Napoleon Prestige


 
Napoleon reminds me of Broilking (not to be confused with all aluminum Broilmaster)
BK was no good really, bad engineering and low quality parts. The lid was built well but not much else. Both BK and Napoleon owned by Onward. BK had a weird way to hold the burners in place. Iron grates rusted out of existence in a few years. Replaced the ignitor 3 times in just a few years. Only good thing was 10 years warranty and they did replace parts, like burners and holders. Weber has 10 years warranty also. In my experience Weber is better.
 
Last edited:
Stefan H said:
Great information Marty. I did not expect Napoleon to be worse than Weber. In a German grill forum the opinion seems to be the other way round. Here in the US they are really rare. I have around 100+ stores in a 30 miles range who carry Weber grills and/or Weber gear in one form or another but less then 10 stores who carry Napoleon. And that also shows on the used market. Hardly ever any used ones show up for sale. I have looked at a few new ones and they looked really good. But of course the real quality only shows after a few years of usage.
Click to expand...

I had the opportunity to see some new Napoleon grills alongside of Weber’s at a cool store in Venice, Florida which, fortunately I suppose, is far enough away from me to make it impractical to visit again for a long time. Anyway, I did think the Napoleon grills were very nice and certainly worthy competition for the new Webers there. I did not personally think they were better however. Like Stefan says the objective evidence would require several years of actual use.

The wavy grates are kind of odd, but I would love to see what sear marks using the criss cross method would look like:cool:!

Dave,
For $175 for that can’t lose find I would have strayed again myself:coolkettle:!

I am in Germany right now and there is a grill store in Frankfurt that advertises both Napoleon and Weber grills. So people here are having to make similar choices.
 
Last edited:
Dave in KC said:
Jon, what has you on the other side of the pond? Pretty nice time of year to be there.
I spent 3 1/2 years of my military time there. Heidelberg area primarily.
Click to expand...

I am here with the head of the publishing department of our small non profit attending the International Book Fair in Frankfurt. My first opportunity to be anywhere in Europe. Very busy but interesting and enjoyable. The German people we have met, while they don’t ooze friendliness like people in Mexico, have been very gracious, kind and patient with us Americans.

I am hoping to go to a German Weber store tomorrow if it works out. If it does I will post a bunch of pictures and tell about what I see there. Later we will be visiting Berlin which will be a huge treat for this WW2 and Cold War history buff.
 
Enjoy the trip. Berlin is going to be very interesting. You will enjoy it. The museum at the former Checkpoint Charlie is very interesting if you have the time. The last I was in that museum the wall was still a grim reality.
And you might be shocked by the Weber prices in Europe. They are higher in Euro than here in $USD. Meaning people in Europe pay about 30-40% more for the Weber gear than we do here in the US. But Weber sells stuff in Europe you cannot get in the US:
- Here we finally get the 22" kettle in the new colors (green, creme, slate, ..). In Europe they also sell the 18" and Smokey Joes in this color.
- In Europe you can get the 22" GBS grate in stainless steel. Not here in the US.
- They also sell the Pulse electric grill over there. But I assume the US would not be an option because you cannot run a 2200W grill on a standard 110V US outlet. Which is basically 20 amps.
- Plus a bunch more stuff.
 
I am really hoping it will work out. Not feasible to bring much home, but I would love to find something small enough from Weber we don’t get to see back home. Hopefully also a catalog and lots of pictures and hands on chance to see what the Europeans get to enjoy from Weber.:coolkettle:
 
Weber sells some accessories you cannot find here in the US.
https://www.weber.com/GB/en/accessories/cooking/
I bought the rotisserie skewer set two years ago in Germany. But I found out later that Napoleon sells a similar one here in the US. For a much lower price of course.
https://www.weber.com/GB/en/accessories/cooking/17395.html?cgid=498#start=1
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0046XSI38/tvwb-20

I am tempted to bring back a creme or slate colored Smokey Joe. But at 89 Euro or about $100 I am not so sure. I also will check the local HW stores for sure.
 
Stefan,
I couldn’t resist the ivory Smokey Joe! I don’t know for sure how we are going to get it in our luggage but the guy I am here with assures me it will be a piece of cake. He is being an enabler I am afraid!

When I get home I will post all about the Weber store. Unbelievable! Had a great time and the people there seemed to think I was a novelty and treated me grandly:cool:!
 
Looking forward to more photos Jon. I picked up a wreck of a Genesis 1, but it had black knobs. I am not sure I have ever seen the Genesis 1/1000 style knobs in black before. The frame is toast, the cook box is a lost cause with the slide rails rusted off and likely frozen screws. I have extra 1000 cookboxes anyway. The lid is black and is very dirty, but might be salvageable...not worried if it isn't though. The grease pan is in decent shape and it had one good condition, maybe salvageable wood slat shelf and the lid handle looked like it was in very good shape. Best I have ever gotten on a rehab grill for sure. The control panel is different than any I have seen before as well. Same shape, just a different style really.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top