Looking for New Gas Grill

[Jim C in Denver]

Dan -- great data and synchs with my experience.

Its was a BTU step down going from the Silver B (smaller grate; three sidewinder burners) to the bigger grate mid 2010 Genesis with regular n/s burners.

But then a step up for the 330 (big grate, four n/s burners including the sear). I think the 330 is a great combination of size and power. More so if you use a flat top on the sear side.

What is the math on the Gen IIs (late 2010s) with just three n/s? The grate size on those are a little smaller than the late model Gen 1s. My sense is that those grills could use the sear burner too. The Gen 2s they current sell at Costco have the sear burner -- very nice grill imo.

 

[Greg Part]

Dan -- great data and synchs with my experience.

Its was a BTU step down going from the Silver B (smaller grate; three sidewinder burners) to the bigger grate mid 2010 Genesis with regular n/s burners.

But then a step up for the 330 (big grate, four n/s burners including the sear). I think the 330 is a great combination of size and power. More so if you use a flat top on the sear side.

What is the math on the Gen IIs (late 2010s) with just three n/s? The grate size on those are a little smaller than the late model Gen 1s. My sense is that those grills could use the sear burner too. The Gen 2s they current sell at Costco have the sear burner -- very nice grill imo.ust a small addition for purposes of accuracy and helpfulness:

As I’m a BIG fan of the 2007 through 2010 E-W (sidewinder) models, I’d like to add the following for purposes of accuracy and hopefully helpfulness to anyone interested in 2007 through 2016 Genesis models.

2010 was the last model year (MY) for the side control knobs with E-W burners (sidewinder). MY’s 2007 through 2010 featured the newer tank-like cabinet style.

Weber introduced the front panel knobs with N-S burners for the 2011 MY. Henceforth, Weber offered the E-310 (without sear station) and the E-330 (with sear station AND a side burner). These were also available in SS and natural gas (NG) models.

The E-320 was continued for the 2011 MY only, and then (seemingly) completely deleted from production beginning with the 2012 MY. This carried through to 2016, the end of production of this cabinet style.

The style of cabinet used on the 2011 through 2016 MY was directly carried over from the 2007 through 2010 MY side control knobs with E-W burners.

2011 Catalog

2012 Catalog

For MY 2017, Weber rolled out the Genesis II and Genesis II LX models.

 

[Yair Halamish]

Jeromie,

I would steer you away from a three burner front control without a sear burner.

I bought a used E310 one as a housewarming gift for friends. It is nearly identical to the one you listed but a couple of years older.

I cooked on it a few times and it did OK, but did not have the power to really sear a steak properly.

I have the same exact year grill as the E310, but an E330 with the sear burner and it is night and day difference for high temp cooks.

Dan is 100% spot on. I used to have an E330 and 90% of my grilling was on the left side. Not just for searing. For small to medium cook batches, I would use the left grate only (it's quite big on the E3xx), and use only the left burner + sear burner, both of them on medium, that gave me a very good heat distrinution for the left grate.

 

[Josh Dekubber]

In 2007 I bought a brand new Weber sidewinder and since then I've tried so many different Genesis I can't even tell you how many have come and gone. The ones that have stood out as the best for me as far as the newer stuff has been hands down Genesis ii LX 340 and 240. Those are the only ones I've hung on to. These Genesis are a little different than the rest. Each burner has its own ignition system and built-in sear station. Handy for quickly preheating and searing anywhere on the grill. For some reason these have also stood out for me as far as temperature control. These have been one of the easiest to dial in temperature no matter high or low and keep it steady where you want it. I understand there's no right or wrong or best for everyone But these are my favorite of anything newer by Weber.

