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View Full Version : Weber grill owners--need your advice



Lewis Ehrhardt
03-20-2015, 10:35 AM
I'm about to spring for a Weber propane grill [propane b/c I grill off site some, Weber b/c seems to be the most affordable for me at this time]. Right now they're on sale b/t 6 and $700 in my area for the two I'm looking at. I think it's the 310 model Genesis series. Any suggestions?

Ken Fitzgerald
03-20-2015, 11:26 AM
I bought the first Genesis model that was made. After about 10-15 years it needed a lot of work as it's stored outside, the burners needed replacement, etc. I bought a bigger new Genesis with 3 burners. I do a lot of grilling with indirect heat. I will buy another Genesis should I live long enough to wear this one out. Expensive but good.

Brian Hale
03-20-2015, 11:45 AM
Based on the experience of my BIL, get the model with the stainless steel grates.

Scott Shepherd
03-20-2015, 12:43 PM
We bought my Dad one probably 10-12 years ago, it's the Genesis as well. It's stayed outside, uncovered for most of it's life. It still looks excellent. They were about $400-500 back then and it's been one of the best grills any of us have purchased as far as longevity. If I had to buy another one, it would be another Weber.

Steve Baumgartner
03-20-2015, 2:57 PM
We have two (one at home and one at summer place) that we have used for about 10 years. There have been only two issues: the sparker box rusted out (easy to replace), and on occasion I have had to wire brush the burners to clean the orifices before I could get a clean flame. In contrast, we went through at least three burner sets (rusted out) in 7 years with our previous (other brand) grill. I would buy another.

Izzy Camire
03-20-2015, 2:57 PM
Based on the experience of my BIL, get the model with the stainless steel grates.

This is good advice.

The best thing about the Weber grills is the company supports them and they have parts. I have a Spirit 500 from 1998 and have replaced the flavor bars and gas manifold a couple of times. Good grill.

Myk Rian
03-20-2015, 3:32 PM
After being frustrated enough times with Char Broil BBQs, we finally bought a Weber.
The only way to go.

John Coloccia
03-20-2015, 3:39 PM
My Weber lived outside, in New England, for a LONG time. A friend had the same grill, with the same story. I finally replaced mine because I wanted something bigger, and found a Genesis on sale at a store closing for peanuts. It's a great grill. Honestly, the quality has gone down a bit. It's not as heavy duty as their old ones used to be. That said, it lives outside year round, uncovered, and performs very well. I expect to get 20 years out of this one too.

Brett Luna
03-20-2015, 4:34 PM
Right now they're on sale b/t 6 and $700 in my area for the two I'm looking at. I think it's the 310 model Genesis series. Any suggestions?

I bought my Summit S-470 (http://www.weber.com/grills/series/summit/summit-s-470) several years ago for about double that but I don't regret it for a minute. We keep a cover on it but it's been rained on, frozen, and we even had a really wet period that saw mold develop under the cover. It cleaned up just fine and is still going strong. I haven't had to replace any parts yet...not even the rotisserie motor. The heavy stainless grates are pretty much bomb proof, sear well, and clean easily.

I've never owned one but the Genesis series is a popular seller up here and is generally well regarded. If I was me, I'd likely pick the S-310 stainless model over the E-310.

roger wiegand
03-20-2015, 4:35 PM
My first one lasted ~20 years outside, about the third time it was going to need the heat fins and grates replaced I decided it looked sad enough to justify a new one. I got an all-stainless three burner model that also works great. We grill on it 2-3 times a week, year round. I also think the SS grated are a good upgrade.

julian abram
03-20-2015, 5:48 PM
Can't go wrong with any of the Weber grills, just pick the size you need and the one priced you can afford. I purchased a Genesis Silver back in 2002 natural gas model, still grilling on it today. Seems like I have replaced the flavor bars a couple times and bought a SS grate last summer. So you will have to replace a few things over the years, like an other equipment. Ours has a side burner which I have found to be very handy. A fellow worker who is a serious charcoal griller has been brow beating me for years about grilling with gas, so I gave in a purchased a Weber 22" kettle a few weeks ago. HD had them on clearance. I've done a few cooks on the charcoal, the food does have better flavor. The learning curve is a little more on the charcoal unit and I look forward to experimenting with it but for convenience I'll never give up my Weber gas grill.

