OT - About to pull the trigger on a Weber Genesis 330

[Seinfeld]

Any of you guys grilled with it or any of the Weber gas grills before? Between user reviews and Consumer Reports, the ratings seem to be off the charts

 

[Dawgbite]

Are the burners cast iron or sheet metal? Weber is good stuff but if it doesn't have good burners, it's not going to last. I know its a big joke on here but buy you a good ceramic charcoal grill and you will never have to ask this question again. The best gas grill I ever had was a Members Mark from SAMs.

 

[Rog.sixpack]

Weber Genesis E-330 Natural Gas. So Money.

The grates are porcelain enameled, cast iron.

 

[MrKotter]

I have a stainless Weber, forget the model, that is probably ten years or so old. Never had to replace anything and still works like new. Keep it clean and a Weber will last you forever.

 

[TXDawg.sixpack]

I bought a Weber Genesis 330 after Hurricane Ike destroyed my previous grill. Love it. Never had an issue. Only thing I've had to do to it is replace the battery in the electric igniter.

Go for it. You won't be disappointed.

 

[aTotal360]

Just remember it all starts with the marinade.

 

[garndawg]

I am *ahem* somewhat of an expert on these grills, having bought and restored six in the past two years.

My advice is DON'T BUY NEW! Go to Craigslist! There are at least three beautiful Webers in the Memphis area right now, just begging to be cleaned and restored! One is a fairly recent NG Genesis for $200 and there's a Summit S-470 for less than half retail right now.

A little history lesson: Anything built in the old style (control knobs on the right of the cookbox) were made in america using very thick cast aluminum in the bottom box and heavy gauge steel in the lid and frame. The cookbox and lid are warrantied for 25 years. Only the Summits are made with in the US with high grade materials today. The Genesis line today is made overseas, and although the quality is still outstanding, the lids and cookbox are a lower/thinner grade of material than now.

These things are held together with about 20 1/4-20 bolts. Buy one, knock it apart, pressure wash, repaint with Rustoleum High Temp (Ultra for frame and lid endcaps, basic hightemp for bottom of cookbox), put back together with new SS bolts and new burners ($80) and you've got a grill that will last for 15+ years more. Takes about a day, plus paint cure time. Most of them don't even need that level of restoration. Most grates will clean nicely in your oven cleaning cycle. Weber's customer service is extremely reasonable on parts, too. Much more than most realize.

Currently, I've got a Weber Genesis Platinum Series II (Circa 1990) that is just awesome. Bought it for $75, spent $150 on parts and it's just incredible. Would probably run it forever if I hadn't found a Summit S-620 on Nashville Craigslist last week. That Summit will take about $50 in parts and elbow grease to restore to like new condition.

I've bought and restored four of these as gifts to family, including an older Performer. I LOVE Weber grills!

The others in the same quality range (Viking, Ducane, Jenn Air) are excellent as well, just don't have a ease in finding replacement parts. Most are unobtainium, and what you can find is high $$$. Weber spare parts go back decades for much lower than you'd anticipate, hence why there is such a following for them. Buy your grill, run for 10 years, spend <$100 on new burners and whatnot, run for another 10 years, repeat.

 

[FreeDawg]

Just remember it all starts with the marinade.

Yep. As long as you soak thoroughly in Dales overnight, you can cook it on a brush fire**

 

[Seinfeld]

Wow, awesome info. Thanks

 

[Wicked Pissah]

Yep. As long as you soak thoroughly in Dales overnight, you can cook it on a brush fire**

Or eye-talian

 

[aTotal360]

^^^Gets it^^^

 

[Seinfeld]

Tell me a little about the natural gas option if you don't mind. As far as gas grills go, I've always used propane, but is there an advantage to natural gas?

 

[jxndawg]

I've had a Weber Spirit for about 10 years. Bought it mainly on Consumer Reports' reviews. It's built like a tank, sears/grills beautifully and has never had a single thing go wrong with it. I keep it covered when I'm not using it and give it a decent cleaning every spring, but that's it. Highly recommend.

 

[garndawg]

Tell me a little about the natural gas option if you don't mind. As far as gas grills go, I've always used propane, but is there an advantage to natural gas?

No advantage in cooking either way, different BTU's, so jets are a different diameter. NG is lower energy content than LPG, so the jets are larger. Some people drill out their LPG jets when converting to NG, but that's a little dicey IMHO. And you've still got to replace the line to the manifold anyway.

Both grills get just as hot, just as fast. NG takes more cubic inches per minute to do it, but you're feeding from a constant supply line, so you don't care. It's not like you'll have to refill the bottle more often.

NG is restricted to where you've got a supply line or where you'll run a line. Propane means refilling the tank occasionally (and having a spare for when you run out halfway through a cook).