Couldn't have done that on my Silver B


 

JSaus

TVWBB All-Star
Loved my Silver B for 20 years but replaced with a Spirit E-330. As you know, different burner orientation now. Yesterday, decided to do some brats and had some left over sweet potato fries. After heating the grill, I turned off the right burner and reduced the center to medium. Did the brats on the left while I reheated the fries on foil to the right. Grill maintained about 400 degrees and worked great as an oven. That just was not possible with the old orientation and opens up a few more possibilities for my outdoor cooking.
 
I almost ditched my Silver B a couple years ago in favor of north/south burners for the same reason. Left/right side is just easier than front/back (unless doing roti).

My fix was GrillGrates (which Larry doesn't like). Lets me cook low and without flare-ups direct across the whole grill top. So an indirect side wasn't really needed so much.
 
Almost anything is possible with some work. I can and do indirect cooking on my Q320. I have to use foil and a roasting rack. Somethings are better, some are worse. Some are more convenient some less. All depends on what your cooking and what you have. N/S is great and gives you the nice right side shelf, but not as good for rotisserie cooking. So its either multiple grills or some inconveniences. The E/W also has better heat flow for indirect as heat travels in most gas grills from front to back not side to side.
 
I almost ditched my Silver B a couple years ago in favor of north/south burners for the same reason. Left/right side is just easier than front/back (unless doing roti).

My fix was GrillGrates (which Larry doesn't like). Lets me cook low and without flare-ups direct across the whole grill top. So an indirect side wasn't really needed so much.
Agreed!
The Grillgrates on the Silver B are a game-changer.
 
I almost ditched my Silver B a couple years ago in favor of north/south burners for the same reason. Left/right side is just easier than front/back (unless doing roti).

My fix was GrillGrates (which Larry doesn't like). Lets me cook low and without flare-ups direct across the whole grill top. So an indirect side wasn't really needed so much.
Please explain why / how Grillgrates convinced you not to ditch your Silver B? Still the only zoning is front to back. I am a little confused.
 
The other advantage on the new orientation is for thick steaks. My grill has the sear station. I can sear over the station and move to a low or even off area of the grill to finish cooking. This allows me to start the searing at different times for people who like different doneness of their steaks and I get them done at the same time. Just could not do that on the Silver B without pulling some steaks off once properly seared. That 4th burner for the sear station is a game changer.
 
Please explain why / how Grillgrates convinced you not to ditch your Silver B? Still the only zoning is front to back. I am a little confused.

The reason you do indirect is to be able to cook over lower heat without uncontrolled flare-ups. Using the GGs, you can cook direct with low heat and no flare-ups. So no need for two zones and e/w vs n/s doesn't matter much. Turn the knobs up for hot zone, down for cool zone.

Bonus is you can use the whole grill top instead of just half. I can do twice as many chicken wings using the GGs than using a regular grate and leaving the direct side empty.

The GGs get hotter than regular grates and have a flat side in addition to the rail side. So to cook steak, I sear using the hot flat side (like a cast iron skillet) and then move the seared steak over to the rail side.

With e/w burners you don't have a hot zone and a cool zone at the same time. But there's fairly little need for that practically speaking. GGs also work fine with n/s burners. Since you can dis-connect the interlocking panels to keep one side hot and one side cool.
 
Please explain why / how Grillgrates convinced you not to ditch your Silver B? Still the only zoning is front to back. I am a little confused.

The reason you do indirect is to be able to cook over lower heat without uncontrolled flare-ups. Using the GGs, you can cook direct with low heat and no flare-ups. So no need for two zones and e/w vs n/s doesn't matter much. Turn the knobs up for hot zone, down for cool zone.

Bonus is you can use the whole grill top instead of just half. I can do twice as many chicken wings using the GGs than using a regular grate and leaving the direct side empty.

The GGs get hotter than regular grates and have a flat side in addition to the rail side. So to cook steak, I sear using the hot flat side (like a cast iron skillet) and then move the seared steak over to the rail side.

