GII E-410 an upgrade over Genesis E-330?


 
C

Chris Goodloe

New member
As many of you have probably seen posted in various places, Lowe's has been closing out their current stock of base-model Weber Genesis grills. I snagged a copper colored E-410 for literally half price. Its a gorgeous grill and I've had my eye on the new Genesis II series ever since they were released.

I usually cook for 2 plus our kid, and occasionally for a group of people we have over (20-30 at most). I am on my second Genesis now, the last one killed off by movers. I absolutely love my E-330 and it does everything I need it to do, and all of the obvious pluses like warranty and made in the USA. But can an E-410 at this price be considered an upgrade? My E-330 is only about 3 years old and could probably be sold locally for what I gave for the GII. I've done some searches and most of what I have found has been conjecture ("it is made in China, so it is junk", etc). Has anyone made the transition from a late model Genesis E-330 or any of the late model Genesis to the new Genesis II? Has it been a worthy successor or does it leave you missing the outgoing model?

I ONLY use this thing for grilling. I have a separate WSM 18 for smoking, or charcoal grilling in a pinch. Otherwise, anything cooked outside Monday-Friday is almost always on the gas grill. I think I've used the side burner once in the entire time I've owned it, and I never really understood the searing station. I always cooked my steaks offset heat so the grates on the opposite side were more than hot enough to sear once the steaks were at the right temp. Maybe I need to work on my technique to be able to more effectively use the sear station, but those seem to be the two main differences between the two grills, besides the fact that the new one has more space on the grill top and an extra burner.
 
For the record your 330 was not really made in the USA. They were only packaged here. I recall putting my sister's E310 together for them and was so disappointed to see every box inside the main box labeled "Fabrique En Chine" I honestly don't know when they made the last ones here (truly made) but I suspect it ended with the old B/C type models
Anyway whether it's an "upgrade" is up to you. Only you can decide if it's an upgrade. Perhaps in width if you consider more space an upgrade
 
LMichaels said:
For the record your 330 was not really made in the USA. They were only packaged here. I recall putting my sister's E310 together for them and was so disappointed to see every box inside the main box labeled "Fabrique En Chine" I honestly don't know when they made the last ones here (truly made) but I suspect it ended with the old B/C type models
Anyway whether it's an "upgrade" is up to you. Only you can decide if it's an upgrade. Perhaps in width if you consider more space an upgrade
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Yes, it is up to me, but that is one of the main reasons of this post. I haven't used it yet and can't very well test drive it and return it. So before I fire it up, I wanted to see if anyone had direct comparison of the Genesis vs GII regarding performance of the grills themselves. I can compare "extras" all day long, but at the end of the day they are built to cook. And if there are people here who have swapped from the previous generation to the GII and think the performance has decreased, that is DEFINITELY information I could use. There is so much more to this than cooking space.
 
Keep us posted on what you decide on. But, in my opinion, if you are after performance, go back to a Genesis prior to 2007. But you would be giving up some grill space.
 
Bruce said:
Keep us posted on what you decide on. But, in my opinion, if you are after performance, go back to a Genesis prior to 2007. But you would be giving up some grill space.
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I've been on the lookout for one to pop up on my local CL. If I see something other than a plain black one, I will be all over it.
 
Bruce said:
Keep us posted on what you decide on. But, in my opinion, if you are after performance, go back to a Genesis prior to 2007. But you would be giving up some grill space.
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I was thinking in the future if I decided I needed bigger just get a second pre 2007 Genesis. Then I can find it up if I need it, if not I will just run the one. If I could find a way to make a custom frame to put them both on it would be sweet!
 
There is an ongoing thread in the buy and sell some people scored the 610 for that number but now supposedly Sam as you said if you can score one for the $649 that is still a crazy good price. Funny thing is there are a couple in ATL on craigslist one for $899 and one for $1000 obviously they scored those whether it was 324 or 649 trying to flip them.

I think the E-410 scored for half price is a good deal I mean it is a brand new grill, yes I love my redhead but there are times I miss the N/S burners for indirect cooking to me it was easier even though it was charbroil junk. I don't have a rotis for the time being if I get one then the redhead will be great for that.
 
Chris Goodloe said:
Yes, it is up to me, but that is one of the main reasons of this post. I haven't used it yet and can't very well test drive it and return it. So before I fire it up, I wanted to see if anyone had direct comparison of the Genesis vs GII regarding performance of the grills themselves. I can compare "extras" all day long, but at the end of the day they are built to cook. And if there are people here who have swapped from the previous generation to the GII and think the performance has decreased, that is DEFINITELY information I could use. There is so much more to this than cooking space.
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Sorry you didn't really clarify what you were after. I guess you can use mathematics. Number of BTU x total space to get btu per sq in. Honestly short of firing it up I see no other way
 
Yah, even a test fire with no food is going to discolor (temper) the burners. Simple math would be a good indication, but only a test fire will give the true results since the materials and lid cook box design will affect how well the heat is retained and spread out. That being said, I hope you find someone who can give you a first hand opinion of both style grills.
 
IMO, if you want the best of both worlds (if you can't get the 610 for half price or more), get the Genesis II E-310 ($349 right now at some Lowes stores) and get an old school Genny x000 series grill (3000 and up if you want a side burner). That way you'll still have your N/S burners with the new E-310 (and new, shiny looking grill) and E/W burners with the old school Genny for your roti cooks. I have that set up and not sure why but I still like cooking on my 3000/platinum C more than the E-310.
 
I have the S330 (well...had), and cooked on the E410 briefly at a friend’s BBQ get together. I mainly use the grill for grilling. I like sear station on the S330 and how it sears my steaks, and not so much on the E410. I was not able to get that crush on the steaks using the E410. But keep in mind that was the first and only time I’ve used the E410. The built on the E410 seems flimsy compared to the S330, and I like the SS grates vs. the cast iron grates. But I do like the extra cooking area on the E410. I think you gain close to 150 sq.in.

If I have to choose between the two, I would keep the S330.
 
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Anthony@TO said:
I have the S330 (well...had), and cooked on the E410 briefly at a friend’s BBQ get together. I mainly use the grill for grilling. I like sear station on the S330 and how it sears my steaks, and not so much on the E410. I was not able to get that crush on the steaks using the E410. But keep in mind that was the first and only time I’ve used the E410. The built on the E410 seems flimsy compared to the S330, and I like the SS grates vs. the cast iron grates. But I do like the extra cooking area on the E410. I think you gain close to 150 sq.in.

If I have to choose between the two, I would keep the S330.
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I only have an E330, so cast iron and enamel on both this and the new one. I'm not upset about any of the build quality so far for the new one, except for that ridiculous propane tank shroud that seems flimsy.
 
Chris in TX said:
I was thinking in the future if I decided I needed bigger just get a second pre 2007 Genesis. Then I can find it up if I need it, if not I will just run the one. If I could find a way to make a custom frame to put them both on it would be sweet!
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Bruce said:
The double grill idea sounds really interesting.
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I actually helped our college get something along those lines, a “double” Genesis Silver that someone had custom modified. It seemed like a great solution, but in practice was not so great. The guy who made it jerry-rigged it so that the two fireboxes were together in the middle and the controls were both on the outsides. To accomplish this he cut new burner holes and plugged the old ones on the grill he “reversed”. Of course that made the controls backwards but worse the crude attempt to modify the firebox was a fiasco. It was way too much trouble to keep it working. Two separate grills would have been a lot better. I eventually restored a Genesis 300 and traded it to them for the double “hulk” that I scrapped for parts.
 
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