S-320 Heat Time

Want to begin by saying my 320 cooks great and is a pleasure to BBQ on.

Are there any owners who can comment on appropriate or normal heat up times. I find it takes my bbq 10 to 12 minutes to get to 500 and between 20 and 30 to get into the 650 range.

My cooking style for most items is 500 for a sear and then 400 for the cook so no real issues. I just want to make sure thats normal.

It is Propane, not sure if the gas type makes a difference.

Just wanted to ask again about heat times. It is taking mine 15 minutes to hit 600, although still a bit cold outside and not sure if that makes a difference.

My BBQ does not seem to have a liner inside the cover that I see on the models in the store. Almost looks like a heat shield. When I call Weber they do not seem to understand what I am talking about nor can I find the part listed in the parts break down on either my BBQ or that in the manuals of the BBQ\s in the store that does have it.

Any ideas?

Hi Wayne,
I have a 10 year old Genesis Spirit A that is a recent acquisition. I haven't timed it, but it might heat a little faster. It's possible that Weber has cranked the input down over the years. Benefits to that would be better low temp control (burners can only turn down so much before the flame becomes unstable) and less likelihood to overheat and damage the grill parts. It doesn't sound like the heat up time on yours is out of line. Mine is also operating with only 3 of 5 flavorizer bars at the moment. The results you are getting do not seem to be out of line.

I can't speak to the liner. Perhaps it is a running model change. Can you snap a picture of one and send it to Weber customer service? That might help to show them what you are asking about. (My older grill has no liner.)

I would say my 3 year old Genesis takes about the same time to heat up as yours does. I just restored an old Genesis from the 90's and it gets to 700 in about 5 minutes! So there is a difference between heat times between old and newer models.

Their is a compromise between high BTU burners for fast heat-up & lower BTU burners for better low temp control.
For safety reasons burners can only be turned down so much ( to prevent the flame from going out )
High end grills often have lower BTU ratings than cheap grills! It's cheaper to build a grill that gets to sear temps with 60,000 BTUs than one with 36,000.
My gas grill ( Vermont Castings ) takes 15 min to get to searing temps (600F).

Thank you for the replies and putting my mind at ease.

I do not seem to have the access to post a picture. May be just not knowing how but do not see an attach item only url link.

Wayne,

Posting pics link:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/howtouse.html#photo

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Wayne Carter:
Want to begin by saying my 320 cooks great and is a pleasure to BBQ on.

Are there any owners who can comment on appropriate or normal heat up times. I find it takes my bbq 10 to 12 minutes to get to 500 and between 20 and 30 to get into the 650 range.

My cooking style for most items is 500 for a sear and then 400 for the cook so no real issues. I just want to make sure thats normal.

It is Propane, not sure if the gas type makes a difference. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds about right on my Weber Genesis C. I will say this though. In the last 2 years, I switched out my PC grates and flavorizer bars with extremely heavy duty SS and that slowed down the heat up times considerably. At first I thought my grill was have issues but then I realized it was the extra 25 pounds of metal in there that was doing it. Duh.