Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler suggestions for a gas grill?

My birthday is on the 22nd, and my girlfriend just said she wants to buy me a grill.

Anyone have any suggestions on a gas grill that is less than $300?

Thanks.

We just bought a Char-Broil Commercial Series from Lowes . It was rated as a "Best Buy" from Consumer Reports.

We like it so far, but have only used it a handful of times because it's been raining here every freakin' day since June.



Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Terzaghi, just do a forum search on Weber

David, the Webers are excellent, but quite a bit above the budget that you mention. In the June issue of Consumer Reports grills were tested, with a Weber at the top, but a "Best Buy" well within your budget was this Brinkmann at Home Depot for $199.

I was once told that in Canada we have bbqs down south you have Webers.

The Spirit E220 should be within budget, or pretty close to it. It's a 2 burner, but still a very nice grill. No frills, but it's a Weber.

thanks for the input. I found the wber thread and it really has me interested!

Found this grill:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=220020-505-3780001&lpage=none

question though...

It says "Cooking grates are 7mm diameter stainless steel rods
Features stainless steel Flavorizer bars"

then below that it says: "Cooking grates are porcelain-enameled cast-iron and Flavorizer bars are porcelain-enameled steel"

which one is it?

wow...$850....

I thought you were looking under $300...?

According to the Weber site, all SS.

http://www.weber.com/bbq/pub/grill/2007/gas/GenesisS320.aspx

We have the Weber Summit (I guess the equivalent to current model S-670), and use it at least 4 times a week. Two years running, and still good as new.

My budget is subject to change when I find something really cool

Actually, My girlfriend told me she would spend about $300 on a gas grill for my birthday, but I am debating on applying her $300 toward a more expensive model, and I will pay the difference...

I think I can find a good grill for <$300 though, but I am def. going to explore all possible options before I make any purchases. If I find that a more expenisve model will last longer, work better, and in the long run have a better cost/benefit ratio then why not spend the extra cash?

Sroode, I saw the pic of your grill in the other thread! HOLY SMOKES that thing is GORGEOUS! You really need to stop posting pictures of your HT and your grill, your making me jealous!
Ha!

Dude, that Mantra is printed on a sign above my desk!

Still, though, my wife won't let me date new models.

She just doesn't know what you're missing.

LOL! Good one, Mark.

The big box stores will usually request a modified version with cheaper parts. VERY common up here. I'd be surprised if it WASN'T porcelain coated.

Somehow I missed this reply but I'm thinking Lowes has their model mixed up in that particular add, the Genesis S-320 is indeed all stainless with stainless cooking grates and flavorizer bars ... Click here for the Genesis S-320 specs, this is the grill that we have and are extremely pleased with it. They have the price and pictured grill right, they have the specs wrong, we paid $850 for our S-320.

I'm betting the description Lowes is advertising is for the Genesis E-320 ... Click here for the Genesis E-320 specs, I'm thinking that particular grill went for $699 at Home Depot, but as usual I could be wrong.

I'm a very firm believer in the Weber grills and I'm hearing and reading their Smokey Mountain Cooker is one badazz smoking machine that a lot of folks who know their way around a smoker highly recommend. Click here for the GSM specs ... if your at all into smoking.

I have been very impressed with my Weber iQ-120(?) portable gas grill. It works great and has a nice even heat all around something very hard to find in portable BBQs, it even has an electronic ignitor.

For home I have a Vermont Castings and it works great too I like haveing the 4 burners makes indirect(heat) cooking very easy.

For parties, I highly recommend these hotdog utensils.


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I have that Genesis S320 as well (natural gas model), and it is fantastic. Yes, it is all stainless--cooking grates, flavorizer bars, exterior. I think I bought mine for like $650 a year ago, but it seems that the price has actually gone up quite a bit on this model. It's great though. If you want to save a few bucks, I think the Weber EP models (not the E models) also have stainless steel grates and flavorizer bars, but are not the all-stainless exterior.

found a summit s-650 on sale at a local store for $1499, which retails for $1999... if I was wanting to spend that Kind of cash and had a need for a 6 burner grill I would grab it.

Man I wish they had the summit s-450 on sale for like $1000 from its $1499 retail price instead!

