Moving to gas -- Genesis v. Summit? Need some advice


 
S

Stone

TVWBB Super Fan
My grill is a 15 year old Weber 22" kettle. It's dented, the charcoal tray is rusted away, and I'm tired of the hassle with long-start up times and then staring at those coals still burning long after I've finished my steaks or burgers. And, of course, dealing with the cleanup. So, I'm thinking it's time to move to gas. (For the grille, that is, I'm staying with my bullets for the smoking.)

I could use some advice.

1. Am I making a huge mistake? Is the pre-heat time for a gas grille pretty much the same for starting the charcoal? Does the charcoal get hotter? Should I just buy the Performer Platinum and put the money towards meat?

2. Are used grilles a good option? I don't see many gas grilles for sale on my local Craigslist, although I'm not in a rush. But I would hate to buy a used grille and then have to deal with broken or rusted connections, etc. Or do most people think that going used saves enough money to be worth the risk?

3. Is the Summit Series worth the extra $$ over the Genesis?

4. I had a bad experience with a Ducane grille in the past. (My Dad's LNG grill -- it never worked.) Should I stick with Weber or are their other brands worth considering? (I'm on a budget.)

Thanks in advance
 
When a purchased my Genesis EP-330 a few years ago, I compared it to the Summit Series. The Summit series is several hundreds of dollars ($800?) more than the top end Genesis that I ended up getting. I couldn't justify the added price for the Summit. I am very happy with the Genesis.
 
Gas is a nice option. As for the Summit vs Genesis. I would look at both and only you can answer that. There are other good brands, many far more costly than a Weber. Weber has a unique position in that $$$ for $$$$ it provides just about the best combination of quality to money spent. Good used ones can be had too. Sniffing out a deal is kind of a past time for me. One I picked up last year and am totally impressed by is the Broilmaster. Of course I got it for the right price $00.00 and Broilmaster warrantied all the parts I needed. But that aside it is not much to look at. Just a basic 2 burner but built like a tank. Very heavy castings, large dual bowtie burner, simple ceramic briquettes rather than metal tents, and a very deep fire box. It gets fierce hot, sears wonderfully, does very nice low/slow, even comes closer to actual charcoal flavor than grills with metal tamers. Frankly it's even more impressive performing than the huge 6 burner Wolf I have. And that was a close to $10k grill when new!
Anyway there are lots of options out there. I use both gas and charcoal but pretty much with my lifestyle gas is my go to. When I do fully retire I may do more charcoal though.
 
Hi Stone,

Well, I'm a dedicated charcoholic and wanted a gasser to fill in on days/nights when I just didn't have time to light the grill or was too lazy (more likely). Like Kim, I opted for the Genesis EP-330 NG and have been very pleased with it. I've mainly used it for chicken and steaks and the results are great. If you can pick one up used, go for it. They're easy to fix or find parts if necessary. I think the Summit series is great too; buddy of mine has one and he's a master on the grill. But it's no better than the Genesis.
 
I recently purchased a Genesis 310 Special Edition. I had 3 sizes of BGE's that I used for the last 14 years. Sold all 3 for about 50% of what I paid.

The BGE's took about 1/2 hour to get to temp and they would run up to about 700 degrees, depending on the weather and the condition of the lump. They made a real mess in my garage with all the black soot, etc.

I got tired of all the mess and somewhat finicky temps and consistency across the grate.

The Genesis gets up to temp 550 degrees in 15 min. regardless of outside temp and heats very even across both grates. I love the ease of use and consistent temps. At first I thought it needed to be hotter for steaks, etc. but it does a great job of cooking everything I have tried. The only thing that tasted noticeably better on the BGE is Pork Tenderlion.

Chicken, steaks, burgers, etc. are great off of the Webber.

I don't think I would spend the extra $$ on the Summit. I would look for a Genesis Special Edition. I might consider the 330 instead of the 310. Either way 310 or 330 I would NOT get the SS model.
 
I have a Genesis and it's great. I was looking at a Summit the other day in Lowes and it looked to be generally the same size cooking area as the Genesis. The extras that it did have were a sear station, infrared burner for rotisserie and a built in smoker box. It is also completely stainless steel as opposed to having the colored dome.

Personally, I don't feel that the extra features justified the extra cost. I've been cooking on my Genesis for years now and nothing has turned out bad because I didn't have a sear station or the infrared burner.

That's just my $0.02.
 
Try a Performer with the gas starter. The Genesis (I have one) and Summit may be more convenient, but the flavor of the meats cooked
over charcoal is much better than from the gas grills. Your kettle may be old and dented and ugly, but it will give you better steaks, chops,
chicken, ribs and burgers for the price of a $15.oo charcoal tray verses $750.00 to $3000.00 plus for food that does not taste as good.
But its your money and ultimately your choice.
 
