Spirit e310 won't sear?


 

GreggP

TVWBB Fan
Some (awesome) friends of ours got us a Spirit e310 as a wedding gift some months ago.

Immediately, I noticed that it wouldn't sear food . I will preheat it for 10-15 minutes (or to a temperature reading of 500-550F), and any meat/vegetables I put on there will cook, but not sear.

I called Weber about this initially and they replaced my grates with PCI ones. Then winter hit.

That didn't solve the problem. I also noticed that when it's below freezing out, the flame barely appears and I can blow it out.

Any ideas? I am very sad.
 
Interesting problem Greg
When you say it cooks the meat does it have grill marks on it where it comes in contact with the grill or is it just a grey colour.
Do you have all burners alight. Check by removing the grill and flavouriser bars and then light the burners,
How high are the flames and what colour are they.
Next step remove the temp gauge and place the probe in boiling water it should read 212F.

If the flame is low turn everything off and wait a few minutes. Leave the BBQ burners turned off and turn on the valve on the bottle very slowly and wait for at least 30 seconds. Turn the front burner on the BBQ to high and light the burner, turn on burners 2 and 3. Did this make a difference? Yes - reassemble the BBQ and cook use the lighting method from now on.
No check the spider guard on the gas line near where the hose connection point is.

Call weber customer service and tell them you need a technician to do a servce call under warranty.

Hope this helps.

Regards
 
Odd problem. I just got a Spirit E-310 2 weeks ago and with all three burners on max, it sears unlike any other outdoor grill I've owned. I wish I had taken some pictures of the filets I cooked last night. It makes incredible grill marks, even with the stock porcelain steel grates. I have fired it up in high winds and cool temps (40 deg) and I can easily peg the temp gauge at 600+ in 12 minutes or so.

Phil, as always, has great suggestions for diagnosing the problem. It sounds like something is not allowing the proper amount of propane to get to the burners. Make sure your tank valve is all the way open. It may be a leaky valve on the tank or something clogging the tube burners.

And I may be pointing out the obvious here, but just to make sure, the highest heat setting on the control knobs is the one closest to "off", with the knobs pointing at the 9 o'clock position. If you crank the knobs all the way counter-clockwise, that's on "low".
icon_smile.gif
 
And if all that doesn't help with a sear remember that wet meat will not sear. Be sure to pat dry your meat with a paper towel before placing on the grill.
 
Greg
I forgot the obvious first question - It may sound dumb so don't be offended. Are you grilling with the hood up or down?

All grilling on Weber Gassers should be with the lid down.

Cheers
 
Lid down, flame all the way up, grill comes to temperature, still no sear. I don't get it.

Flames are blue, by and large.
 
GreggP

Call Weber CS, we wont be able to provide you with answers quickly through the forum. Yours is a strange one.

Sorry we couldn't offer a solution.

Cheers
 
Are you using tanks from a propane exchange? I've had a few that acted like yours, went back and got another one, no problems.
Tim
 
You said the thermo hits 550°F after 10-15 minutes and flames are blue right? So it seems the grill gets hot enough and your not tripping the gas flow control feature. You have PCI grates and they are great at retaining heat, however they also take a little longer to heat up. ALthough the therm on the hood may say 550°, that doesn't necessarily mean that the grates are that hot. This is specially the case when grilling in sub freezing temperatures which you said you have done before.

By sear do you mean getting those grill marks? What exactly are you grilling that wouldn't sear? Before you put your item on the grill, how long can you hold your hand 3 inches over the grates? Do you let the meat come to room temp or do you grill straight from the fridge? DO you oil the item or the grates? How long do you let them stay on the grill before turning?

Lots of questions I know. If you tell us what you are grilling and how you go about it, that could help us pin point the problem. It is very upsetting to have a nice grill that doesn't seem to work properly. Hopefully, we (or Weber CS) can help you enjoy your grill.
 
Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
GreggP

Call Weber CS, we wont be able to provide you with answers quickly through the forum. Yours is a strange one.

Sorry we couldn't offer a solution.

Cheers

Phil,

I actually called CS the other day (before your post) and I was kind of disappointed. All they could say is "your grill sounds like it's working right, so we don't have an explanation."

I've tried grilling flank steaks, vegetables, chicken, etc. By "sear" I mean "grill marks." It's just a behavior I haven't noticed on any other Webers I've used.
 
Gregg
If I didn't live so far away (Australia) I would check it out for you. I can understand your frustrations and am at a loss as to what it could be.

Can I suggest that you call Weber CS and ask to speak to a Technician. Befor doing that grill a piece of skinless chicken and a piece of steak take a photo of them and then you can email them to the technician to show him while you are talking to him.

If possible you could also ask around your friends to see if anyone has one to compare the results against that way you can speak positively to CS and the Technician about the results.

Don't worry we will get it fixed one way or another.