Still debating over the genesis for $850 or a grill around $300 that will probably be sufficient and last for several years.

Bought the Genesis S-320 today!!!!

I also got one of the weber covers to go with it, and the weber genesis 300 series rotisserie accessory!!!!!

Bought it from a local charcoal/grill store that sells hasty bakes/webers/ect. here in town... have to wait a week or two for the model to show up though They only had 1 on display and it was the natural gas version not propane...

My girlfriend is paying for some of it, and my dad offered to pitch in some on it for my Birthday as well.. so now I wait until they call me and I can pick it up (and pay the hefty portion that is left over)!

Are these things difficult to put together?

My Weber was pretty easy. It comes partially assembled, so you only need to assemble the stand, really.

cool. they offered to assemble it for $25 but I figured it was pretty easy so I told them "no thanks".

You'll really like that cover, it's not your typical 20 dollar vinyl cover that's going to rip after a couple uses.

Congrats on the new grill.

Ditto on the cover. Mine still looks like new after a few years.

Not as difficult as waiting 2 weeks for it to arrive with BQed meat on your mind.

I'm not what you called mechanically inclined, but I put mine together myself over two nights. First night I basically got all the parts out, made sure everything was there, and got up to about step 3, then I did the rest in night 2.

just curious if anyone with the weber genesis 300 series has purchased the smoker box accessory.

Apparently for 90 bucks you can buy a little smoker box that fits into the side of your weber genesis grill... It comes with a stainless steel grill that is reduced in size to allows for the smoker box to fit in like it does on the Summit (except no dedicated smoker burner of course.)

At 90 bucks, I think it is a little steep, but I found it here for $39.

http://www.rainbowappliance.com/7541.html?utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_source=googlebase

The only thing I don't like is the smoker box itself is porcelain enamled and not SS... hmmmm contemplating on ordering it.

David, I'm not sure how well that will work without being directly over a burner/heat source, but it may be fine. For $15, I've had decent success with one of these. It is placed under the cooking grates, directly on top of the flavorizer bars near the heat.

My only complaint is the volume of chips it holds. I've often thought of picking up a second or third tube.

There is another tread a couple of years backs where tt mentions about mixing wet and dry chips. It's a good tip.

I had the same thought (about not being over a burner), but it is an official weber accessory so who knows.

I also saw some of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Outset-QS77-Stainl...20274196&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Grillfinity-510101...20274277&sr=8-9

I wonder if those would fit between the cooking grates and flavorizor bars?

I've used one similar to that but not on a Weber. On mine, Charbroil I think, the smoker box worked pretty good.

Well time to vent some frustration here...

They placed the order for my grill on 8/22 and told me it would be 1-2 weeks. I called 2 weeks later and the person I spoke with said that my grill was not in yet there is no way that I was told 1-2 weeks because weber always takes 2-3 weeks to deliver... Called back today and spoke with the lady who sold me the grill (tomorrow will b e 3 weeks and I still haven't heard anything).. she said that she did indeed tell me 1-2 weeks because that is how long it usually takes. She then proceeded to tell me that my grill had actually came in on the 27th of august, and they sold it to someone else. Funny thing considering I had already paid them $200 down on it...

she is going to talk to the owner and find out how they are going to fix the situation b/c I am pretty frustrated.

Wow that would have gotten me pretty upset. If they don't do something special for ya I would want my money back and take my business elsewhere.

Simple fix. Call the credit card company to dispute the charges and go somewhere else.

Well I heard from the grill place today.

Based on the amount of time it would take to re-order another genesis I am changing to a different grill that is on its way from Illinois right now.

I am going with the Weber Sumit S470, The four burner with the side burner, stainless steel smoker box with dedicated burner, rotisserie with dedicated infrared burner, and a dedicated sear burner.

They are selling me the grill for a discount ($300 off) and throwing in a free grill cover (another $50)

I have really been second guessing my purchase of the weber genesis for the last couple of weeks anyway... wondering if I should have went with a summit instead.

My girlfriend would not let me get the summit before, but now that it is at a discount its fair game.

So I am a little bummed that I am forking over more cash than I originally wanted to spend, but in the long run I think I might have always wished I would have purchased the summit.

Should have it sometime before tuesday.

Pics to follow!

Upgradeitis strikes again!

