Is 2-zone cooking easier on the newer N-S burners than the old E-W style? How about searing?


 
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KevinInStL

TVWBB Member
Hi all. I've only really ever grilled on charcoal, but with our first baby on the way, I'm looking on the used market for a gas grill to be able to cook food faster when the baby comes.

My question is basically the title: are the new style (i.e. burners that run front to back) Weber gassers better at 2-zone cooking than the older style that run left to right?

I see way more of the older style Weber gas grills on the used market in my price range, and I actually like the look of the older ones. But I'd like one that's pretty good at 2 zone cooking. However, most of the newer style grills of the size I'm looking for (3 burner spirit) that I see are the version with the enclosed cart. But I've read that that cart often rusts out completely and is not easily fixable. Anyone here have this happen, or have thoughts?
 
I FAR prefer old style Weber Genesis. (the true Genesis) not the copycat like everyone else ones. Now on a large grill (like my Wolf) it's a tossup. But the new Weber ones IMO were a sellout to cut costs and to try to satisfy the people complaining about the side table having controls in it
 
Are the old style better at searing?

What do you mean "(the true Genesis) not the copycat like everyone else ones."

I'm not looking at very large ones, just a sm-med sized 2 or 3 burner.
 
I have different preferences. I prefer the front control E330 with front to back burners ( eg north/south ) over all of the the others with left to right burners:

The others include:
1998 (ish) Genesis 1000 three burner east-west
2000 and 2002 Genesis Silver B, three burner east-west
2009 Genesis E310, three burner east west

I find two zone on the E330 yields much more grill space for indirect and allows the direct to be screaming hot and a distance away from the food. If I'm doing indirect I have the left burner high, and the center and right burner low, or off.

I'm sure you'll get a number of differing opinions as I think this as much a personal preference vs one being a clear winner.
 
I think you can indirect cook well on both styles. I don't think one is hands down better than the other. But, one key benefit of the E/W burner grills is when doing rotisserie cooking. They are clearly better suited for rotisserie cooking than the newer N/S grills.
 
Even though I wrote what my preference is, re-reading that you already have charcoal and have a baby on the way and you mentioned budget, ( has anyone mentioned Baby's are expensive... )

I suggest looking for a used Genesis Silver B. They cook well, have lots of available parts and the cost to get one and if you have to replace a few parts is likely the lowest of any grill out there.

I'd take the Silver B over any three burner spirit. If you could find a used Genesis E330 in great condition for a bargain price I'd say jump on it, but I expect you'll find they cost more and depending on climate can be rust buckets inside.

Here's my Silver B. It has a mix of parts from 2000 and 2002. And, as Bruce said these make great rotisserie grills ( look closely and you'll see the spit).


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KevinInStL said:
Are the old style better at searing?

What do you mean "(the true Genesis) not the copycat like everyone else ones."

I'm not looking at very large ones, just a sm-med sized 2 or 3 burner.
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The word "Genesis" means the "origin" or "coming into being" IOW fresh start. When Weber came out with it, it was different than anything else on the market save for one DCS offering. In 2011 when they went to off shore manufacture, cost cutting and so on they went to the "me too" style. Not a step forward IMO but backward.
 
I pretty much agree with Larry on that, except that even the 1st generation Summit that we both like (other than the stupid firebox design) has front to back burners. It's just not meant for rotisserie (which the classic Genesis with E-W burners can do well). Still a great grilling machine (as I hope to find out for myself eventually - see my thread on that). One thing is that the smaller 4-burner Summit has 4 N-S burners in the same size grilling space as the classic Genesis has 3 E-W ones. Even with shorter tubes you have more coverage and more even grilling.

To get at your specific question, I personally think it depends on what you are cooking. Say for ribs, then a couple racks will fit nicely across the back of an E-W grill but not very well on N-S since you have less length of grill. For something like a pork shoulder that may not apply as well.
 
Jon, I also based my opinion on how that Summit performed on indirect for me as well. Oddly when I wanted to do ribs or some other food as indirect. It went on the Genesis not the Summit. Yeah it cooked ok and I did take advantage of the larger upper rack at times, but the Genesis always got the "nod". Weber hit it outta the park with the original "true" design. Also even on the Summit, I could not put a whole slab of ribs on it front to back. Again with a rack the Genesis always got the nod or the Wolf. Due to the fact the Wolf is nearly as large front to back as a 4 burner Summit or older Genesis is side to side. The original Genesis just simply performs better. I think due to the air flow of the grill.
 
I like my Silver C E/W burners it sears very well and two zone cooks well also. Every grill takes a learning curve. Till you are comfortable, this is opinion as there mant cooks better here than I. I am still in the medium range.
 