 

[LMichaels]

In 2007 I bought a brand new Weber sidewinder and since then I've tried so many different Genesis I can't even tell you how many have come and gone. The ones that have stood out as the best for me as far as the newer stuff has been hands down Genesis ii LX 340 and 240. Those are the only ones I've hung on to. These Genesis are a little different than the rest. Each burner has its own ignition system and built-in sear station. Handy for quickly preheating and searing anywhere on the grill. For some reason these have also stood out for me as far as temperature control. These have been one of the easiest to dial in temperature no matter high or low and keep it steady where you want it. I understand there's no right or wrong or best for everyone But these are my favorite of anything newer by Weber.

Yes, for what I consider to be a MEH design (NS burners) those are the cream of the crop IMO. They make FAR more sense than a "sear station" forcing you to one small area.

 

[Josh Dekubber]

Yes, for what I consider to be a MEH design (NS burners) those are the cream of the crop IMO. They make FAR more sense than a "sear station" forcing you to one small area.

And I realize that just because I like them doesn't mean everybody will but something cool that I found is that most regular folks don't even know what they are. They see a grill that doesn't have a separate sear station and think it's a 315. So if you know what to look for sometimes you can find them for a bargain. A lot of times even labeled on the used market as a 315 for sale.

 

[Bruce]

Each burner has its own ignition system and built-in sear station.

Can you explain this sear station concept?

 

[LMichaels]

Can you explain this sear station concept?

All they did was what they should have continued doing. Each burner has a L, M, H and then a "power" setting. (I forget what it was actually called). Which ran the burner at as high it as it could possibly run rather than geared to longevity and safety

 

[Bruce]

OK, so kind of a turbo setting above "HI" on each tube.
The problem I see with that is the grillers, and I think it is a significant percentage of them, that simply turn all burners up to their highest settings and cook everything at that setting. As you mentioned, probably not a good thing to do for longevity and safety.

 

[Josh Dekubber]

This is from the Genesis 340 LX. Off setting straight up. Next setting to the left is Infinity ignition. Next is a high Plus or sear station setting. And then you have your regular high medium low after that.


Whereas this is what you get with a separate sear station. Off straight up. Then your ignition setting/high where you set the knob and then push a button off to the side to ignite and then medium and low.


I prefer the LX far more. Works fantastically and is a noticeable step up. Just my thoughts and opinions though.

Here's a pic of my LX 240 and LX340

 

[Scott-MI]

There are other factors. That table is a helpful reference, but it is also why Weber says "don't worry about BTU ratings" in their article. i.e. We don't cook over a direct flame on these grills, we cook over radiant heat emitted by flavorizer bars & grates and convective heat flowing around the bars.

On side control grills, the front & rear burners are pointed inward toward the center (instead of up), which induces more heat into the 2 adjacent flavorizer bars next to the center burner. Generally, the longer E/W flavorizer bars also have more thermal mass, so they absorb and emit more heat. BTU ratings do not take any of that into account, it's merely a rating of the manifold flow rate for the fuel type (LP or NG valve orifices).

If you remove the flavorizer bars & grates and leave the lid open, that is the spec of "BTUs per sq inch". Of course, that's not how we run these grills. We preheat the grill for 10 minutes with a closed lid, at which point the flavorizer bars, grates, and cookbox add to the heat density under the food. In that regard, either a sidewinder or a deep box is going to be the best bet for E/W grills.

Note also, from 2011 onward, they added a set of heat reflectors under the burners. Weber knew they had a lingering problem with N/S grills, so they've tried various fixes (LX 'turbo', shorter lids on Spirit II and 2017-18 Genesis II), but ultimately they resorted to a "sear station" to address it.

Bottom line advice for OP: either find a 3 burner E/W model, or be sure to get a sear burner on a front controls model for the most flexibility.

 

[Jim Weber]

Nice explanation!!! I haven't gotten my hands on some of the newer models but are aware of the differences ---- good insight as to what they were trying to achieve with the different models.

I was always under the impression that the lower reflectors were more of a 'grease management' thing --- capturing some to burn off while allowing bits to fall thru..... I know my Spirit I (N/S) two burner is a grease trap just waiting to burst into flames. I didn't consider they were actually there to function as 'reflectors'.

 

[Jim Weber]

View attachment 95824
This is from the Genesis 340 LX. Off setting straight up. Next setting to the left is Infinity ignition. Next is a high Plus or sear station setting. And then you have your regular high medium low after that.


Whereas this is what you get with a separate sear station. Off straight up. Then your ignition setting/high where you set the knob and then push a button off to the side to ignite and then medium and low.
View attachment 95825

I prefer the LX far more. Works fantastically and is a noticeable step up. Just my thoughts and opinions though.

Here's a pic of my LX 240 and LX340
View attachment 95837

So it looks like weber marked the flame setting to go up to "11" instead of "10" ?

(SpinalTap reference....)
"But ..... but ...... THIS one goes to ELEVEN"

 

[Josh Dekubber]

Yeah I don't know the exact science but it works well. But difference I think is 39,000 btu for Genesis ii vs 43,500 btu for Genesis ii LX. Which doesn't really mean anything to me. I currently own both and from my experience The LX is much better. Just my thoughts and opinions from my experience. I would expect just like everything else everybody will have their own personal preference. There is no right or wrong in my opinion.

 

[Ralph]

So it looks like weber marked the flame setting to go up to "11" instead of "10" ?

(SpinalTap reference....)
"But ..... but ...... THIS one goes to ELEVEN"

For those that haven't seen it:

 

[JSaus]

I can't speak for the new Genesis line, but when I replaced my Silver B after 20 years, I opted for the Spirit E-330 because it was the exact same size as the Silver B plus a sear burner. I have no problems with uneven heat or inadequate heat for either direct or indirect cooking. Overall, I prefer it to the Silver B. Possibly it is because the grill is not as wide as a Genesis which places the burners closer together. I like the middle section for indirect cooking as opposed to the narrow middle strip on the Silver B. Of course, on both, you can just use one burner to increase the indirect area. The sear station is a big convenience over having to heat the whole grill to sear on the Silver B. You can turn the 3rd burner down or off for a cooler area to move the meat. I think that when they increased to size of the Genesis and went to front controls, they should have made them 4-burners and kept the Spirit for those who loved the Silver B size.

 

[LMichaels]

Bad thing about NS in a small footprint grill is if you try to use one burner there is no real "airflow" over the food like when you use an EW with say only the front burner on. And the heat/smoke then comes up to and over it on the way out the back vent. On a huge foot print grill like my Wolf, you can balance things without the heat being too concentrated and keep things well balanced. On a small footprint gimme EW all day every day. Though I only use gas grill now maybe once every year now. Except for the Q (which I actually used to day to burn a couple weenies)

 

[JSaus]

Bad thing about NS in a small footprint grill is if you try to use one burner there is no real "airflow" over the food like when you use an EW with say only the front burner on. And the heat/smoke then comes up to and over it on the way out the back vent.

You are probably right about that, but a gas grill is not going to be anyone's choice for slow smoking anything. For finishing off a pork tenderloin or chicken breast etc. they get the job done.

 

[LMichaels]

You are probably right about that, but a gas grill is not going to be anyone's choice for slow smoking anything. For finishing off a pork tenderloin or chicken breast etc. they get the job done.

If it's all you have it would be. As back 3 years ago. Gas grill was all I had.

 

[Jim Weber]

Bad thing about NS in a small footprint grill is if you try to use one burner there is no real "airflow" over the food like when you use an EW with say only the front burner on. And the heat/smoke then comes up to and over it on the way out the back vent. On a huge foot print grill like my Wolf, you can balance things without the heat being too concentrated and keep things well balanced. On a small footprint gimme EW all day every day. Though I only use gas grill now maybe once every year now. Except for the Q (which I actually used to day to burn a couple weenies)

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that.....
Care to explain why convective currents 'can't' swirl left to right in a cook chamber? There is always a swirl current above a hot burner towards the cooler side of the cook box.
I do just fine on my little spirit....