Genesis II SE-410 - Even heat distribution AKA Toast Test

Guys,

Per Chris' request, I decided to perform the Toast Test on my new Genesis II SE-410 over the weekend. I preheated the grill for about 15 minutes, a little over Medium heat on all burners to achieve a temperature of approximately 450F. I then distributed the toast across the area of the grill, and shut the lid for about 3 min. I should've purchased the big loaf, as you'll see that I'm using the loaf ends as well, and since they're concave, they didn't have direct contact with the grill, hence the lack of color on those particular pieces. Also, the lower right hand piece fell off the grill when I was flipping, and fell into a small puddle of water - so into the trash it went.

Here we go:












All in all, I'd say the heat distribution is pretty darn good. It's night and day compared to my beloved Genesis Gold C, which I've parted with. That thing had some hot spots for sure. Hope this helps.

Thanks.

Martin

I've done this with my Summit 450 and it does an excellent job, oddly my Wolf does not Running what appears to be a few degrees hotter at the front than the back. I found out it's apparently designed like this. If you've ever seen many restaurant char broilers in action you'll constantly see the cook moving seared steaks from the front to back. I think it's a kind of a "zoned" thing. It does perfectly from side to side whether front or back it's just a tiny bit cooler at the back.
In the summer (when I mostly use it because it's so big and heavy getting it moved and prepped is harder in winter) I find myself constantly gravitating to this one over the Summit. Not because I need the size but juust love how it cooks and the amount of control it has. Without having to constantly adjust the burners.
I see too they (Weber) has not done anything to adjust the huge gap between grate bars (wires) which is a HUGE gripe with me on many grills (not just Weber). To me it's the epitome of penny pinching.
Best of luck with the new ride

Thanks for doing the Toast Test, Martin! Honestly, I'm surprised it's that even. Good to know.

My Summit 450 seems to run much hotter at the front edge of the grill than the back, which I view as a problem, not a feature. It seems I'm always overcooking burgers at the front edge of my grill, even though I should know better.

Maybe check your burners again Chris. Mine is dead even corner to corner. I'm kind of persnickety about my burners though. I regularly pull them, wire brush them externally, inspect every port, flush them with solvent and blow them out with compressed air. All my grills get this treatment (I know I'm a little anal about it) but I get rewarded with great performance LOL.
On another note at least you don't have to worry about your burgers falling through the grates LOL.
ON my Wolf I was upset at first until I contacted them. At first I saw the very slight difference as a liability but now I know how to use it to my advantage. It's not a huge diff btw. From my impromptu measurements with my IR thermometer it's about 50deg hotter in the front 50% than the rear 50%. It's not a sharp cutoff either very subtle. I.E. if I am doing a slab of ribs on it since it's so big (as deep front to back as my Summit is wide) I put the ribs on front to back (bones at 90deg to grill grates). So I simply put the slightly thicker part of the ribs toward the front. Perfect results every time.

Awesome heat map. I do wish grate gaps were smaller too. Probably save material of 5 or 6 bars.

I remember drooling over the grates an in old craiglist summit 450 find. It was just too rusted to buy and invest time into.

Great test, hope it will be the same on the e-310 that I'm looking to buy.