Don't Bother With Kenmore Outdoor Grill

[Pat Germain]

Well, fellow woodworkers, here's another reason not to shop at Sears...

A few years ago I bought a Kenmore gas grill. It was reasonably priced. But the main reason I bought it at Sears was because the store carried a lot of accessories and parts for their grills. Since gas grills are always requiring new burners, starters and covers, I figured I could just walk into the store and get whatever I needed. This worked out just as I expected; for the first year.

The three, original burners on my grill are now completely shot. In my experience, this is typical of any outdoor grill costing under a thousand dollars. After a few years, the burners just disintegrate. Yesterday I went to my local Sears to get a new set of burners.

The store had plenty of new outdoor grills on display. But the parts and accessories were almost non-existent. Strangley, there were a couple of replacement burners on the shelf, but they were generic and wouldn't even fit a Kenmore grill. I asked if I could order some new burners. A sales associate informed me the parts window had closed down and I'd have to order the burners online. The store could not take orders. Nice.

I went to order the burners from the Sears web site. A "Check Local Availability" button revealed the burners were available, and in stock, at a local Sears parts warehouse. It even had a map with directions.

I drove to the parts warehouse and found it too had been shut down. Nice. That's two completely wasted trips I made for Sears.

I still needed the burners. I ordered them from the Sears web site. Not only were they expensive, but since there's a Sears store in my town, I had to pay shipping and sales tax. Apparently, Sears wants to make money on shipping. Nice.

Had I bought any outdoor grill at Lowe's, I could walk into the store and buy whatever I needed for it. Note to self...

[Joe Pelonio]

In fairness, I have one from Sears that cost about $700 and it's had no problems in 8 years, the cast iron grills are still in fine shape. There has been rust flaking off of the burners but they are still solid.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I'm not sure if Lowes is the answer either. They buy from one supplier, then they buy from another supplier. No loyalty. Same for Home Depot.

The good news is that there are a lot of decent online sources for grille parts. You would be surprised how generic the parts are. I ordered parts for a 10 year old Sunbeam grille. The parts were better than the original parts, and they fit with no problem.

I did buy a snowblower from Sears thinking I would be able to order parts online at Searsparts.com. The parts may be expensive, but at least they are easily available. I was leary with offerings by Home Depot or Lowes for the reason stated above.

-Jeff :)

[Matt Meiser]

One word: Weber.

We bought a Weber Genesis Silver A which was an entry level Weber gas grill 4 years ago this spring. All my previous grills lasted 2 years tops. The year after I got it a severe thunderstorm knocked it over and broke the lid casting. Weber sent me a whole new lid assembly free. This year I broke down and spent $35 on new flavor bars and I need to call weber and see about getting the crossover ignition bar between the burners. It still works but is starting to get bad and I think its covered under the 5 year burner warranty so now is the time. I thought I might need new burners but it turns out they just needed a good cleaning. The ignitor even still works but I might need to replace it next year. On most grills I've had they didn't even last a season and I resorted to a lighter. And overall the grill still looks great (it helps that I keep a cover on it.)

[John Shuk]

As far as my experience with Sears you could have stopped at the word Kenmore.

[Joe Pelonio]

I have done some research and found that my Kenmore is made by
Brinkmann, and have verified it by comparing on replacement parts sites, same part numbers. It looks like they are made in Texas but some of their entry-level models had a recall of the Chinese-made regulator.

[David G Baker]

I paid around $500 for a Weber 1997. While living in California I used it at least 3 times a month all year long. I now live in Michigan, the Weber is 12 years old and is still working great. Had to clean the burners once and replaced one of the flavor bars with a piece of angle iron. I use the grill at least twice a month (more in the Summer months) even when I have to scrape the snow off of it in the Winter. I do keep it covered in the cold months.

[Matt Meiser]

replaced one of the flavor bars with a piece of angle iron

Well, NOW you post this after I spent $35. :D I'd imagine that's a rather permanent solution and I think I'll do that in 4 years when I need to replace them again.

[Pat Germain]

Sounds like a Weber is a good buy.

Good point about the home centers. You never know what they're going to carry. About ten years ago, I bought a Scott's mower at Home Depot. The very next year, HD stopped carrying those mowers. The mower has actually been a good machine. I just used it today and it runs like new. But HD carries no parts for it. I have to go to the local John Deer store for parts and they have very limited hours.

My Kenmore has actually been a good grill. I'm just torqued that Sears keeps chipping away at the reasons I shop there. It's an American retail store I'd like to support. And I'm annoyed that the brick and mortar store no longer carries parts or accessories.

These days, the only thing that will bring me into the store are Craftsman hand tools. I expect some K-Mart accountants are already working on a PowerPoint presentation about cheapening Craftsman hand tools to boost margins. :rolleyes:

[Drew Grey]

My vote is for a Char-Griller. I am have a charcoal one that is excellent. They also make gas that you could check out.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I don't remember what year it was but I bought a Weber gas grill that pre-dated the Genesis series though...two years later they came out with the Genesis under that name and mine was very similar. I had that thing until 2 years ago when the burner burned through and I had 23 people coming over for dinner the next evening. In all those years, the flavor bars were the only thing I had to replace.

