Considering A New Summit


 
M

Mike Andresen

New member
I'm considering replacing my 15 year old Genesis 1000 NG with a Summit 420 NG. The Genesis has served me well as we've moved from California to Ireland to Indiana to Illinois. We converted it to NG in 2001 when we moved to Indiana and I love not worrying about LP tanks.

The questions I have for current Summit owners or others are as follows:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI> Igniter - I was surprised to see that there is no lighter hole by each burner for when the igniter fails. Has anyone had problems with the Summit igniters? How do you light the grill if the igniter fails? How much does it cost to fix a failed igniter? Is it an easy repair?
<LI>Two Layer Lid - I like the idea of the double layer lid on the Summit. Does it really help the grill to hold the heat better? I've noticed significantly longer cooking time with my Genesis when the temps are low (below 40F). Is it better on the Summit?
<LI>Searer - What experience do others have with the searing option on the higher level Summits? Is it something you would recommend?
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Any other thoughts, recommendations, etc. would be appreciated. The Summit is a significant investment so I want to get experiences from others before I make the decision.

Thanks in advance for the input.

Cheers,
 
Hi Mike, sorry but I don't have any input. I have been watching this thread because I am almost exactly in your position. I am very interested in a Summitt, but it is such an investment want to know more about it. I've read what I could here in earlier threads and it really seems like they are great grills. I'm still struggling (I should say my wife is!) the cost, but I'm very intrigued with the grill itself. I really want the rotis and the sear option. I have a rotis now and love it, but can't get my current grill hot enough. Good luck! Steve
 
I recently (two weeks ago) received my Summit S-670 and figured I would add some thoughts.

I have purchased a few different $200-$300 over the past several years and they continued to break down after a couple years so I decided to buy something that would last and have a warranty to back up such a large purchase.

I had researched a lot of grills and kept coming back to the Summit. I had actually decided on the S-470 and was just about ready to pull the trigger when I changed my mind and went with the S-670. My thoughts were if I want to get at least 15 years out of this grill I don't want to regret not getting the larger grill down the road. Plus what's another couple hundred when you're already spending around $1500.

Now my experience is obviously somewhat limited as I've only had it a couple weeks, but I have used it pretty much non-stop since I received it and I couldn't be happier. It get's hot, REALLY HOT and holds it heat extremely well. I am already glad I got the extra space, yes the smoker takes up some space but not that much it's just nice to have the multiple heating zone & with 6 burners it's very easy to create multiple zones.

The first meal I made was steak and I used the sear station for this. It worked perfectly, the steaks were medium rare in 6 minutes with perfect grill marks. Now I've heard Summit's across the board get the temps needed for searing without the sear burner without issue but I still went with the 670.

The rotisserie is extremely convenient with the motor being able to be hidden but accessible as well as having the spit and everything having it's own spot.

The ingniters work great and I haven't had an issue yet but if one fails there is a match holder you can use to manually light any burner.

If it helps just tell your wife that over the long run this is going to be a much better investment then cheap grills every few years. Plus you get a 25year warranty on the casing, 10years on the burners and 5years on most everything else.

Trust me, you won't be disappointed. Also, they just started shipping 2011 models, not huge differences in 2011 vs 2010 but I made sure I got a 2011 for the LED propane gauge.

If you have any other questions just let me know.
 
Thanks Chris. Glad to hear you are enjoying your new Summit so well. You don't have to sell me on the longevity of the Weber... my current Genesis is 15 years old and holding it's own. I just really like the vertical burners on the summit and the insulated hood. More control and better heat retention.

We saw the match holder but felt that was a pretty poor way to light the burners in the event of an igniter failure. Particularly on a windy evening here in the Midwest. I think we would opt for one of those butane lighters with the extended tips on them. My guess is that they didn't put the igniter holes in like on my Genesis because it would take one per burner which would cause other issues in the wind.

Thanks again for your input. I hope to hear from a few more folks shortly.

Cheers & Happy Grilling,

Mike
 
I just got a S670 last saturday. It is great. Just spend the few extra bucks now and not have to worry about another gas grill. I haven't had a chance to use the rotisserie or sear station but I'm sure they will be great. The Sear station gets HOT!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike Andresen:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI> Igniter - I was surprised to see that there is no lighter hole by each burner for when the igniter fails. Has anyone had problems with the Summit igniters? How do you light the grill if the igniter fails? How much does it cost to fix a failed igniter? Is it an easy repair?
[/list]
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have the Summit S-470. I've had it about 2 weeks now. I can't really answer that one. The Grill comes with a thin wire that is used to lower a match down through the cooking grates if the igniter fails.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
<LI>Two Layer Lid - I like the idea of the double layer lid on the Summit. Does it really help the grill to hold the heat better? I've noticed significantly longer cooking time with my Genesis when the temps are low (below 40F). Is it better on the Summit?
[/LIST]
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is my first Weber so I have nothing to compair it to other than my old Charm Glow. The summit gets hot FAST when all of the burners are lit. The 470 has 4 burners plus the IR, Sear and the wood box burner (7 Total).


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
<LI>Searer - What experience do others have with the searing option on the higher level Summits? Is it something you would recommend?
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</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Sear station works very well, yes I recommend it.
So far I'm liking the Summit and would buy it again

Your brother in Christ
Van
 
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