Number of Burners to Turn On


 
Mike-BBQ

Mike-BBQ

TVWBB Member
I am new to the Weber, so bear with me. Do you turn on all the burners on your Weber (I have a 435) for every cook no matter how much you are cooking? On my old grill, I would turn on all burners just because I knew my grill and knew the temperatures. So, if you say are just cooking 3 burgers, do you only turn on 2 burners? Which ones? I understand you would be using less gas, but just asking for my knowledge.

Do you have to turn on the burners in sequence left to right, or can you say just turn on the middle ones, or maybe just the ones on the right?
 
Yes, you can use any combo of burners for cooking depending on the size of the cook and the method of cooking. Some cooks are better done "indirect" no matter the size. This is where you place the food over the unlit burners and cook using indirect heat. Other times, as you say, you only have three burgers to cook on a 4 burner grill. I would cook them over probably two lit burners with direct heat.
The lighting sequence of burners depends on the grill. Some require the left most burner to light and then you can light all the others. Then if you want, you can leave the left burner(s) on and turn off the others on the right or any combo of burners. Most of the newer grills have individual igniters now and you can light whatever burner you want in any order and leave the others off.
 
Hey Mike
Mike-BBQ said:
I am new to the Weber, so bear with me. Do you turn on all the burners on your Weber (I have a 435)
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I have a 330 and I light all the burners, run it on high for a few minutes, I preheat until the lid temp is over 400. I don't really pay much attention to it, but sometimes will run the pre-heat longer if I'm burning off grease from prior cooks.

after the preheat I shut off one or two burners. I rarely cook a full grill full of food on the gas grill, so having half hot direct and half indirect works for most things I'm cooking.
 
Exactly, Dan! I may use only one burner if, say, cooking one or two sausage. I also try to vary the burners I use so that all parts of the grill get the actual cooking over time -- though the left ones typically get more, sometimes it's the sear burner and center. If I want the lowest possible heat for slower cooks, I will use only the sear burner set to Low. That may still be too hot, but it's what I can do.
 
The lighting sequence of burners depends on the grill. Some require the left most burner to light and then you can light all the other
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Mine is the Genesis 435---anyone know if this one has individual burner ignition, or to I do left to right sequentially, and then turn off?
 
Mike-BBQ said:
Mine is the Genesis 435---anyone know if this one has individual burner ignition, or to I do left to right sequentially, and then turn off?
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The burners on a 435 can be lit and turned off in any sequence.

I light left to right simply out of habit.
 
RichPB (richlife) said:
If I want the lowest possible heat for slower cooks, I will use only the sear burner set to Low. That may still be too hot, but it's what I can do.
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I had thought about doing that but was not sure it was feasible. Only ever used that burner to on-full for searing. Was not sure you could turn it down. What kind of temp will it maintain?
 
Assuming you have the same grill, I think the sear burner is rated at 10000 BTUs while the rest are 12000. Then it depends outside temp. In the 30-40s, Low with my sear burner only maintains about 275*. In summer with temps 80-90s it stays at 300* or more. And this is with my customized grill setup for max smoke impact (upper grate, lower level baking pans and woodstove tape around the hood).
 
JSaus said:
I had thought about doing that but was not sure it was feasible. Only ever used that burner to on-full for searing. Was not sure you could turn it down. What kind of temp will it maintain?
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On my E330 the main burners are 12,666 BTU each, and the sear burner is 10, 000 BTU.

Current model 435 is 12,000 BTU for all according to this Pic from weber.

I guess my point is, using sear only on a 10K vs 12.6K BTU Is a small but noticeable drop, but on a current model Genesis sear and main are the same.

20230623_132118.jpg
 
The current 435 lights each burner individually. Like @DanHoo said, I also light left to right out of habit from the older models that required this.

RichPB (richlife) said:
I think the sear burner is rated at 10000 BTUs while the rest are 12000.
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That’s interesting that they’re rated differently.

I replaced the burners on a 2011 S-330 recently, and the sear burner tube is identical to the other three. Same exact part and part number even though they’re often listed separately on many parts sites and in the schematics.

Maybe it receives a different amount of fuel?
 
For the 435, I think all burners rated the same is interesting -- and good. It is nice to have less heat, but it's still mostly too hot on Low to be practical. It'd rather have the better searing option.

I just checked my burners, and the tubes are the same size, so I guess the valve must be the difference (though I swear I remember the sear burner being smaller). But 4 or 5 years ago, I got a full burner replacement under warranty for excessive rust opening the orifices too much. I don't remember comparing the burners then -- just replaced them. I'll have to do some testing to compare the heat output on Low for the left burner vs the sear burner.
 
Great information and graphics! Thanks!

So for indirect cooking, I could technically on my 435 turn on the right 1 or 2 burners (or sear burner), and cook on the left side of the grill until I wanted to sear or put the cook on the hot area.
 
Mike-BBQ said:
Great information and graphics! Thanks!

So for indirect cooking, I could technically on my 435 turn on the right 1 or 2 burners (or sear burner), and cook on the left side of the grill until I wanted to sear or put the cook on the hot area.
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Yes, I often do this, especially for chicken thighs where I want to render fat slowly on the indirect side before finishing the skin direct.
 
Mike-BBQ said:
Great information and graphics! Thanks!

So for indirect cooking, I could technically on my 435 turn on the right 1 or 2 burners (or sear burner), and cook on the left side of the grill until I wanted to sear or put the cook on the hot area.
Click to expand...
I'll suggest using the outer two burners and cook in the center.

I do this on a friend's E310 and it works well.
 
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