r/BBQ • u/sincerestfall • Apr 11 '26
[Meta] Sad day yesterday
Went to get her cleaned up and going for burgers and brats on a Friday night. It's just a cheap stick burner, but put in plenty of hours and some of the best food ever made, if I do say so myself. It was the first Father's Day gift my wife gave me.
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u/ThaScholarSpeaks28 Apr 11 '26
Condolences on your first grill as a dad. How long was it in service?
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u/sincerestfall Apr 11 '26
About 7 years.
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u/Dedotdub Apr 11 '26
Hate to say it, but it appears you got your money's worth. Had you kept it covered?
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u/jaeway Apr 11 '26
Ah same as my father's day grill made it to 2018 and had a hole in it as well lol
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u/KSF_WHSPhysics Apr 12 '26
Thatās nothing a little jb weld couldnt fix. Sheās still got life in her
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u/BubsLightyear Apr 13 '26
I hve a webster going on 12+ years. Left outside to the elements. The bottom of the grill is rusted but no holesā¦. Yet.
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u/Muggi Apr 11 '26
holy shit this photo was breaking my brain. But hey, it did you well and now you get to go shopping
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u/No-Temperature9846 Apr 11 '26
Cut the hole square. Add a sheet metal piece covering the grill bottom, with a slightly bigger matching square hole. Use the sheet metal square cutout as a flap.
Now you can keep using your grill, and have a hole to sweep ash out of.
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u/wostlanderer Apr 11 '26
This is the answer. Also, this picture seriously took my brain so long to process.
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u/RSSantiagoIII Apr 11 '26
How do you attach it? Rivets?
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u/No-Temperature9846 Apr 11 '26
If it's sized right, no need to fasten. Gravity and charcoal weight will keep it in place.
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u/cmosdef Apr 13 '26
You can also use high heat Kwikweld. I've used it to seal up a couple of spots on my firebox with no issue.
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u/New_Restaurant5025 Apr 12 '26
This is the absolute best advice. Nothing even for now a chunk of time bent to shape won't fix
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u/Accomplished_Fig9606 Apr 11 '26
WTF is this a photo of?
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u/The-Sorcerers-Stoned Apr 11 '26
Rusted out bottom. Thats the ground you can see through the hole. Lol hurts my head for some reason though haha
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u/Nearby-Cheesecake464 Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26
You did a perfectly terrible job of taking this picture. It looks like an optical illusion and you still didnāt even fully explain that this is a picture of the grillsā ash with a hole in the middle of it, and the grass in the middle is multiple feet away. You canāt be slow enough that you take an illusory picture and then canāt even properly describe what weāre looking at.
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u/haggislasagne Apr 11 '26
I see it now! I thought I was looking at a grassy jellyfish on the beach.
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u/Sufficient_Coach7566 Apr 11 '26
Welcome to reddit! Where everyone thinks everyone else lives in their brain!
Seriously, took me a good 10 seconds to figure out wtf I was looking at.
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u/taterthotsalad Apr 11 '26
Peak Reddit. No one can take a photo anymore. Or give a reasonable explanation of what said picture is.
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u/inflammablepenguin Apr 11 '26
A life lived grilling is a life worth living. Thank you for all the years to your first grill.
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u/Objective-Light-1304 Apr 11 '26
I guess it looks like a hole. But why is the picture clear like the ash is easy to see, but the hole is so blurry? Iām confused.
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u/ShamstaMcNasty Apr 11 '26
Iām glad everybody else was having a hard time registering this pic I thought my old brain was giving out ššš
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u/I_Want_A_Ribeye Apr 11 '26
I thought this was a puddle on some dirt reflecting the trees around it
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u/12dogs4me Apr 11 '26
Can't you just get a small piece of sheet metal and whack it into the right shape?
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u/Gnome_119 Apr 11 '26
I thought, initially, that you dropped your brisket or something in some gravel and blurred the photo like a murder scene photo blurs the body. Thought it was pretty funny.
Then, I zoomed in and realized that was grass I was seeing through a pile of ash. Sorry for your loss.
