Weber Q 100 or 200?

I've been planning on buying a Q200 for tailgating at football games this season. Recently I found a retailer offering the Q100 on clearance for $65. How hot can the Q100 range? I was thinking of buying 2 Q100's for $130 instead of a Q200 for $190--will I be disappointed? I'm looking to only cook burgers, brats, and dogs with the Q--all direct heat and all very hot!

I have the Q220 and love it. I recently purchased it and have been cooking up a storm on it although it is on a stand, unlike the way you intend to use it. For your needs I think a couple 100s would do just fine. I've never used one but I can't imagine it not being suitable for hot dogs and burgers and the like. The 100 is small and if portability is your main idea I can't imagine a better grill. You might want to look at the kind of LP tank it uses. I'm pretty sure the Q220 I have will work with the short, fat tanks but the 100 may only work with the thin (and hard to find) torch tanks.

Russell
Whilst the Q100 is only 9600 BTU compared with the Q200/220 with 12000 BTU both provide enough heat to direct grill and indirect roast on.

I have done a comparison cook on the Q100, Q200, Q300, Spirit & Genesis cooking a piece of porterhouse steak equal thickness and size. All cooked for the same length of time and turned at the same time. All were about the same degree of doneness, all were moist with good sear marks though the sear marks on the second side of the steak cooked on the Q100 were a little lighter in colour indicating that the steak absorbed more of the latent heat from the grill and the Q100 was not able to keep the heat up as well as the Q200/220.
Having said that, I demonstrate cooking on the Q100 with ease.
The drawback with the Q100 is the amount of cooking area. It is designed for 2 to 4 people and you are limited by the height.
You can easily set the Q100 up to cook indirectly however you are limited by area and height restrictions.
For $65 I would buy one anyway.
If you can buy the Q120 it is better. The side tables give you a good work surface.
Both the Q100/120 and Q200/220 can be used without a stand, there is not a lot of heat under the BBQ, however, I would ensure that it was sitting on a non-flammable surface that could withstand some heat.

I trust that this helps.

Regards

Hi there Russell,

Marty & Phil have given you good advice and suggestions in regards to the decision you need to make and I just thought I'd mosey on down here to give my 5 cents worth.(it'd be 2 cents worth but they don't make em anymore).
I bought a Q120 which is the Q100 with the side table flaps, about 2 years ago and it's well used all year round but probably 5 nights out of the 7 in the summer and about 3 nights a week during winter.Fantastic little grills and it cooks steaks, sausages, vegetables etc etc with a real grill taste in fact I was a bit hesitant at first when i bought mine and warned the sales guy I'll haunt him if it doesn't do a good job....he doesn't have to worry LOL

Because the Q100/120 are the baby Q's they are the least powerful but still do a great job but if I had my time again, perhaps I'd now go for a 220 and still have some portability.I have only used mine at home so far, never taken it away so a 220 would be better for me.

The Little 100/120 still cooks a mean Burger pattie. I can put about 9 good size burger on mine without crowding them too much and they grill fantastic.

I guess it boils down to how many people you expect to have on a regular tailgate party.

I suppose if you had 2 x Q100's you'll be able to cook for about 8 people at once but bear in mind that means 2 x gas bottles as well and extra storage room in your vehicle needed.

Don't know if this helps much but I hope it did.

Cheers

Davo

I appreciate everyone's input! I ended up buying 2 Q100's as they were too good of a deal to pass up. After assembling them last night, there is plenty of grilling surface to cook exactly what I was looking to do. If the grate temps get up to 500F, that would be awesome. If not, no biggie as I really love having the PCI grates. Plus I called Weber to get the addional attachments that are found on the Q120. I've got a Weber kettle that I can use when we cook with indirect heat, so I think the little 100 will get the job done. Ok last question--am I limited to the narrow, propane bottles used for welding? Would a Coleman propane tank for camping not work with the Q100?

I believe they made a change to the "ring" that the propane tank slides thru on later model Q100's, so depending on when yours were produced, you might have to open-up the tank support ring.

Russell
In Australia we use either a 4 Kg (9 lb) or 9 Kg (20 lb) gas cylinder with the Q series BBQs. You will just need a hose and adaptor. If you pose the question as a seperate topic, you should be able to get some local advice.


Davo - Didn't you tell the salesman that he would be cooking on the Q internally if you weren't happy with it.
Regards

Well more or less...I actually told him I'd haunt him if I wasn't happy with it but luckily for him I am very happy with the little Q120.
The reason I said in my last post that I would've gone for a 220 if I had that time again is because with the little one, I often have to grill in stages because I grill all my vegies first and they take up all the grill space, then I wrap them up with foil untill the meat is grilled. No big deal but it'd been good to do all together as it's just a time saving thing.
Actually the Q220 wasn't available when i bought my little 120 but the Q200 was and was quite a big price jump from the smaller grill.

Like many of us these days, price pays a major part in decisions.

cheers

Davo