genesis burner alignment

Hi folks,

Been looking towards replacing the gasser at my place. I looked a bit for the answer to my question in this forum but didn't see an answer - yet. Wondering about the burner alignment on the Weber s-320 genesis.

Currently use a Falcon Mark V that my wife bought me for $10 in about '93 as a worn out unit in a garage sale. Cleaned it up and repainted a couple of times and rebuilt the cart over the years. It will never die but with a single H burner it does not allow real indirect cooking - I improvise with tinfoil to redirect the heat.

I have had enough of putting $50 burners in this (time to move up) and want to get a gasser that will give me flexibility and last for 20 years.

Kind of leaning towards going to Weber and the s-320 I see locally is all stainless and has a side burner. The 3 burners are oriented hoizontally - each of 3 burners span from one side to the other. Most other grills I see are oriented vertically - front to back. Did that make sense ?

I am interested in other users' experience in indirect cooking with this arrangement - either by rotis or just indirect. Beer can chicken for instance.

Yes I have a couple of options for charcoal/smoking, but this question relates only to the gasser use.

Would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

The orientation of the burners is of little consequence. Smooth talking salesmen will give you all the BS about the particular model that they are trying to push. Truth be known, generally both types provide a similar combined BTU ratio for the surface area.
I have a Genesis E320 and demonstrate cooking on a Genesis E320 a Q300 and a OTG kettle for Weber Australia of a Saturday.
I can cook just about anything on the Genesis and always cook with the lid down. I have cooked 5 chickens indirectly on the Genesis at the same time. It is relatively easy to do. I can add smoke to it but not to the same degree as a WSM or Kettle. One of the things that I like about the right to left burners is that you can leave the front one down lower than the rest so you don’t burn yourself when turning a lot of meat. The flavouriser bars on the Weber reduce flare ups to practically zero.
Does the S320 have the 7 mm SS rod grills or PC Iron grills. The SS gives good sear marks, is easier to clean and lasts longer. The PCI grill gives superb grill marks and retains it's heat a lot better. The SS flavouriser bars last much longer.
I don't know about the BBQs that you are comparing the Weber to but here in Australia most of the competition cant cook with all burners going at one time with the lid down, whereas the Weber can. I can get my Genesis up to 650 during summer which is great when I want to do a quick sear. One of the things that sold me on the Genesis was the fact that the controls were on the side, this means that if I brush up/lean against the front of the BBQ I don’t change the settings of the control knobs. That, and the fact that the whole area is a cooking surface and I don't have to chase around trying to find hot spots.
Last Saturday I cooked a butterflied leg of lamb with rosemary, garlic and lemon pepper, and a basket of char grilled vegetable at the same time on the Genesis (on the grill not side burner) all with the lid down. Total cooking time was 35 minutes, after 20 minute I turned the lamb and put the basket of veggies on. I had precut the veggies and had them in a Ziploc bag, I added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil, the same amount of fish sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of a screaming seeds spice mix. I tossed the veggies twice during their 15 minutes cooking time. At the end of the cook it took me 5 minutes to clean the BBQ.
As you can probably tell I am passionate about my Genesis, I like to burners going from right to left and the fact that I can cook practically anything with it.
I should add that they sell for $1500.00 here in Australia, however they do have a limited 25 year guarantee whereas most BBQs in Australia have 12 months to 5 Years for the high end ones.

If you search for posts in this forum for genesis or for posts by me you should be able to find some about indirect on the Genesis.
Feel free to fire away with any questions and I or some of the other users will gladly answer them for you.

Regards

Thanks for the response Phil. I didn't expect there to be any real issue, but if there was one to be found I knew I could find it in this forum.

I'm about 99% decided on the Weber - just a matter of setting aside some funds for a purchase next spring. Will be opting for a natural gas unit and getting that piped to the back deck. No more running out of fuel.

Fish sauce on the veggies ? Sounds interesting - will give that a go sometime.

Originally posted by Mark B:
.............. Will be opting for a natural gas unit and getting that piped to the back deck. No more running out of fuel. ...........

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Mark - If you go the natural gas route make sure you have large diameter piping and good pressure. I have seen a few people have small diameter piping and have gas flow issues.

You won't be disappointed.

You don't need salt if you use the fish sauce and it produces a contrasting flavour. Don't overdo it with the sauce, first time try a tablespoon only. There are several different types, some are much stronger flavours than others. I use a weak on for this and the proper Thai one for dipping sauces.

Regards

Hi Mark, I had similar questions when I was looking for a new gasser and I can tell you the Genesis has performed well beyond my expectations. Using beer can chicken for an example-- I use all 3 burners to get the grill up to temp and let it heat up so the firepot is stable then back it off to about 325 (or whatever you prefer). Shut down the middle and rear burner and adjust temp with front burner only. I find that the front burner on about 1/3 throttle keeps the Genesis easily humming along at 325. The reason I do this is because the heat will escape from the rear where the vent is, but not until it passes the chickens first. If you use the rear burner you will lose a lot of heat through the vent and may have a harder time keeping temps stable. I can easily stagger 4 or 5 beer can chickens on the grill (although 4 is better fit) along the back, with the warming rack removed.
The different burner configuration hasn't been an issue at all and has actually made me a better griller because of the need to improvise and adapt. Having grown used to this setup I think I'd be hard pressed to go back. The Genesis is one seriously great grill!

Trev
A seriously great tip about using the front burner on high. I am a power user of the Genesis and demonstrate them, I had not thought of that. Well done and thanks for the tip.

Regards

Thanks Phil, I sure do love the Genesis.

I have a genesis EP-320 but flareups are definitely not reduced to zero. When I cook chicken thighs skin on there are a ton of flareups.

I hear ya, Joe. Chicken can be tricky to grill for sure. The only chicken I grill with high heat is boneless and skinless breast for my wife. I always use my kettle with an indirect heat and drip-pan for thighs. Once the fat is gone I get a nice crispy, brown skin.

Originally posted by Joe Dang:
I have a genesis EP-320 but flareups are definitely not reduced to zero. When I cook chicken thighs skin on there are a ton of flareups.

Click to expand...

Try front and rear set half way between medium and high, middle burner on low, if it still doesn't stop put a drptray or foil tray under the grill, on the flavouriser bars.
I personally generally do them indirect and finish with a reverse sear.

Regards

Mark,

Before I got my WSM, I cooked baby backs and beer can chicken for years on my Genesis. I would heat it up using all burners, then shut the two back burners off and adjust the front to give me 250-300 º so I could “smoke“ them slow for several hours. I have the cast iron wood chip box that I place directly over the front burner to the left. When the grill heats up, the chips start smoldering and gives you that wood flavor. I could do three racks ob ribs with the rib rack and two to three beer can chickens at a time.

Well, it finally happened today. Ended up with a Weber Genesis CEP-310. Decided to save the $ by omitting the side burner - I have other options.

In our market (Canada) this CEP designation gives you stainless shelves and doors with the roasting hood being enamelled. Nice hefty 9mm stainless grills. Oh, and the hood is copper - really starting to like the color - the only other option here is black.

First cook was asap today and in honour of Phil Hartcher's many useful posts it was a marinated boneless leg of lamb. Managed not to overcook it so that counts as a success.

It'll take some getting used to cooking with the Genesis after so long with the Falcon. Will post a couple of pics soon.

Thanks for all your replies.

I don't know if there's any truth to this but I read somewhere that this horizontal configuration of burners results in more effective convection of heat.
This makes sense to me considering the shape of these grills.