Performer > OTG ?


 
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Dom R

TVWBB Super Fan
I've been getting a severe case of Performeritis lately. I love my OTG but I think about how great it would be to have a side table and never use a chimney starter again. Heck maybe a performer would even get my wife out there grilling too. (yeah right)
My question: is it really worth it to upgrade to a performer? Any other points, good and bad to consider?
Thanks
 
I was in the same boat earlier this year. Made the move to the performer and never looked back. Gas assist gets used to start the chimney (which you don't want to stop using) and table to hold stuff is very handy. I say do it!
 
Dom,
I can't think of any bad points about the Performer.

The char baskets are great for many of the things that I cook.
Fill one or two, set over the burner and fire 'em up.
But, don't toss the chimney since it holds more and makes it easier to dump coals to the side for indirect.
The burner flame reaches the bottom grid of the chimney just fine.

Besides the table, other nice features are the slide-aside lid holder, large storage rack, charcoal bag holder, and the removable thermometer.

I'm 6' 2" (used to be 6' 3" but age took me down a notch) and the 34 inch height of the table and cooking grate is much more comfortable than the 29" height of the standard 22 inch kettles.

I found mine on craigslist for $125, but I would buy a new one in a heart beat now that I've used mine for a couple of years.

Well, there is one downside, the cost of a new one.
If that's not a problem, then I say go for it!
 
Don, seriously go for it. I was fortunate to get mine as a gift from the in-laws a while back. I love the thing. I have a gas grill on my back porch for the "quick" meals during the week sometimes. The gas grill has not been fired up once since I got the performer. Everything is so much faster, coals are ready in no time. I cooked some Brats yesterday. I used the performer to start a half chimney, dumped it in the smokey joe, all she wrote. The versatility is the best. I promise you will say.....man I'm glad I bought this!
 
I have an older Platinum - similar to the Performer but without the charcoal bin and propane starter. I love having the table and I like the older platinum with a single larger side table.

Keep your chimney. I'm sure it will work great with the propane starter in the performer. I use a propane side burner with a chimney to light charcoal. A minute or two of propane is all that's needed to get the charcoal started and a few minutes later, the chimney has all of the charcoal lit.

I'm watching CL for a cheap Performer to to trade up from my Platinum.
 
I recently picked up a new performer off cl for 140. The side table comes in really handy. Your have some place to put your meat and beer. The gas assist is really simplifies lighting charcoal. I no longer have run out to my garage to get charcoal add it is the bin. Your can also store alot of stuff below. The temperature gauge is nice but I haven't used it, cooking is pretty simple, either direct or in direct. I have a lid holder on my mastertouch and on the performer, its nice to slide it over. The height of the new one is great, I'm 6'2" I don't struggle with having to bend over as much. Did I say the table is really nice? Its my favorite part of the performer.
 
Don I started with a Performer years ago and recently needed more capacity and purchased the OTG. Big mistake! First I added a thermometer for the lid. Next I purchased the charcoal holders for indirect. Then I had to buy a chimney starter. I’m still looking to an insulated cover for the vent handle. Don’t laugh. When you’re used to something, you miss it when you no longer have it. Yes I use the OTG but only when I really need too. The sad thing is I have seen two Performers on Craigslist since I bought the new grill. Get it. You will not regret it. Good Luck!
Rolf
 
As an OTG owner I would love to have a performer and the only potential advantage I can see with the OTG is that it is more portable. I have both grills stored in the corner of a patio and prefer to move the OTG a few feet out to keep the fire away from the fence. A performer, while moveable, probably prefers to just sit in one spot.

Of course my solution is to just have one grill, a better weber charcoal, which is all I really want to use. Gas grills just seem anemic to me now.
 
I have a OTG26 and a Performer and a Q220 (and have had 22.5's before).

The Performer is great, but I could improve it.

The table is too small. I'd love for it to be bigger. And taller. And have better tool holders. And a place to hang the grate when I'm fiddling with charcoals.


Most Performer owners still use a chimney. I do. It's actually more reliable (sometimes the propane burner won't lite easily when it is humid). And old newspaper is cheaper and usually more readily available than small propane tanks. The chimney is also just as fast to light with newspapers as the baskets are when lit with the propane burner.


The charcoal holder only holds 20lbs of charcoal. That's a good weekend for me. What about the rest of the week?


When I win the lotto I am going to buy a Weber Ranch and then buy some industrial shelving frames and some nice wheels. Then I'll mount the Ranch in the shelving and mount the wheels so I have a Weber Ranch sized Performer. Of course, then I'll need a new truck because my truck isn't big enough to haul it around.