I bought another Weber from a local dealer. Paid big change for it but I expect it could be the last one I'll ever buy.

[Chris Damm]

I have 2 Weber Silver grills. One is 15 years old and the other is 8. I have rebuilt them using parts from grillparts.com (the cheapest place I've found) and them continue to perform well. I use the grills an average of twice a week all year round. I will never have anything but a Weber. The Charbroils and others I've bought lasted about 2 years each.

[Mike Null]

My Weber is now 12 years old and I've replaced the grates and the deflectors. Parts are fairly expensive but $100 or so in repairs for 12 years ain't bad. I paid $600 or more originally but it keeps on cooking.

Parts and 800 tech support are available as well.

[Scott Shepherd]

Another vote for Weber. I think we're going on about 6 years now, stored outdoors, 50% of the time it's been under a cover, but 50% of the time, not. It's been an excellent grill and it still looks like it's about a year old.

Prior to that we had a new grill about every other year. I think it's got many more years left, and by what others here are saying, I think we have at least another 5 years out of it.

[David Keller NC]

One thing about this discussion is what the burners are made of. I bought a Char-Broil when I first moved to this house 13 years ago, and had to replace the burners, grease deflection bars and rock grate twice in about 6 years. Once I calculated the cost of the grill, and then the replacement parts, I got smart and tossed it into the dumpster when it needed new burners yet again.

I then went out and dropped a lot of coin on a completely stainless steel Jenn-Air with heavy, cast bronze burners. In 6 years, it's needed nothing, and it shows no sign of deterioration.

The Weber I looked at at the time was also well built, but had a cast iron grill and didn't have a couple of features I wanted, so I bought the Jenn-Air.

However, I've no doubt that the Weber would be just as sturdy as the one I wound up with. There's a serious lesson here - buy quality, cry once; buy cheap and cry often. And in the end, the high-end grills would've been cheaper anyway.

[Phil Thien]

One word: Weber.


+1. Mine has been great. Best I've ever owned.

[Jon Grider]

The timing on this post is superb. Now my rant. I bought a Thermos/ Charbroil stainless in 04. It looked great for the first year, I kept it clean and covered it dutifully when not in use.The stainless steel grate tubes started disintegrating after the first year. The cast burners also plugged and I was able to keep it going for 4 more years by periodically partially dismantling the grill and cleaning the burner holes with a piece of wire. The electric igniter lasted less than two years. The "stainless" cabinet hinges rusted badly soon after the igniter died.Today, with family coming over for Memorial day, I couldn't get the burners to stay lit even with a full tank of gas.Plugged burners again? I pulled out the old charcoal Weber and decided the convenience of a gas grill was not all that convenient after all; especially after going online and seeing the cost of replacement burners and grates. So my main point here, Charbroil gas grills are junk! At least the ones under $500.

[John Keeton]

Ditch the gas, and go back to natural charcoal - and a Weber with a chimney starter. I can have a cooking fire in 10 minutes, and the flavor is hard to beat. When I am done, shut the vent, kill the fire, and reuse the charcoal next time. Couple bags of charcoal last all summer for us.

And, John Shuk is right - your title should have read "Don't bother with Kenmore - period!" But, I have ranted about that before.

[Michael Roland]

Ditch the gas, and go back to natural charcoal - and a Weber with a chimney starter.

+1 for the charcoal Weber. I have the old performer model that has a small gas burner that is used just to get the charcoal going.

A couple of years a go Weber redesigned the Performer and the new model is not even close to as nice as the older model. When I saw this I waited until the local store put the old model on clearance and picked one up as a spare. The original is 13 years old and going strong. With a spare in the box I may never need to buy another grill. :cool:

[James Biddle]

FYI for all the Weber lovers... Weber was making all of their grills in the USA until recently, before the cost of stainless steel went through the roof. Recently, my searches indicate the Weber has now shipped their lesser cost models to China. Specifically, the Spirit and Genesis models. In doing so, the stainless steel that used to be made of 304 stainless with a high nickel content, a sign of Weber quality, is now made of 430 stainless which can rust of a period of a few years due to the higher iron content. As I understand, Weber's higher end models continue to be made of the higher quality 304 stainless steel. Mind you, this information was all garnered from web searches.

I was in the market and focused on a Weber grill, but shied away from the Weber because I felt that the value of a Genesis grill was no longer worth the premium that Weber demanded. Not that it isn't a good grill, and better than 75% of the competition, but that there are now better options out there from companies that are using better materials at the price point similar to a Genesis. It used to be that the competition could only compete on gimicks, not quality.