Agree with the Dan's post above. I think an old school three burner e/w Silver B open cart would be a good choice.

Plentiful, cheap, durable, lots of spare parts still available. I've had that grill for 20+ years. For durability and value, I would definitely pick it over the current comparable small/medium grill -- which would be a Spirit with n/s burners.

I also have a larger, more recent Genesis with n/s burners. Two zones are quite easy to do on that grill. First, because one half of a big grill top is still pretty big. Second, that grill has the extra sear burner. So one side cool and one side very hot is easy to do. But that grill has an enclosed cart (tends to rust) and very unlikely it will still be going 20 years from now.
 
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How do you tell the Spirits of that era apart from the Genesiseses?

And what are the advantages of the Genesis Silver B vs the other gassers of that similar firebox design?

I see a couple nice looking 3 burners (one Genesis and 1 spirit) local to me now but no Genesis Silver B yet….plenty of cheap N-S burner Gennys with enclosed carts though. I’m guessing there’s a reason for that.
 
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KevinInStL said:
How do you tell the Spirits of that era apart from the Genesiseses?
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I believe the earliest three-burner Spirits had no bottom rack - just a single piece of square tube tying the right and left legs together. Functionally they’re no different than a Genesis of a couple of years later when they switched to the five-Flavorizer bar / 28-1/8” burner tube design.

Oh - and the plural of Genesis is Geneses. Seriously.
KevinInStL said:
And what are the advantages of the Genesis Silver B vs the other gassers of that similar firebox design?
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The plastic tables are pretty bullet proof, the wire rack on the bottom is generally problem-free, and parts are readily available.
KevinInStL said:
I see a couple nice looking 3 burner spirits local to me now but no Genesis Silver B yet….plenty of cheap N-S burner Gennys with enclosed carts though. I’m guessing there’s a reason for that.
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I think it goes in cycles. I won’t see any E/W grills on FBMP for a week or so, then there’ll be a glut of them. It may take patience, but your “perfect” grill will likely show up sooner or later.
 
It is kind of convoluted, but some of the Genesis Silver B's and C's had cabinets as well.
You might want to spend some time in this thread. It has brochures from many of the older Weber grills and will show and describe each grill.
tvwbb.com

Weber Brochures

View historic Weber sales and product usage brochures. Requires Adobe Reader.
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
KevinInStL said:
How do you tell the Spirits of that era apart from the Genesiseses?

And what are the advantages of the Genesis Silver B vs the other gassers of that similar firebox design?

I see a couple nice looking 3 burners (one Genesis and 1 spirit) local to me now but no Genesis Silver B yet….plenty of cheap N-S burner Gennys with enclosed carts though. I’m guessing there’s a reason for that.
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Grillparts.com is an online seller I've bought a few parts from. They have a good visual decoder to pick the model and year. And there are a lot of variation.

Weber Grill Parts | Gas Grill Replacement Parts | grillparts.com

Browse Weber grill parts for all models: Spirit, Genesis, Summit and Q Series gas grills as well as the original Charcoal Kettle, Weber Performer and Smokey Mountain Smokers.
www.grillparts.com www.grillparts.com

Screenshot_20220909-215314_Chrome.jpg
 
What do you guys think about this one? https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/615329383330830/
Obviously it's not a Silver B, but the wood and the red have me smitten. Looks like maybe it's missing a slide-out section of the side shelf...Does anyone sell replacement parts for those?

I don't have time for any kind of restoration project, but I don't think this one needs that. Maybe new flavorizer bars before long, but I can definitely handle that.

Any other concerns or reasons not to get this one vs the Silver B?
 
That's a genesis 1000. 13 bar cookbox.

Rust on the frame on the LH side is an area to watch for. It can be repaired. Bruce has a video.

Rust on the slide out drip pan is another area to watch for. The slide out pan is no longer available.

I don't know your market so I can't comment on price.

All that said, a 1000 is a great grill.

Edit. Earlier, I suggested a Silver B as they have less upkeep with the thermoset tables, but that 1000 has a wire rack bottom shelf so that's less to maintain.

If it's in decent shape, maybe negotiate the price down a bit and enjoy it.20220917_101249.jpg
 
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It is missing the left side swing table as well. But looks like a pretty good 1000 otherwise.
 
Looks to be leaning to the right a little. But with some frame repair should straighten out. Or maybe it is a Genesis 1 someone put casters on without trimming down the legs?
 
LMichaels said:
Looks to be leaning to the right a little. But with some frame repair should straighten out. Or maybe it is a Genesis 1 someone put casters on without trimming down the legs?
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I think that's just an illusion from the angle of that one pic. Look at the other pics in the listing.
 
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