The Weber Summit Charcoal Grill
This morning, Weber launched the Summit Charcoal Grill...or rather THE grill of a lifetime. A lot of work has gone into making the ultimate backyard grill. Here's a little piece of the puzzle as to how I came to be involved with and ultimately, love the SCG.
My first brush with the new Weber Summit Charcoal Grill was during our LA commercial shoot last fall. Since there were only a handful of photo worthy demo units, two grills were trucked from Chicago, through Denver, to LA, under utmost secrecy and safety. I remember climbing into the back of the rental truck in the lot of the production company. While only a few feet away, another SCG was being used for the teaser video we’ve all been watching the last month, this grill was all mine to examine.
I recall lifting the hinged lid and running my fingers along the work surface. This was one bad ass grill. It was familiar, yet different. For as much as I enjoyed taking in its lines and imagining its grilling potential, I never got a chance to completely run it through its paces. Little did I know, in a short period of time I would.
When you get a phone call asking to create content for a secret new Weber grill, it’s pretty much an out of body experience. I equated the whole project to hiding the stealth fighter in my backyard. Show what it can do and make sure no one sees it. It doesn’t exist. Wheel it out, take some pictures, wheel it away. You know nothing. This is your mission if you choose to accept it.
Well, that’s easy. Mission accepted.
Granted, I did have a freak out over a Google Street View Car...but thankfully, I kept the "steath figther" hidden.
Within a week, not only was the grill shipped from Weber, but Tom Fuller, Weber’s Global Director of Product Development, came down to spend a few days showing me the ins and outs. We grilled a lot and, of course, had a few beers. I think there was quite a bit of laughter, too.
Tom is a great guy and is immensely proud of the SCG, as he should be. The Summit Charcoal Grill is my new favorite Weber grill. If I had to clean the deck off all of my grills but one. The SCG would be still standing.
Over the next month, I spent all of my free time grilling, filming, editing, and shooting pictures. Even when not working on the project, I still fired up the SCG for dinner, lunch, and the occasional breakfast.
As someone who loves to post pictures on social media of what I’m grilling, the hardest part was making sure the SCG was kept out of sight. While the grill was never seen whole, I did manage to “sneak” in parts of it.
If you look closely through my feeds, you will see lots of stainless steel side table shots, as well as some very tight food on grate pictures. More than once, I grilled dinner on the SCG, only to move everything to the Performer so I could take a picture. Pictures of dinner around here is serious business. I can’t go without.
I have been more than honored to be a small part of this huge Weber project. I know what I think, now I can’t wait to hear what Weber enthusiasts around the world think. Finally, my SCG can shed it’s “stealth fighter” status and rightfully take its place with the rest of my grills.
If I were to crown a king of my grilling fleet, the Summit Charcoal Grill would be it.
Note: My work for Weber is compensated. My love for the SCG is never-ending.