Rick Potter
03-20-2015, 6:38 PM
On advice from the guys here, I bought a webber, and love it.

Thanks again guys,

Brian Elfert
03-20-2015, 9:26 PM
A local hardware store chain was clearing out some new old stock Weber natural gas grills recently. I almost bought one before I realized the older models have the burners the long way instead of the short way. With long narrow burners it can be hard to shut down one burner for indirect heat if you are grilling larger items.

whit richardson
03-20-2015, 10:40 PM
I have a Genesis Silver going on 7-9 yrs. Works great, igniter died quickly but really don't need it. Get new grates and the tent things every 1-2 yrs burners are solid. Cooks great!

Jim Becker
03-21-2015, 8:31 PM
My previous grill was the venerable Genesis Silver and it lasted for many years. I replaced it finally two years ago with the Genesis E330 which is very similar to the E310 you're considering. So far, they have had to replace the pezzo igniters twice and the cast iron grills rusted almost immediately. While I love the features...especially the extra searing "burner", my experience with this newer Webber grill has not instilled the same level of confidence and satisfaction that the old one did. For nearly $800, I expected better.

Matt Meiser
03-23-2015, 1:52 PM
We got married and bought our first house in 2001. I went through a grill a year until we bought a Genesis Silver B in 2004. About a year in the wind blew it off the deck and I called to order a new lid side because it broke. Lady from Weber asked a couple times for me to confirm that I actually didn't know how it got broken before I got the gist and they sent me a whole new lid under warranty. After about 5 years it needed flavorizing bars and grates and burners. Then I found out the burners were still under warranty so they sent me those which I still have in a box. Did the grates again at 10-ish and its about time to do the flavorizor bars. If I was keeping it I'd buy the stainless flavorizor bars and grates (when it needs them), but, I bought a Big Green Egg last fall so I think I'm going to clean up the Weber and put it on Craigslist.

roger wiegand
03-23-2015, 5:00 PM
I bought a Big Green Egg last fall so I think I'm going to clean up the Weber and put it on Craigslist.

Better make sure you like it better for your cooking style first. Hard to beat the Webers.

Matt Marsh
03-24-2015, 2:08 PM
I use my grill year round, and very often. I'm on my third Weber gas grill. I think they are the best grills on the market for your money. My first one was a Genesis Silver B that I bought in 1992. It had wooden lathes for the work surfaces, porcelainized grates and flavorizer bars, and it had the side burner. I loved the grill, and it was still going strong 12 years later, but it was weathered to the point that it needed some serious cleanup. I sold it for just a few dollars on Craig's list, and bought a Genesis Gold (stainless everything). It was also a great grill, although it didn't heat as evenly as the Silver B did. It was starting to corrode on the inside heat deflector, but otherwise it was still going strong in 2014, when the bear came up on the deck and tried to crawl through it. After he got hung up in there, it went flying over the handrail, and landed into a bent up pile. I bought a new E-330 last summer (2014), and couldn't be happier. It heats very evenly, the temperature controls right down to where you want it, and I love the new stle igniter. Mine has the cast iron grates, which after being seasoned, I consider to be superior over both the stainless and the pocrelainized steel ones. I also bought two triangular shaped smoker boxes that sit on the flavorizer bars, for when I want the added smokey flavor. I'll probably buy the rotisserie for it this summer. I use to buy the cheapie $200.00-$300.00 ones, but I could only get 2 or 3 years out of them before they gave up.

Neil Gaskin
03-24-2015, 2:23 PM
I picked up a 310 series late last year to supplement my charcoal grills. I've been very happy with it so far. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles and is not constructed as well as the genesis though.

Matt Marsh
03-24-2015, 2:52 PM
It doesn't have all the bells and whistles and is not constructed as well as the genesis though.