Then I'm gonna drive it right up to the Weber factory in Palatine, park and then start cooking and see how long it takes to get their attention. Then I'll show them what they could have thought of themselves
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">And a place to hang the grate when I'm fiddling with charcoals. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Darrel,
If you have the newer Performer, with the Thermoset table, look on the back side.
There's a horizontal slot that the cook grate handle will fit into.
This tip came from another member.

I never use it though, since I keep another kettle handy for grates, hot chimneys, etc.
 
I've said this before, but I waited a year before I ponied up the cash to upgrade from the OTG to the Performer. After I paid the cash, my ONLY regret was waiting a year.

It seems expensive at first, but when I thought about how many times I will grill in the coming decades, it didn't make sense NOT to upgrade.
 
Thanks for the great feedback everyone. I will definitely be purchasing a performer soon. When I started looking at kettles last year, I should have bot a performer instead of jumping into a OTG immediately. Now its more difficult to justify another grill when I have three currently sitting on my patio. If my wife and family were anything like you fine members, a performer would be coming home today. The OTG will have to go or everyone will tell me to get some help.

One thing that is concerning to me is the propane start on the performer. Sounds like folks are still using the old chimney instead. Is the starter on the performer not great?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Stuart S:
I was in the same boat earlier this year. Made the move to the performer and never looked back. Gas assist gets used to start the chimney (which you don't want to stop using) and table to hold stuff is very handy. I say do it! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Stu, did you purchase new or kijiji?
I may have to use your forum quote to pull this one off. Wouldn't be the first time either.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dom R:
...

One thing that is concerning to me is the propane start on the performer. Sounds like folks are still using the old chimney instead. Is the starter on the performer not great? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I think you misunderstood their comments. They use the chimney with the propane starter, not instead of. The chimney concentrates the heat and forces it up through the load to fully ignite the charcoal above it.

I don't personally have a Performer, but I use a side burner on another grill to ignite charcoal in a chimney. I run the propane burner a minute or so - not long at all. That gets the charcoal on the bottom of the chimney started. Ignition proceeds rapidly to the coals on the top after the propane is turned off. You can achieve the same effect with a wad of paper, but for me the propane works quicker.
 
What Hank said. The burner lights the chimney a LOT faster than newspaper and there's no paper flecks left over. You don't have to use the chimney, but if you have one, a good chimney + the gas assist = hot coals in record time. You can also buy a connector to hook up an LP tank instead of the camp tanks. I've been using an LP all summer, and it's not even remotely empty.

Get a Performer. It's everything that's great about the OTG and then some, and I think it's the best grill Weber makes. They turn up used on CL if you can be patient. Or heck, sell that Genesis
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Once you try a Performer, you may never use the Genesis again anyway!

Stan
 
Bob, thanks for the tip on the slot at the back of the table. I never new what it is for, I've been leaning the cooking grate on the side while I lite the coals.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dom R:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Stuart S:
I was in the same boat earlier this year. Made the move to the performer and never looked back. Gas assist gets used to start the chimney (which you don't want to stop using) and table to hold stuff is very handy. I say do it! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Stu, did you purchase new or kijiji?
I may have to use your forum quote to pull this one off. Wouldn't be the first time either.
icon_wink.gif
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I got mine off kijiji for $175 with a cover and half a bin of charcoal. Like everyone else, I use the gas assist to light my chimney. Take off the upper grate and with the chimney on the charcoal grate use the gas assist for two minutes and you're good to go. A small bottle of propane has lasted me all summer and I cook on it at least 3 times a week, but usually more.

In regards to using the signature, I got lucky with my "old" OTS...my neighbor had been smelling my cooks for a month and talking about getting himself a Weber. When I found the performer I made a deal to sell him the 1 month old OTS, upgraded flip up grate and cheap chimney I had for $125 so I told my wife the truth, it only cost me $50 to upgrade to the performer. He knew the grill was relatively new so it was an easier sell...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Stuart S:
There's a nice Blue One in Mississauga that's been listed without a price since the end of July, give them a call....you might get lucky. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Stu_!
This one you are talking about is a dead end. I've tried numerous times to reach the seller ( email and voice messages) but no reply. Very frustrating. There is another one going for $300 but there is no way I'd pay that. I offered $200 but no reply.
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I'm running out of patience with kajiji so I may just have to order the lime green Crate and Barrel one thru the US site and pick it up over the border.
 
Dom, I ordered mine from Homedepot.ca, got the blue one and had it delivered right to my door. Give them a try.
 
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