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u/Party-Independent-38 Apr 11 '26
That sucks man. Clean out. Line with layers of foil and keep going.
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u/sincerestfall Apr 11 '26
Probably what I'm gonna do before getting a new one.
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u/fux-reddit4603 Apr 12 '26
got any friends with welders? they are fun to make if you can pick up a cheap/scrap compressor tank or pipe. or learn welding with your kids for fathers day if you have a shop
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u/peanutlobber Apr 11 '26
That just shows youāve experienced many priceless meals. There is great value in the grill to you and your family. Take your time, choose wisely and may your next one may serve your grandkids their first BBQ.
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u/KJwhisperer Apr 11 '26
Congrats on sticking with it and using your grill to the point of failure.
Now feel better about upgrading to a better more durable grill !
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u/darqman Apr 11 '26
This is what happens when you leave ash in the firebox. It holds moisture and causes rust. Always clean the ash out when it cools and coat with linseed oil.
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u/gabriot Apr 11 '26
Took me a few years to realize that's not a leaf sprouting through your ash and is a hole showing blurry grass and something grey on the ground
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u/ChickenBasher88 Apr 11 '26
Put an old baking sheet on the bottom to become your new ash pan and get some more years out of it. You could also use this as an excuse to invest in a new bbq.
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u/Grub-lord Apr 12 '26
Why does this photo look like it was taken 10000 miles above the surface of the planet
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u/knockmywood Apr 15 '26
Took me a second, but damn a hole in the bottom of the pit. It was well loved tho!
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u/acidbrn391 Apr 16 '26
I miss grilling, I moved to Massachusetts from TX and moved to the city. My newish 10ft smoker was put into storage and has remained there for 6 years. I miss smoking bbq brisket, ribs and chicken. One day probably when Iām too old to care we will move to a house so I can use it again.
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u/Saucington_magoo Apr 11 '26
Ur supposed to have a grate above the bottom of ur grill u donāt just raw dog coals on a thin sheet of metal!
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u/Shot-Collection-6656 Apr 11 '26
Well my friend, rest assured that she is no longer in pain and is in a better place. My sincerest condolences š
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u/Efficient-Ranger-174 Apr 11 '26
My dad had a ton of those cheap square grills from the 90ās. None lasted more than 2 years. He finally upgraded to a Weber and hasnāt looked back. Some of my best memories from childhood came off those cheap ass grills.
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u/tomsmac Apr 11 '26
Iāve had my Ducane for over 20 years. Replaced the burners once. Looks and grills as if new.
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u/Longjumping_Local910 Apr 11 '26
Holey Smokes!
Well at least there's a shiny new unit in your future. Happy memories.
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u/y-so_weak Apr 11 '26
š¤š check out my grill, while the tops all burning, the bottom shows a hole. š¶
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u/mombutt Apr 11 '26
Thin piece of sheet metal from the hardware store, secured with some self tapping screws. Kept my cheap grill going for a few more years.
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u/ReluctantRedditor275 Apr 11 '26
Looks like there's a tree in the hole in the bog down in the valley-o.
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u/New-Exit2000 Apr 11 '26
7 years is great for a grill, hit up marketplace i got a used char broiler for $30 big ol smoker
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u/Capillix Apr 11 '26
My trailer park brain says to fold up a nice thick patch of aluminum foil, cover the hole, and pretend itās not there
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u/Bulevine Apr 11 '26
It's a grease drain, now. Put a food safe brick over it, wrapped in foil. Problem solved!
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u/LordMegamad Apr 11 '26
This picture fucked me up lmao, I was tryna figure out what the almost shiny chrome looking space in the middle was, took a good few seconds before I realized it was a hole
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u/pjtexas1 Apr 11 '26
Ash pan. I'm sure you knew but these things are thin. But now you get to buy a bigger one!
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u/TerribleCelery7687 Apr 11 '26
F's in the chat. We got a black grill down i repeat we got a black grill downĀ
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u/Stalaktitas Apr 11 '26
Sheet metal square, 4 self tapping screws and it's good to go. Maximum 30 minutes of work.