At least they gave you something for your troubles.

So I thought it would be cool to buy a griddle for my weber. I was going to get this for the Genesis:
http://store.weber.com/Items/Accessories/Gas/Detail.aspx?pid=1254

Thought it would be neat for making lots of pancakes in the morning after a gathering, or even philly cheese steaks with bell peppers, jalapeno's and onions.

Unfortunately I can not find a griddle for the summit. I called Weber and they said they don't carry such a product. What gives?

I have a Weber Summit and went to the local barbecue shop (Barbecues Galore) and bought a no name cast iron grill and it works great. One word of caution the grill does get very hot and can be touchy to keep the temperature down.

Greg

I have the same gas grill as well. I'll have to get one of those cast iron grills. Great idea!

got the summit 2 days ago... finally got around to getting it set up today! What an amazing looking grill! I will get some propane tomorrow and cook some grub ASAP.

Pictures to come.

I purchased the natural gas model. Got tired of driving to the depot to fill up the propane tanks. In addition, the propane always seemed to run out when you had company and you were half way through cooking the steaks

I always keep a spare full tank on hand and use this little in line device between the tank and the grill, works like a charm.

The summit has a built in tank gauge, allthough I can not vouch for its accuracy. I just put a new tank on there and it said that it was nearly full though.

Same with my Weber Spirit and the new, almost full tank. I knew I should have asked for a different one...

If it's the same type of gauge that's on the Genesis, the gauge that reads the weight of the tank with the slide indicator on the tank mount I wouldn't vouch for it's accuracy either .... that's exactly why I bought the in-line pressure read gauge.

Having the grill connected with natural gas would be the way to go but everything in my home is electric and I couldn't justify having a big natural gas tank installed specifically for a grill.

yup, its the weight scale... I think I might pick up an actual pressure gauge now that you mention it though. good idea!

Hey Rick,

Where did you buy the gauge?

Greg

try here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=propane+gauge

You could try RV parts stores too.

Rick,
I committed to the natural gas model as we moved into a newer home this past March. I ran a new natural gas line to the bbq. My wife needed a dedicated electrical service for her pottery kiln (garage) so I killed two birds with one stone and ran the natural gas line in the trench. Big $$$ later we were both happy!

Greg I bought mine at Lowes for something like $19 but saw the same gauge at Sam's Club for $14, I believe you can probably find them in several different places ... maybe even WalMart.

I saw that gage at Lowes tonight, indeed it was $19. I've looked at Walmart but didn't see such a thing there.

Allright... here are the pics of my weber summit s470

Very nice David, Congrats!

It will never be that clean again!

Congrats. Great choice!

The lighted dials are pretty cool. I bought my Vermont Castings a year too early. The following year they introduced the lighted controls.

Very nice looking grill.

Sweet!

Yeah, I was just about to fire up the grill and cook some chops and corn, but I figured I better take a picture first!

Very nice grill, that's the first I've seen of that model.

And I present the first meal off the grill:

Awesome! How much of that came directly off the grill?

Man, I'm freaking hungry now.

just the chicken and the asparagus came off the grill, and also it wasn't really the first meal off the grill since I had cooked chops and corn on it the night before. It was however the best meal so far.

Chicken Quesadillas anyone?

lovely grill marks.

It's easy to sear a quesadilla no sear station needed for that one!

Wow, that's cool! I have to try that.

yeah i got the recipe out of the How to Grill Cookbook I bought with the grill.

The recipe called for cheese, cilantro, scallions, red plum tomatos, and jalapenos.

We left out the cilantro and substituted yellow onion for the scallions. I had to add some meat so we grilled some thin chicken breasts with a little baja chipotle lime marinade and then sprinkled with some cayenne pepper and black pepper... sliced 'em into strips and added them into the quesadillas before grilling them.

I would recommend using a large wide spatula (like for fish or something)because I nearly dumped all of the stuffing into the grill when trying to flip them!

Of course you can add in whatever you want! be sure to turn the grill down to LOW before placing the quesadillas on it!

Also be sure you butter outside of tortillas really good... And I would even oil the grates with spray pam (watch the flames!) or with a basting brush and some oil. I grilled em about 2 minutes per side.

Why did I open this thread? I'm so hungry.