2nd generation Weber Summit charcoal


 
So first impressions are bad, especially for the cart and the grate (looking at RMiles' youtube video) .
But what about the rest of the barbecue?
Is the difference in the diffuser noticeable?
Is the top-vent really that different compared to the first model?

I still think this is a good barbecue looking at price/cooking grate size comparing it with KJ and BGE (looking at EU/Dutch prices, we pay a lot more for kamado's compared to the US)
Here in The Netherlands there is no news about it being released yet. On our Dutch Weber site only the 'old' model is being sold.
I expect it to be released in February of 2021 so I might check it out in the Weber store once it is being sold there.
 
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I ordered one late last month, still waiting, I'm very curious about the top vent. I love to mod my toys so the legs, cooking grate, and diffuser don't really bother me. To be honest I think I'm going to prefer the new diffuser.

I will be very disappointed if they cheaped out in that top vent. I'm also hearing rumors that they might be using thinner stock on the charcoal grate, which would bother me considering its functionality two pieces and that outer ring would not be easy to upgrade.
 
They put up a notice on the Weber USA site under the grill saying they understand the concerns regarding the weak leg design and wobble and will be addressing. Good to know they are looking into it and hopefully come up with a good solution.

Oh yeah...hi all. Signed up here specifically as I am looking to purchase the S6 version and hopefully can contribute in the future....
 
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GrantT said:
They put up a notice on the Weber USA site under the grill saying they understand the concerns regarding the weak leg design and wobble and will be addressing. Good to know they are looking into it and hopefully come up with a good solution.

Oh yeah...hi all. Signed up here specifically as I am looking to purchase the S6 version and hopefully can contribute in the future....
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Hi Grant. I'm somewhat in the same boat in terms of how I signed up for the site. I ended up with the E6 model and ran into some unexpected quality issues.
I have had some long conversations with people at Weber. I want to start off by letting you know my Approach towards the kamado. It is, for me at least, a luxury item. I say that because there are many alternatives to this item and in no way can I justify it as a necessity. That being said I was willing to bite the bullet on the price for something that I felt would easily last me 20 years.
While my initial Impressions were less than stellar I can tell you that Weber's customer service made absolutely no excuses for the quality of the items that were out to the public. I applaud them for taking quick action and removing the items, even during this holiday season. That could not have been an easy choice but in the big picture it was the right move for the long-term protection of their brand.
I'll be adding more content about this situation as time permits. No more than a couple days. its new territory for me sharing this information to an audience of like minded people. But it's like everything else my friend: I didn't choose the grill life, the grill life chose me. With that being said I'll do my best to keep you guys informed and abreast of my situation.
 
It's great that Weber is moving quickly to address the problems with the new gen Summit.

Really makes you scratch your head how they missed something like this.....at least give the grill to a few of your employees, let them take it home, assemble and use....you figure the wobble and any other issues would be obvious.
 
You never know right....someone tries it out and comments to their boss: "Hey...it's kinda wobbly!"....and someone either acts on it and brings it up the ladder, and some manager either works with it and says...."Yeah...let's fix it!"...or some other manager says "No...it's good enough as we've been told to get the price down!!"

But in this case, I happy they seem to be taking the high road, but they need sales which depends on reputation...and with social media these days it does NOT take long for reputation to get tarnished.
 
Ruud Kok said:
So first impressions are bad, especially for the cart and the grate (looking at RMiles' youtube video) .
But what about the rest of the barbecue?
Is the difference in the diffuser noticeable?
Is the top-vent really that different compared to the first model?

I still think this is a good barbecue looking at price/cooking grate size comparing it with KJ and BGE (looking at EU/Dutch prices, we pay a lot more for kamado's compared to the US)
Here in The Netherlands there is no news about it being released yet. On our Dutch Weber site only the 'old' model is being sold.
I expect it to be released in February of 2021 so I might check it out in the Weber store once it is being sold there.
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Hello Ruud,

you make a great observation - the cooks from this grill are amazing! I did ribeye's the 2nd time I used it. I set the charcoal grate to the top ring and had some intense direct heat cooking. Nice searing (without using the GBS sear grate) at 500 Degrees F*.
The temperature was easy to control, and the steak was juicy. I made some potatoes with it as well, and it only took 7 minutes to drop from 500 to 325 degrees. On my ceramic, that temperature change would literally take an hour - if not longer.

I can report with a HIGH level of confidence that the gen 1 and gen 2 devices are internally identical, so your expectations and results should mirror what you are used to from the gen 1 devices.
 
