Identify this grill??
- Thread starter Kris S
- Start date
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
That is a Summit 450 flat top grill. Flat tops were all the rage when people thought they had to imitate the Australians. There was a time back in the 90's when Qantas Airlines was really hitting hard in the USA for travel to "down under". There was even a line of crappy Chinese grills brought out called "Aussie" that used lava rock and were open like this. They were junk (and still are) but in response Weber brought this model out. It's a decent grill and if you like open top grilling (many times I grill open top) as I find certain types of cooking yield better tasting results when done lid up. It gives you a "cleaner" taste on some things less "sooty" after taste especially for higher heat cooking. It's prone to the same issues all the Summits of that era were. That is fire box failure right where the burners come out the front due to dumb design on Weber's part. But it will cook nice and if you get it cheap it's a nice (very nice actually) grill
Original advertising for this grill here: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?54346-Weber-Flat-Top-ad-from-Australia
Ok so I picked it up last night. Everything looks to be in really good shape. I'm going to start disassembly to get a better look at the frame and the major components. It came with two stainless steel grates that are in really good shape. Burners look decent, flavorizers look decent. Hopefully things will clean up nicely.
It is missing a control knob (part 78960) - that doesn't look like much of a problem to replace... five, six bucks.
It does need TWO igniters, part number 901. Has anyone had luck finding a good source for these? Weber has them for $12.75, I'm just trying to see if there's a cheaper option.
One of my friends does some metal fabrication work (he builds large outdoor clocks). I took the grill over to his shop last night and took some measurements. He's ordering some stainless steel plate for me, which I'm going to use on this instead of the SS grates - basically turning this into an outdoor griddle. Based on his estimate it should cost half of what I'd pay to buy from Griddlemaster.
It is missing a control knob (part 78960) - that doesn't look like much of a problem to replace... five, six bucks.
It does need TWO igniters, part number 901. Has anyone had luck finding a good source for these? Weber has them for $12.75, I'm just trying to see if there's a cheaper option.
One of my friends does some metal fabrication work (he builds large outdoor clocks). I took the grill over to his shop last night and took some measurements. He's ordering some stainless steel plate for me, which I'm going to use on this instead of the SS grates - basically turning this into an outdoor griddle. Based on his estimate it should cost half of what I'd pay to buy from Griddlemaster.
Michael William
TVWBB Member
That thing is pretty bada$$
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Me? I'd think twice about the plate thing. 2 reasons. One not sure what that might do to the components in the fire box. Remember it was engineered for a level of heat loss through those grates. You could turn things in to some serious over heat conditions. Second IMO it's a FAR better grill than griddle. If anything I'd maybe do just half of it as griddle. BTW the trouble area on these is the front portion of the fire box where the burner tubes go through to meet the control valves. They burn/rust through there
Thanks for the feedback. I'm kinda 'in love' with the idea of turning this into a griddle (as I already have a 2013 Genesis grill), so I suppose I'll accept the risks. I did decide to leave 1" on either side of the griddle top to allow some heat to escape. Still, I will keep your comments about temps in the firebox in mind, and I'll be sure to pay extra careful attention when I'm using it. I can probably get my dual-probe thermometer in there to see just how hot it gets and compare that to how hot my Genesis does. Also, the friend who is helping me out does know a good bit about various types of metal, and it's a question he may be able to help answer.
I did closely inspect the firebox area where the burner tubes go through for rust. It looked good to me, though I haven't yet disassembled the thing to get a really good look. I'll post more updates as things progress.
Darrel Williams
TVWBB Super Fan
THere's proabably a Weber made griddle insert specifically designed for Summit's size that will slip right in there without the need for fabrication. Weber calls their griddles "planchas" which I think is what they are called in Europe.
There are! I've looked into a few, but I decided to go the custom stainless steel route for a few reasons. First, I haven't seen any inserts that are so large that they would cover most of the firebox area, therefore I would have to use two inserts. Two inserts means there would be a space in the middle where they rest side-by-side. That small gap right in the center would be an annoyance, and an area where I couldn't cook. Second, the Weber inserts I'm aware of are made of cast iron. I love cast iron: I cook with a cast iron pan and dutch oven quite frequently. That said, it can rust and it is heavy. This grill will be kept under a cover, but outdoors. I'm concerned that a cast iron cooking surface would be prone to rusting if kept outdoors.
Cost-wise, my buddy is selling me the stainless for the cost of the materials, nothing more. He estimated less than $100. I don't think there's a major difference in cost between these options.
Cast iron's advantage is that it conducts heat really well. However I'm thinking that advantage is unnecessary on this grill, as it has four burners (they run front to back). I believe these will provide plenty of heat across the entire surface, so that I won't miss cast iron. Also, like cast iron, stainless can be seasoned in order to form a non-stick surface.
I'll experiment with ditching the flavorizers, since there won't be any food/grease drippings for them to flavorize. My theory is that the flavorizers intercept the heat from the burners, reducing overall heat output. On the other hand, perhaps the flavorizers help evenly distribute the heat. In which case, I would prefer an evenly heated cooking surface to one that has major hot spots. I'll have to test this.
Of course, my assumptions could all be totally wrong. In which case, hopefully this thread will become a cautionary tale for someone down the road considering just this idea.
LMichaels
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Nothing wrong with SS. It's actually a rather good idea and will perform in this application every bit as well as cast iron as long as the plancha is heavy enough to not warp. It's the heat thing covering the entire unit which I am sure will be the downfall. It will build up way too hot under the plancha and destroy the fire box since on this unit it is not a casting but only sheet metal. So the thermal stresses will destroy the grill anyway. :-( Sad way for a classy grill to go.
I'd be more concerned with how you manage the grease. With grates, liquids are dripping more or less evenly directly off the food. With the griddles, you could get larger volumes all running off in one spot, causing very big flare ups (a good reason not to ditch the flavorizer bars) and/or overpowering the flavorizers' ability to vaporize it and giving you a gush of hot grease overfilling your drip pan.
Does that make sense? Could your buddy route a groove around or at the fronts of the plate to give you some control over where the grease flows?
Or it might not be a problem at all, just a thought.
Does that make sense? Could your buddy route a groove around or at the fronts of the plate to give you some control over where the grease flows?
Or it might not be a problem at all, just a thought.
I plan on having a 3/4" lip all around the top to contain any liquid grease. Grease removal will be with paper towels to absorb the grease or, if there is a great deal of grease, scooping it up. See this video for more information: