I think my grill is officially dead

[pacanis]

There is no such thing as no grilling weather.
OK, heavy rain is, but otherwise...

Let's grill!

I've got a twenty-something year old photo around somewhere of myself and a friend standing in a downpour with raincoats on. We each had a hold of a tarp in one hand that we were using to shelter our open, charcoal grill with from the rain. Steaks I remember.
Of course in our other hand was our favorite beverage
Where there's a will..... there's an idiot who just has to grill no matter the weather I can vouch for that.

 

[kitchenelf]

I think your chimney will be just fine. Rusted or not it will still work. The key is, like other people have said, are there actual holes. All of my chimneys have rusted to a degree but they still work perfectly!

 

[Callisto in NC]

Okay, I'll keep the chimney and buy a new grill. I just keep thinking the rust will effect the taste since it's where the charcoal sits. I know, I'm just being weird about it.

As for grilling in the rain, my father actually had a deck built on his house so he could stand under it and grill in the rain, sleet, snow, etc. Whatever the weather, my father can grill.

 

[Andy M.]

The rust will not effect the taste of anything you cook unless you actually get rust on the food. You could sand off the rust and spray paint the bare spots with some heat resistant paint.

 

[kitchenelf]

Yep, what Andy said. Just because your chimney is rusty doesn't mean your food will taste rusty. If your actual cooking surface is rusty - well, that's a different story! You are only heating your charcoal in your chimney, your food never touches it. I've never known a chimney to stay "pristine" anyway.

 

[Andy M.]

When I mentioned the sanding and spray painting, I was referring to the grill, not the chimney. I wouldn't spend that much effort on a $10 item.