See now I don't get this. I assembled all three of mine, and the E-330 seems to me like it is the best built one of all of them by quite a bit. The enclosed cabinet is much stiffer and sturdier than the open design of the Genesis models that I had, and what bells and whistles? The E-330 has a sear burner, the Genesis models did not. The E-330 has a battery operated igniter, the Genesis did not. The Genesis models had either wooden or plastic work surfaces, the E-330 has stainless steel. The only thing I wish they had done differently on the E-330, was to put the large wheels on the one end like the Genesis had.

Jim Becker
03-25-2015, 10:52 AM
Matt, have you had the same rusting issues with the grates that I have had with the E330?

Matt Marsh
03-25-2015, 11:05 AM
Not at all Jim, but I do regularly spray mine down with vegetable oil when I light it, to season it like a cast iron frying pan. I have one of the pump-up sprayers that I use. The original Weber cast iron grates should actually be porcelainized also. Did you get a bad set? Or maybe somehow brush the porcelain off? Not sure if you can even do that, just wondering.

Matt Marsh
03-25-2015, 11:45 AM
Jim, I found this.

http://help.weber.com/faqs/222/why-are-my-cast-iron-cooking-grates-rusting

Jim Becker
03-26-2015, 11:08 AM
I did the "seasoning" multiple times. But that's the first I've ever seen "do not use the burn-off method" after cooking...oy!

Matt Marsh
03-26-2015, 12:11 PM
I did the "seasoning" multiple times. But that's the first I've ever seen "do not use the burn-off method" after cooking...oy!

That's the first time I've read that too Jim. I use to do the burn-off after grilling on my old Webers, but after I forgot to go back and turn it off the second time, I now do it before each use instead. They also recommend solid vegetable shortening, I have never used that. These sprayers make it simple and inexpensive. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004SPZV/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Matt Meiser
03-26-2015, 1:40 PM
Matt, have you had the same rusting issues with the grates that I have had with the E330?

Mine has the porcelainized stamped grilles. After several years they start to sag pretty good and that's when I've replaced them. Same construction on the flavorizor bars which started to get pretty rusty.

roger wiegand
03-26-2015, 2:05 PM
The porcelainized grills only lasted 4-5 years for me, I replaced them with cast iron which worked better and lasted nearly 15, eventually getting thin and rusting through where they got the hottest. New grill has the stainless grates which still look like new after ~5 years and seem to work as well as the cast iron . They also sell stainless "flavorizer bars" which last 4-5 x longer than the carbon steel ones.

Brian Elfert
03-27-2015, 12:59 AM
The stainless steel on many grills is really cheap stainless steel that doesn't last all that long. If a magnet sticks to stainless steel it isn't good stainless steel. I have a Ducane grill with stainless steel that has been used about ten times a year for seven years. Some of the stainless steel is already failing after only about 75 uses of the grill.

I also have a commercial grill designed for catering events and the stainless on it is going strong after being used and abused for many years. The stainless on it is really heavy and probably cost several thousand for the original owner to have custom made.

Don Morris
03-27-2015, 10:59 PM
I have a 42" Viking, a top-of-line grill based on the price we paid for it. But we use it often, and I enjoy cooking out, even in winter. If I have to shovel snow to get to the grill, I do. I have the gas pumped from the house to the grill directly. It has porcelainiiz grates. They do have a lifetime, but it's in years and I clean them immediately after each meal is brought in. Only takes a minute or two and they're ready for the next time. Occasionally we've rented a beach house with a Weber grill that had a rusty non stainless steel grill grate. I have cooking on that rusty grill grate, even though I wire brush it to death. I bought a small Weber Smoky Joe that has a SS grate I'll bring along just to cook on a decent surface. So I cook on a Weber and a Viking. The small and the big. It's how you go about it. I have one of the instant read Therma Pens from King Arthur flour that I use to test for exact temp of meat. The meat doesn't know whether it's being cooked on the viking or the Smokey Joe