New 2025 Spirit E-425 sear test

[Mark Foreman]

Have had the Spirit 425 for a few weeks and am quite happy with it. The cooking area is perfect for the two of us and the griddle insert works very well. The flat CI grates were an adjustment but I’ll use em a while before thinking about SS replacements. The grease tray is easier to clean than my old Genesis 335. I also like having the 4 burners vs. 3 with added sear burner on the Genesis.

So tonight I cooked a NY steak per Webers instructions using only the sear burners (40% boost). The other two burners were off.
Steak rub was SPG with pepper applied at the end of cooking (doesn’t burn) and painted with olive oil (too much, my bad).



Cooked at 45 degrees at 1.5 minutes per “turn”.

Very happy with the sear considering I put too much oil on it. I oil my food, not my grates.

 

[Jon Tofte]

I think Weber has done something really good with the new Spirits. Sure, there is a lot of painted steel, but in the mid-price arena, I think their new Spirits stand out. I would love to try one out! Thanks for sharing, Mark. Keep grilling; you might find you like that cast iron better than stainless!

 

[Cody Bratton]

Out of curiosity, how long did you run the sear burners prior to putting the steak on? Got me hungry!

 

[Mark Foreman]

Out of curiosity, how long did you run the sear burners prior to putting the steak on? Got me hungry!

Started warm up with 4 burners on high till lid temp was 450 (~10 minutes). Turned off 2 left burners and turned the other two to sear. Waited about 5 minutes then added steak.

 

[Mark Foreman]

I think Weber has done something really good with the new Spirits. Sure, there is a lot of painted steel, but in the mid-price arena, I think their new Spirits stand out. I would love to try one out! Thanks for sharing, Mark. Keep grilling; you might find you like that cast iron better than stainless!

I actually like the paint. I got tired to fighting to keep stainless steel nice.

 

[JSaus]

IMO, I like the cast iron grates over stainless. I had stainless on my old Genesis. I got cast on my last grill figuring I would probably switch in time. But, I find they have more contact area and seem to retain the heat better. Plus, after 4+ years, it is still in good shape.

 

[Cody Bratton]

Started warm up with 4 burners on high till lid temp was 450 (~10 minutes). Turned off 2 left burners and turned the other two to sear. Waited about 5 minutes then added steak.

I can hear the hissing sound of the steak dropping on the grates!

 

[Jim C in Denver]

I also like having the 4 burners vs. 3 with added sear burner on the Genesis.

I like the hot side HOT aspect of my Genny with the extra sear burner. But your Spirit's lay out (two boost burners on one side) looks even better to me for that.

Personally, I like the CI grates better, but SS is fine too. TBH, what I like most is that the CIs are black. They look fine with just a scrape. The SSs always look dirty no matter how much I clean them.

I almost always put a flat top on the HOT side, which sears like crazy. So any old grate cooks OK for me to do the cool/indirect convection cooking on the other side.