I agree that the difference in startup time between charcoal and gas is very little or nothing. I also agree that the time between removing the food from the grill to covering the grill is much less with gas. However there are a few tricks to speeding up the process. I always use the charcoal baskets so when I’m done cooking I remove the baskets and let the charcoal burn away on top of some bricks or if it’s windy I dump it into a metal bucket. I sweep the ashes and then dump them into a metal bucket. Performers don’t snuff out charcoal well due to the air entering via hole where the burner enters the kettle. Once the charcoal is gone the grill cools quickly and you can cover it.

Used grills can be a very good option, normally you see more and more on CL as the weather gets warmer. You need to be careful because about half of what I see in my area on CL is way over priced, bargains don’t seem to come along very often.

As far a Summit vs. Genesis it depends on which Summit. The 420’s are only a little bigger than a Genesis 330 and to me not worth the additional cost, a 470 actually has a smaller cooking area then a Genesis 330. If we are talking a 620 or 670 then I would say it’s worth the additional cost. My brother has a Summit E-620 and I have cooked on it a few times it’s big enough to do multiple heat zones with ease. Two chickens on one side with steaks burgers on the other is a breeze. Really the only hesitation I have with buying a 670 is fuel consumption. Right now with my E-330 I can go through a 15 pound tank of LP in less than two weeks. So I’m thinking a Summit 670 might be 5 or 6 days, that’s just too many tank changes for me. But if you have NG or bulk propane that’s not an issue.

I say give a gas grill a shot.
 
Instead of getting a Summit get a Genesis and a Performer. I have both and love both. You will miss the flavor the charcoal grills provide. Cannot be duplicated. I thought I wasn't going to use my Performer when I got my Genesis but I always find myself going back to it.
 
I love my Performer with gas assist, I want to get a gasser but only for quick weeknight hotdogs, steak, and stuff that requires higher heat.
 
I have a 1997 Genesis 1000 LX in LPG that I bought new and it still works like the day I bought it. I also have a Performer and as others have said with the gas assist it makes the charcoal experience pretty painless. Yesterday we went to Phoenix to go to the Penzey's spice store a 200 mile round trip and just for giggles I looked at the Phoenix CL to see if they might have a used Weber in natural gas because we just moved into a home with an outside gas bib. Bingo! I found a lightly used 2009 copper E320 in NG for under $200, needless to say it's in my garage now. The original receipt shows the person who bought it paid a little over $800 with tax for it. So they are out there if you're patient.
Gas is great in the winter or for a quick burger or steak, but you will miss the taste of charcoal cooked food even with the hassle.
 
D John said:
Instead of getting a Summit get a Genesis and a Performer. I have both and love both. You will miss the flavor the charcoal grills provide. Cannot be duplicated. I thought I wasn't going to use my Performer when I got my Genesis but I always find myself going back to it.
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I've already got an 18" bullet, a 22" bullet and a Brinkman POS in the yard. If I added a Genesis and a Performer, I'd have no place to sit.

Which gets hotter, gas or charcoal? I would have thought charcoal got a better sear.
 
In my experience lump charcoal gets quite a bit hotter than gas.

My Genesis 310 will run about 550 to 580 on high.

My BGE with lump will easily run over 700.

However, the Genesis does a great job of cooking and is much less of a hassle. Granted the flavor is not the same as the BGE. The difference is most noticeable with pork. It's not that big a difference with chicken, burgers, steaks, etc.
 
Stone said:
I've already got an 18" bullet, a 22" bullet and a Brinkman POS in the yard. If I added a Genesis and a Performer, I'd have no place to sit.

Which gets hotter, gas or charcoal? I would have thought charcoal got a better sear.
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I see. Maybe you can buy a Jumbo Joe or use one of your bullets as a charcoal grill.

My Genesis 330 runs up to 600 no problem and I have never tried to see how far it would go. The thermometer on my Performer stops at 600 and I have reached that point many times although I suspect the real temp was much, much hotter. On my kamado I have reached 900 with lump. All of my best steak cooks have been on either my Performer or kamado.
 
I have a method that makes charcoal grilling easy for me on the Weber charcoal grills:
1) Use lighter cubes and a chimney starter. One Weber lighter cube (costs ~$.15 each) will light up a chimney full of charcoal and have my coals ready in 10 minutes or so. Just light it up and forget about it. No newspapers, no burned papers flying in the air, no lighter fluid, no worries.
2) When you're done with cooking, close all the vents (both top and bottom), and the flames will go out immediately. By next morning, I usually just shake out the ashes and save the charcoal for next time. I end up reusing about half the charcoal I started with.
3) Have a small bucket with a lid nearby to keep your ashes.
4) And if I had one of the Weber gold models with the ash catchers, my charcoal grilling would be that much easier!
These steps have converted me from being an occasional gas griller, to a steady charcoal user several times a week. I'm lovin' it!
 
Stone said:
Looks like I'm sticking with charcoal. Performer it is. I just saved $500!
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I think you made a good choice. You can always find a used Weber gasser on craigslist.

Treat yourself to a rotisserie and/or Gourmet BBQ system with the money you saved. You won't regret it.
 
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