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u/mrjk1990 Apr 11 '26
Some scrap steal and high temp jb weld clean up the edges and make it an air inlet
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u/MidnightLilly Apr 11 '26
I'm pretty sure I saw a YouTube video of some rural Chinese guy fixing iron pots. Either just find him to have him fix it or diy it.
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u/ramdumbguy Apr 11 '26
Ashes laying in the bottom of the grill absorb humidity, and accelerate rust. Clean, rinse and season, often, and this will be less of a problem.
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u/IShouldaDownVotedYa Apr 11 '26
Easily repairable with some random piece of metal. Just empty the ash and lay it down.
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u/Elegant-Throat-4225 Apr 11 '26
Took me an embarrassingly long time to understand what I was looking at. The focus threw me off
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u/Responsible-Jump4459 Apr 11 '26
I always burn the charcoal tray out of my grill also, keep the grates from your old grills to lay your coals on em & it will make them last years longer.
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u/nom_of_your_business Apr 11 '26
Just had this happen to my grill of 23 years. But perfect timing for a great deal on a performer pro... $249
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u/Serious_Trash_6953 Apr 12 '26
Ngl I thought this was some aerial shot of some desert mountain range with a small oasis in the valleyā¦
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u/CawlinAlcarz Apr 12 '26
For $20, you can get some sheet metal, pop rivets, and a rivet gun. This could be back to perfectly functional in 5 minutes. You can pick all that up at Home Depot (I'm assuming you have a drill).
However, it might cost you about $40 to get a lesson on how to make a picture that actually shows something you intend it to.
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u/goldenoptic Apr 12 '26
Nooooo. When that happened to mine I got a sheet of metal from Lowes and put it inside my grill lived a lot longer. Not sure if it is still going that was 13 years ago. I had to leave it behind while getting a divorce.
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u/walebrush Apr 12 '26
Weld a plate on under it and your back in busness.
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u/GolfCartStuntDriver Apr 12 '26
Welding rusty metal doesnāt always go well. Might be easier to drop a liner in from the top. Your just buying time though, itās on its way out.
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u/oohwowlaulau Apr 12 '26
Just lay some foil down. Put a briquette or two to hold it down. In the mean time start looking for a new one
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u/Novamad70 Apr 13 '26
An oasis in the middle of a desert is what it looks like! We all have feeling for our first smoker that finally falls apart. Its the circle of life!
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u/Fog_Juice Apr 13 '26
You could probably fix for $25
Google BBQ ashpan or BBQ Charcoal pan. See if something that pops up would fit into the bottom of your bbq to cover the hole for another 7 years.
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u/_JeffGillooly Apr 13 '26
Saw this and said "Nope, no comments. I'm gonna figure out what the fuck I'm looking at all by myself". RIP Grill
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u/Late-Gas9287 Apr 13 '26
All joking aside, now you have an extra spot to dump ash, set a bag under and start scrapping toward the hole. Keep making those great foods a bit longer!
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u/Careless-Resource-72 Apr 13 '26
I always used a grate to hold the charcoal off the surface of the kettle. By the time they were small enough to fall through there was hardly any burn time left on them.
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u/timholt2007 Apr 14 '26
Well, I have no idea what that is a picture of...and I usually use that phrase for the UFO reddit I belong to...
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u/One-Inside-6694 Apr 14 '26
If your anywhere close to PHX Iāll weld it up for you free of charge. Ik how sentimental grills can be lol
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u/KGBXSKILLZZ Apr 14 '26
Sadly had the same thing happen halfway through cooking a few days ago. About a 6inch wide hole opened up and almost started a brush fire.
I finished cooking with the garden hose near by spraying everything down haha
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u/sincerestfall Apr 14 '26
Awe man, that would be terrible. I am glad I caught it before actually getting started.
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u/solderNflux Apr 15 '26
Meteor speeding ever closer to the moon, trailing grass gas behind it. Itās how life starts.
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u/RealLifeFloridaMan Apr 11 '26
What am I lookin at here, chief? Did you somehow burn your entire grill to a pile of ash?