GrantT said:
They put up a notice on the Weber USA site under the grill...
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I think it's TERRIFIC to see Weber respond publicly like this in such a positive way. Congrats to you, RMiles, for expressing your opinion and being part of the solution with Weber to make this a better grill.

--

Posted on Weber.com:

In late November, we launched the Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grill for charcoal fanatics looking to unlock the wide variety of flavor and food possibilities available from kamado-style grilling.

During the initial production of the grill, while product orders arrived at our customers’ homes, we became aware of a “wobbling” effect to the grill stand. While a very slight wobble is expected in a stand versus a welded design, we have determined the current stand does not meet our high-quality standards. Please note there are no safety concerns with the Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grill.

This mirrors valuable feedback from a few owners of the Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grill on their experience with this new product. We thank these owners for their comments and questions – it is very much appreciated.

For our grillers, we won’t settle for anything less than an exceptional experience with the Summit Kamado E6 – or any of our products. And we certainly would have liked to identify this issue with the stand much sooner.

We’re working to resolve this quickly. We stand behind the high performance of the Summit Kamado E6 and the great food it will help you share with family and friends.

WHAT ARE WE DOING TO ADDRESS THIS MATTER?

Our Customer Care team is contacting all current Summit Kamado E6 owners to replace their Summit Kamado Grill at no additional cost.
If you purchased a Weber Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grill and have not been in touch with our Customer Care team, please contact us:

Phone: 1-800-446-1071
Email: support@weberstephen.com

Today, we are producing Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grills with the improved, sturdier stand. And as soon as we have inventory available, we will make the grill available for purchase.

If there is anything we can do to make your grilling experience better, please get in touch. We will provide full assistance to anyone experiencing an issue, at no cost. And we will take your grill back if you aren’t 100% satisfied.

Thank you for your patience, understanding, and for being a Weber customer.
 
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You know I am glad they are making things right but who is in charge of quality control and testing for Weber along with who is in charge of packing materials to ensure these grills arrive with no damage if they have not been fired by now its a mystery to me. Red LE a disaster, EX4 and 6 a disaster at launch now they are getting things squared away had to lower the price and forced to recall inventory to install fixes hence Gen2 now being sold, constant problems about the containers they are shipped in causing damage to the grills. Now another mess with these new Summits the legs wobble and forced to recall all of those not even a few months in the market.

I am not trying to be negative about Weber Products as I own a Performer and a Silver C and searching for the original Summit used but again there is no way I would buy any of their new products until they have been out for at least a year or longer as someone tell me the last time they had a new product that launched that was great out of the gate been a long time.

I am kind of the Weber guy in my neighborhood 4 mos ago or so I had a friend who had a WSM who was looking at the smoke fire and asked me about it and I directed him to this site to read the threads on it. Doubt he ever joined but the end result is he kept the WSM maybe look at the smoke fire in the spring but really I was not going to come off as some expert cause I am not read the threads make your own decision.
 
I have a wsm 18, and two 22 kettles. Early this year I bought a Jumbo Joe from Ace Hardware. Opened the box and the lid had serious damage. Looked like forks of fork lift poked it. Box it was shipped in had no damage at all. None. Returned to Ace and we both figured it had to be packed in box with damage. I was also looking at smoke fire, anticipating the launch but to many problems. Fast forward to release of E6. price drop of 500.00 got my interest. Remove gas assist I`m ok with that. But they removed much more. For years Weber had respect in the grilling industry. I`m glad to see they admit and will fix problems but these grills should have never been released. They were not ready for the public. Instead of 1 problem they have 2. Fixing grill issues, and public perception.
 
I bought the new E6 Kamado as I am a Kamado head of sorts with my big green eggs. I had high expectations, but quality issues on the cart even going together correctly bothered me. I did some searching and found this thread to read about troubles others had, and what Weber was going to do. I sent an email last night at 1AM about it, had a reply from one of their VPs by 8AM. After a good chat on the phone with this person, he told me that they were going to send a whole new grill. I for one cannot believe it, they have gone way above what I expected here. I felt it important to share my experience for others that may be looking. In all honesty, its a fantastic grill, and the few minor missteps I don't see as critical. You take it out of the cart it is in, and put it in a table (easy to do, it is not secured to the cart, it rests on a lip), and you have an amazing grill.
 