With e/w burners you don't have a hot zone and a cool zone at the same time. But there's fairly little need for that practically speaking. GGs also work fine with n/s burners. Since you can dis-connect the interlocking panels to keep one side hot and one side cool.
Got it. But you still have to zone front to back. You're basically using it to prevent flare ups. Even though Weber says you're not suppose to get those🤔
 
With e/w burners you don't have a hot zone and a cool zone at the same time. But there's fairly little need for that practically speaking. GGs also work fine with n/s burners. Since you can dis-connect the interlocking panels to keep one side hot and one side cool.
Wrong. I have both types. My Wolf is N/S and Genesis E/W. Of the 2 the Genesis is by FAR the more flexible. Plus to effectively do GOOD rotisserie the Wolf needs another burner oriented (you guessed it) across the back. The Genesis? No special burner(s) needed and does as good or better than the Wolf. Weber had it right with the first generations and got it wrong with the redesign
 
Wrong. I have both types. My Wolf is N/S and Genesis E/W. Of the 2 the Genesis is by FAR the more flexible. Plus to effectively do GOOD rotisserie the Wolf needs another burner oriented (you guessed it) across the back. The Genesis? No special burner(s) needed and does as good or better than the Wolf. Weber had it right with the first generations and got it wrong with the redesign
Larry,
You did not mention the zoning that is the heart of the issue.
 
Wrong. I have both types. My Wolf is N/S and Genesis E/W. Of the 2 the Genesis is by FAR the more flexible. Plus to effectively do GOOD rotisserie the Wolf needs another burner oriented (you guessed it) across the back. The Genesis? No special burner(s) needed and does as good or better than the Wolf. Weber had it right with the first generations and got it wrong with the redesign
As far as versatility, I had a 5 burner JennAir grill with a rear infrared rotisserie burner I kept down by the pool. The rear burner was great and I could easily do 2 or 3 chickens. I could create at least 3 heat zones and do various items at the same time. Very versatile, but too big for everyday use. It was my party grill. I used my Genesis B about 90% of the time and sold the big grill with the house. For me, the new orientation is better. I think Weber is missing out be not offering a rear burner on some affordable grills for rotisserie. It was a seldom used feature for me but important to some.
 
Last edited:
Got it. But you still have to zone front to back. You're basically using it to prevent flare ups. Even though Weber says you're not suppose to get those

But in most cases, I wouldn't need two zones. If I can cook low/medium direct with no flare-ups, why would I need a second indirect zone? Indirect is mostly just a technique to allow for low/medium cooking without flare-ups.

If I'm cooking wings on a regular grate, I put the wings on the indirect side to keep them from incinerating and leave the direct side empty. With the GGs, I cook twice as many wings using the full grill top. I cook at 400-425F, no flare-ups, one big zone of even medium heat. To sear, I turn the knobs up briefly; when done searing, turn the knobs down.

So I'd only need two zones if I was trying to cook two things simultaneously for an extended time period with one on high and the other on low. What kind of cook would that be? I usually don't feel the need to cook with two different temp zones at the same time.
 
Last edited:
I zone just fine thank you. I just do it front to back is all. You have just as much space just shaped differently.
 
Me too. : )

But when it comes to grilling, the question is why you want/need to cook in two zones?

Here's a load of chicken wings on my Silver B using the GGs. 425F being cooked in one big direct zone.

You'd normally do that in two zones with the wings on the indirect side. Because the drippings hitting the direct fire would flame up.

Since I get no flame-ups, this cook can be done direct at whatever low/medium/high temp I want. So at least for this cook, I don't need two zones, and it doesn't matter if my burners are e/w or n/s.

If I needed to have two zones, I agree that left and right zones are more convenient that front and back.
 

Attachments

  • direct wings.JPG
    direct wings.JPG
    67.6 KB · Views: 11
Last edited:
Hey all, glad GG are a topic here. I’m at a point where I need grates. Prion one is Weber porcelain coated cast iron, option 2 I’m considering are the GG’s…. Not big difference in price although for sure an investment. Cooking on Weber genesis 5000 red head…. Would love inputs. Thanks!
 

 

Back
Top