Now, if one could find one of the earlier models of the Weber Genesis with all 304 stainless on the shelf in a store somewhere, that'd be worth it.

[Neal Clayton]

One thing about this discussion is what the burners are made of. I bought a Char-Broil when I first moved to this house 13 years ago, and had to replace the burners, grease deflection bars and rock grate twice in about 6 years. Once I calculated the cost of the grill, and then the replacement parts, I got smart and tossed it into the dumpster when it needed new burners yet again.

I then went out and dropped a lot of coin on a completely stainless steel Jenn-Air with heavy, cast bronze burners. In 6 years, it's needed nothing, and it shows no sign of deterioration.

The Weber I looked at at the time was also well built, but had a cast iron grill and didn't have a couple of features I wanted, so I bought the Jenn-Air.

However, I've no doubt that the Weber would be just as sturdy as the one I wound up with. There's a serious lesson here - buy quality, cry once; buy cheap and cry often. And in the end, the high-end grills would've been cheaper anyway.

came to the same decision myself, dropped quite a bit on the whirlpool equivalent (i think it's under the kitchenaid brand).

it's not worth the hassle to buy cheap stuff.

edit: and the higher end kitchen aid grills are all 304 stainless.

[Paul Ryan]

I can't comment on the new webers using cheaping stanless steel now. What I can comment on is how nice weber grills are. I got away from charcoal 8 years ago with a weber gas and wont go back. Just cooked the family some real nice ribeye steaks tonight. In the 8 years I have owned it I have cleaned it once and replaced on ignitor. It is in need of some bars but the $30 they charge for them I am happy to pay it. It has been the best grill I have ever owned and know of. Most everyone I know replaces their grills every 5 years. I think this weber will longer than 20 years the way it is going. We use it on the average 4-5 times a week in the summer and about 1-2 times a week the rest of the year. I have even used it when it was -10 and windy outside. Full on to get enough heat to cook, but it worked good. I have cooked everything from steaks to brownies on it, even papa murphy's pizza. There are other good grills out there but for the price the Weber is a really nice grill.

THANKS VETERANS

[Dave Lehnert]

I'm in the garden bizz in my day job. Deal with gas grills all the time.
Any store I have been in only stocks the "universal" replacement parts.

Not many makes gas grills. I can buy a line of gas grills with any name brand I wish. All come from the same co. If you look close store "a" grill will be the same as store "b" just a different lid or the like.

Parts are easy to get. Just go to the one that made the grill and cut out the middle man.

http://www.charbroil.com/Consumer/ReplacementParts.aspx

Click on Kenmore and see if your model is listed.

[Scott Shepherd]

FYI for all the Weber lovers... Weber was making all of their grills in the USA until recently, before the cost of stainless steel went through the roof. Recently, my searches indicate the Weber has now shipped their lesser cost models to China. Specifically, the Spirit and Genesis models. In doing so, the stainless steel that used to be made of 304 stainless with a high nickel content, a sign of Weber quality, is now made of 430 stainless which can rust of a period of a few years due to the higher iron content.

I don't know if that's try or not, but from Weber's website, the Genesis and Spirit both have a 25 year warranty on the body of the grill and a 10 year warranty on the burner.

Not sure I'd be too concerned about it falling apart or rusting if the factory offers a 10 and 25 year warranty on the items.

[Ed Labadie]

Worth a look.

http://www.hollandgrill.com/

My parents recently bought one, very nice grill, made in the USA. The dealer even delivered it, all assembled, ready to go.

It does have a slightly longer cooking time when compared to a "regular" gas grill.

Ed

[Glenn Clabo]

I've never liked any gas grill until I tried the Weber Performer...it uses gas to start the charcoal. IMHO using charcoal makes a world of differance.
http://www.weber.com/grills/default.aspx?glid=4&mid=25

[David Keller NC]

Well - I have to agree on the charcoal turning out superior food than gas. Even an incredibly cheap 'n crappy "use once and throw away" charcoal grill yields some really incredible grilled meat.

But one reason I went to propane over charcoal wasn't really convenience (though that is certainly a factor) - it's a courtesy to the neighbors and an environmental choice. Charcoal fires put out a lot of smoke, and although the smoke they put out has particles that are too big to contribute to smog, it can sure smoke up a neighborhood.

And while the propane is fossil fuel and the charcoal isn't, I use my grill very frequently in the spring/summer so that I don't heat up the house and have to remove the heat with AC. I doubt I'd do that with charcoal - it's just not worth starting a charcoal fire for a pot of beans or frying up a pan of fish.

That said, I'd really love to have one of these:

http://www.biggreenegg.com/

[Dan Mages]

Yet another Weber fan. I have an original Performer grill and love it. It is a charcoal grill with a propane starter. I can get the grill up to temp in less than 20 minutes. After 6 years of work twice a week during the summer and once a week during the winter, it has never missed a beat or needed repairs, just regular maintenance.

Check Craigslist, you might be able to find a cheap one used.

Dan