Regards
 
Greg - I was just thinking - which of course is a dangerous thing - and was wondering if you have tried placing an oven thermometer directly on the grill grate to check and see what temps you are achieving at the grate, rather than at the top of the lid where the installed thermometer is installed.

There have been several comments about thermometers being off by quite a bit and I once had a thermometer in my CharBroil Commercial gasser that was as much as 200 degrees off (low).

Just curious IF possibly, you aren't achieving the temps you believe you are which could signal a problem with the burners.

I think somebody also suggested trying another tank of propane - may not help but couldn't hurt.

Just a couple of thoughts on a Friday afternoon.

Pat
 
Gregg
This is an example of the searing you will get from the Spirit E310 .
These are Sausages and Lamb Steaks done on my Q220, however it is exactly the same as what you would get on the Spirit. Notice the lack of searing on the middle one where there was no contact on the grill. Sausages and Lamb Steaks
Regards
 
When I was surfing some of the other grilling sites, I came across this post on the Char-Broil site (I have, and used to use, a 2004 Char Broil Commercial 4 Burner Gas Grill - now I have a Weber Genesis Silver with PCI grill grates).

Maybe the "cover grate while heating" suggestion will help you.

It seems that if the grill is getting as hot as your thermometer indicates, and the grates are given ample time to get up to temp themselves before you put the meat on (listen for the sizzle), the science and chemistry would insist that the meat char where it contacts the grates!

Anyway - maybe this will be of help to you.

(From the Char Broil Web Site):

Q: Does your current grill have cast iron or porcelain coated cast iron grates?

If the answer is Yes - then all you need to do is super heat them to achieve searing temps (in the 450F - 650F degree range).

Use an inverted half-sheet baking pan to cover the grate area you want to use as your “searing station” and let it sit there during pre-heat with the burner on HIGH. Use tongs to remove the pan and immediately place your seasoned pre-oiled (canola oil) steaks on the grates. They should be hot enough to sear.

You can also use a a light brushing of clarified butter on your steaks or chops before placing on the grates that you heat on HIGH without doing the above.

I believe the smoke point of the clarified butter can really help the old Maillard Effect - the scientific name for ‘browned color = flavor’ - because it’s a bit less than processed oils and higher than olive oil and regular butter.

If the answer to the question is No - you may want to simply purchase some cast iron grates to lay atop the existing grates of your current grill and use the cover method I described above.

Good Grilling!

Pat
 
A good suggestion Pat and a good workaround.

My question to Weber would be - Why is this happening and why do I need a workaround? Please either repair or replace my BBQ under warranty. The only subjective question is - To what degree is it searing now?

Regards
 
Hi Admins!

Looks like this is an old thread, but it's EXACTLY the same issue I'm having with my NEW Spirit. Can we re-open this thread, or can I start a new one?
(Note, the attached pic was taken after cooking on a camping fold-up propane grill. It can NOT be accomplished using my new grill)
 

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Rob, your grill is a different animal than the ones discussed in the thread. After 13 years, I think maybe you should start a new thread. I would advise that you give a specific year, make and model of your grill. Pictures are always helpful. Is it really new or have you had it more than a week or two? Did it ever cook good?
 
Rob -- all good ideas and questions above.

But if you confirm that your grill is working correctly, it could be that that is how your grill works. 500-ish top temp may just not give you enough oomph to get the ripping sear you want.

Does your Spirit have a sear burner? Weber, obviously, has a reason that it sells grills that have an extra sear burner installed.

If you don't have a sear burner on your grill, you may need to do some kind of work around.

When I want to boost the temps and searing of my old Silver B three burner, my solution was GrillGrates. They made my grill run hotter overall (by trapping more heat) and the flat side sears like crazy. Hot metal (like a cast iron skillet) sears very efficiently via conduction of heat energy.

A half set isn't that expensive. You could also try a Weber griddle on one side.
 
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Rob, your grill is a different animal than the ones discussed in the thread. After 13 years, I think maybe you should start a new thread. I would advise that you give a specific year, make and model of your grill. Pictures are always helpful. Is it really new or have you had it more than a week or two? Did it ever cook good?
Thanks Bruce. Headed out to start this thread again now :)
 
Rob -- all good ideas and questions above.

But if you confirm that your grill is working correctly, it could be that that is how your grill works. 500-ish top temp may just not give you enough oomph to get the ripping sear you want.

Does your Spirit have a sear burner? Weber, obviously, has a reason that it sells grills that have an extra sear burner installed.

If you don't have a sear burner on your grill, you may need to do some kind of work around.

When I want to boost the temps and searing of my old Silver B three burner, my solution was GrillGrates. They made my grill run hotter overall (by trapping more heat) and the flat side sears like crazy. Hot metal (like a cast iron skillet) sears very efficiently via conduction of heat energy.

A half set isn't that expensive. You could also try a Weber griddle on one side.
Hey Jim,
Thanks for the advice. I'm going to start a new thread, and you'll see the responses to some of your questions there.

Cheers!
 

 

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