Question for Summit Charcoal users


 
S

Stephen-F

New member
I have been wanting to purchase a Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center for a few years now and have been unsuccessful in pleading with the love of my life to love me back! Fast forward to watching few episodes of Netflix's Chef Table BBQ edition together and she is on board... go figure the power of media?!

Anyway, I have come to learn of the new version of the grill that will be released in November that is available without the Snap-Jet ignitor system. I also just caught the thread here that shows a picture of it the new unit and it looks like more has been taken away than just the firebox to justify the significant price drop. I can see that, as adding a sear station and side burner to the Genesis gassers is just $50 more which would seem to involve much more piping than is involved with the firebox on the Summit Charcoal.

Anyway, my one concern is I have heard that the penetration that is made into the cooker with the firebox introduces unwanted air. It is not a common complaint, so I didn't know it's validity and wanted to reach out for your take before making a purchase decision. With seeing the "cost efficiency" being applied to other areas of the grill other than just the firebox being axed, I am inclined to stick with the first generation that looks to be a more stout build. What do you think? Which direction would you go?

I think if the version that is going to be offered in November was to be the just like the model they sell in Australia, the decision would be much easier, but now I'm not so sure.
 
I love having the snap jet ignition. I use it 90% of the time. Pour the coals onto the fuel grate, ignite for 7 mins or so, and move the coals around with a Weber rake if needed. Install the deflector and you’re good to go for smoking. When I do high heat grilling, I tend to use a chimney to light the coals and the two baskets to allow for two zone cooking.

That being said, I only smoke as low as 225, and this grill locks in at that temp with absolutely zero problems. I can’t comment on ultra low smoking like cheese, eggs or salmon. That could be totally different. But for normal smoking and grilling, the hole where the gas tube enters is a non factor.
 
Kevin Henson said:
I love having the snap jet ignition. I use it 90% of the time. Pour the coals onto the fuel grate, ignite for 7 mins or so, and move the coals around with a Weber rake if needed. Install the deflector and you’re good to go for smoking. When I do high heat grilling, I tend to use a chimney to light the coals and the two baskets to allow for two zone cooking.

That being said, I only smoke as low as 225, and this grill locks in at that temp with absolutely zero problems. I can’t comment on ultra low smoking like cheese, eggs or salmon. That could be totally different. But for normal smoking and grilling, the hole where the gas tube enters is a non factor.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Kevin, that is awesome feedback! Looking further into it, looks to be that only the version without the cart is having the Snap-Jet taken away. There are a few subtle changes being made to the grilling station as well to drop the msrp by about $350, but the Snap-Jet will remain. Think I will grab the 1st generation Summit Charcoal Grilling Station while I still can!

Look forward to getting a kamado and learning the tricks of the trade from the forum members here!
 
I’d have to agree that the 1st gen is more appealing and I’ve loved it since acquiring it from a certain legendary member here. I already want the WSCGC vs the WSCG.
Prior to that I only ever used the chimney with newspaper on a kettle but since then I have used the snap jet nearly every time, either with the chimney for grilling or without it for smoking kind of like Kevin described above. Baby Back Maniac has eluded to the fact that the fire tends to burn left to right and I’m positive it’s because there is an “unrestricted vent” via the snap jet but that doesn’t mean it’s not manageable. To manage any fire you need to understand airflow into and out of your specific cooker and this is no exception even though there’s a limit to restricting airflow in-to. All cookers are tools and you need to learn how they act. All act differently and as soon as you understand how they act, why they act that way and how to make it do what you want, the sooner you can relax during the cook. I’m to that point and I love it!
 
Last edited:
Stephen-F said:
Thank you, Kevin, that is awesome feedback! Looking further into it, looks to be that only the version without the cart is having the Snap-Jet taken away. There are a few subtle changes being made to the grilling station as well to drop the msrp by about $350, but the Snap-Jet will remain. Think I will grab the 1st generation Summit Charcoal Grilling Station while I still can!

Look forward to getting a kamado and learning the tricks of the trade from the forum members here!
Click to expand...
What is being removed from the WSCGC?
 
Andy P said:
What is being removed from the WSCGC?
Click to expand...

Nothing too major. I haven't seen one in person and can only go by the pics I found. The changes that I could see included replacing the charcoal bin with a bag and instead of the bottom of the cart being half flat surface and cage, it is now full cage and doesn't have the diffusor plate holder below. I really like the diffusor holder on the original WSCGC so I think I'll grab that one. You can see some discussion on this in the 2nd Gen Summit Charcoal thread on this site. If you use the speculated part number there, google comes back with some interesting results!
 
Last edited:
Stephen-F said:
I'm in Richardson, TX.
Click to expand...

Darn, too far. I was going to say we could talk about a deal on my cart-less model or there's a used grilling center for sale about 2 hours west of me.

I will say that the starter does seem to be somewhat failure prone. I bought mine about a year ago and I've already had to replace the regulator on mine and I only use my WSCG grill 1-2 times a month probably and use the ignitor less than half the time I do use it. I do love my WSCG, I just fall into the convenience trap of the pellet grill. For me, I'd have happily taken the new model at the anticipated new price, I might have bought a grilling center even then. For the 1st Gen Grilling Center, I'm not sure I would find that diffuser holder, charcoal bin, and solid shelf worth $500.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top