. Feigning interest in a riding lawn mower, George approached Mike. Besieged by guppy lovers and feeling badly that he couldn't give this customer the attention he deserved, Mike jotted down George's name and address and promised to personally conduct a proper demonstration at George's house. Impressed, George left, then quickly forgot about it. Clearly such an outrageous offer was merely borne of guppy fever.
Imagine George's surprise when weeks later, as soon as the snow had melted, Mike drove up with a large riding mower in tow. Mike was puzzled by the sight of George's patio, which was wreathed with several Weber kettle grills and prototypes. Man, this guy is into grilling! he thought, then got down to demonstrating the finer points of this mean mowing machine.
George, for his part, was floored by Mike's dedication. Was this guy for real? He decided to find out and offered Mike a sales position with Weber-Stephen Products Co. right then and there. So that explained the grills! Why not, Mike thought, and shook on it. Thus began an inventive and productive career as "Weber's chief grill peddler" as Mike, now Executive Vice President, modestly calls himself.
The round kettle shape so familiar to us today was relatively unknown until Mike and the rest of Weber's sales force spread the Grilling Gospel According to Weber, one live cooking demonstration at a time. Sadly, George is no longer with us, but his legacy lives on every time folks gather for a great grilled meal. Mike's story, it turns out, is a typical one of a sales guy working for a family-owned business with an entrepreneurial spirit that focused on doing one thing right: in this case, helping Americans fall in love with grilling. That's why we've included some of his wilder antics in here for you. Besides being entertaining, we think they embody the spirit of grilling that moves us all-and show how the quest for grilling success can inspire us to take some chances and succeed.
In reality, all that Mike and the entire Weber team ever did was provide the equipment and fan the flames. The true passion of grilling is in anyone who enjoys a good meal, great times with family and friends, and has an aversion to wasting those precious moments scrubbing pots and pans. If you love the texture and flavor of grilled food, if the smell of the smoke makes you a little crazy with desire, then this book is your book.
The Prototype That Launched A National Pastime.
No frontier is ever braved without a few bumps and turns. According to company folklore, George Stephen's original kettle grill, which became an icon of the American backyard, failed at first. It wouldn't stay lit! A neighbor peering over the fence offered George a little advice: "Poke some holes in that thing so the fire gets some oxygen!" Whoops.
From Weber’s Big Book of Grilling. Copyright © 2001 Weber-Stephen Products Co. All rights reserved. First published by Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, California.
This 02-The Birth Of American Grilling: Sparking A Passion recipe is from the Weber's Big Book of Grilling Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.
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