I got it set up and in my back yard to use until waiting for the new one. The wobble and wheel issues were incredibly apparent going from the garage to the back yard. I fear I would have taken this back if I did not know a new one was coming. But for now it is stationary and the wheel issue will not be a problem for me. My webers live on the side of the house while I do almost all my cooking on eggs. But the weber has earned a spot and an egg has been kicked to the side of the house for now.
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Brian B Atlanta said:
You know I am glad they are making things right but who is in charge of quality control and testing for Weber along with who is in charge of packing materials to ensure these grills arrive with no damage if they have not been fired by now its a mystery to me. Red LE a disaster, EX4 and 6 a disaster at launch now they are getting things squared away had to lower the price and forced to recall inventory to install fixes hence Gen2 now being sold, constant problems about the containers they are shipped in causing damage to the grills. Now another mess with these new Summits the legs wobble and forced to recall all of those not even a few months in the market.

I am not trying to be negative about Weber Products as I own a Performer and a Silver C and searching for the original Summit used but again there is no way I would buy any of their new products until they have been out for at least a year or longer as someone tell me the last time they had a new product that launched that was great out of the gate been a long time.

I am kind of the Weber guy in my neighborhood 4 mos ago or so I had a friend who had a WSM who was looking at the smoke fire and asked me about it and I directed him to this site to read the threads on it. Doubt he ever joined but the end result is he kept the WSM maybe look at the smoke fire in the spring but really I was not going to come off as some expert cause I am not read the threads make your own decision.
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SmokeFire packaging was very impressive!! Now the 26” GlenBlue not so much.
 
My understanding is they are starting to better market it by making it a little more price competitive, unfortunately it seems to be coming at the cost of quality. There are some foreseeable differences between the first and now second generation grills between deletes and overall quality of some components. Are you thinking of purchasing one?
 
They are addressing the quality issues on the 2nd gen Summits. And no, I don't believe they are discontinuing this model.

They are probably recalling all the 2nd gen models to address the shaky base / wobble issues.
 
I don`t believe were talking about the same grill. As per Weber web site their is a Weber Summit Charcoal. I guess you would call it the first gen. They list the new grill as Weber Summit Kamado-E6 or S6 with attached table. My question is are they going to keep manufacturing the first gen, which is still shown on Weber web site. Many owners raved about the first generation. Only gripe I heard was price point. Seems it would have been easier to remove gas assist an present grill like that. That alone would knock off couple hundred bucks. The question was asked if I would buy one. At this time no.
 
I thought I would throw in my opinion of the E6 after using it a few times. Weber is making it right, and I have full confidence in them doing so. However, I am incredibly impressed with the grill at this price point. I have about three cooks on it since assembly last week, and it is just an awesome grill. I have read a lot of complaints about the diffuser losing its air gap, and the hinges. For me this is a non issue. The cooking grid is straight out of a 26" kettle, so the quality is there, and the charcoal grate is going to outlast me. In talking with the VP at weber, he outlined there were only three changes compared to the previous version. The cart and all of its problems were the first, the second was the diffuser change, and the third was the gas assist. The changes to the diffuser and gas assist are actually a reaction to how customers were using the grill. Most people aren't using the gas assist, and no one really adds fuel after starting a cook (I never have on a kamado). Now that my grill is in its spot where it will cook, the wheels aren't an issue. But man they are really screwed up, and the shakiness when trying to move it around the patio is terrible, so I am glad they are dealing with it.
 
John B said:
I thought I would throw in my opinion of the E6 after using it a few times. Weber is making it right, and I have full confidence in them doing so. However, I am incredibly impressed with the grill at this price point. I have about three cooks on it since assembly last week, and it is just an awesome grill. I have read a lot of complaints about the diffuser losing its air gap, and the hinges. For me this is a non issue. The cooking grid is straight out of a 26" kettle, so the quality is there, and the charcoal grate is going to outlast me. In talking with the VP at weber, he outlined there were only three changes compared to the previous version. The cart and all of its problems were the first, the second was the diffuser change, and the third was the gas assist. The changes to the diffuser and gas assist are actually a reaction to how customers were using the grill. Most people aren't using the gas assist, and no one really adds fuel after starting a cook (I never have on a kamado). Now that my grill is in its spot where it will cook, the wheels aren't an issue. But man they are really screwed up, and the shakiness when trying to move it around the patio is terrible, so I am glad they are dealing with it.
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Interesting thoughts from the Weber VP on the changes. I’d be interested in getting a better look at the new diffuser plate. I have the first generation with the hinged diffuser. Never have used it to add more coals in fact I keep mine foiled to reduce the junk where the drip pan misses. Any way you could share a picture? Thanks
 
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