Weber 330 vs Charbroil Saber


 
Jeff Padell

Jeff Padell

TVWBB Pro
A friend of mine just bought a Saber infrared grill. I told him "but it is not a Weber"

At the same time I have heard that the new Webers are as solidly made as the old one. His Saber weights 210 pounds.

Has anyone had experience with Saber grills? Also how do the new Weber Genesis and Summits compare to the old one? At some point I may retire my 1999 Silver B
 
IMO a Saber is a gussied up Charbroil but I have never laid eyes on one. No one carries the brand around here. And yes IMO Weber has slipped A LOT in both support and in overall quality of product. Now to what relation they have slipped compared to actual $$$$ value? That is a matter of opinion. But I'm not so sure on my next "new" purchase Weber will be on my short list. Having looked at the new stuff and put one together I'm not sure "made in USA" applies since basically when I put my sister's new Genesis together I put together a bunch of assemblies marked "made in China". So I guess "boxed in USA" might be more appropriate? I was kicking the tires on the new EP series Genesis and Summits. VERY disappointed in things like grate bar spacing. I could easily slide my whole finger through the bars while on my older Summit only a finger tip, I think Weber is falling victim to trying to compete on perceived quality i.e. styling and gimmicks rather than true quality like they used to have. Whether or not this answers your questions I don't know but just my opinion and perceptions. In your case I think I'd be looking at other quality products in the $1000 range like Broilmaster, Broil King, PGE, and so on. Compare warranty, features and performance. Some dealers will even have days you can actually "test drive" a product(s) at their store.
 
Other than the consumables I don't see the a Genesis failing. The carts could possibly fail, because they have quite a few places that could end up holding water and leading to rust. A cover can prevent the majority of potienal rust though.
 
I grill 3-5 times a week year round. I have had many different brands of grills. Most would last 3-4 years before needing a rebuild, and by then most were not worth rebuilding. Because I'm a tight wad I avoided Weber's until my last gasser purchase. I couldn't justify the cost difference to comparable grills. As I was researching my last purchase, my wife opened the lid on the Genesis 330, and said this is the one I can feel the difference in the weight of the lid. She pushed me to get the 330. I did and couldn't be happier. I am now in my 3rd summer and have had no issues with the 330. It is by far the best gas grill I've ever had. Still has even heat, great temperature control, sear station works great, no structural degradation. I plan on using mine for years to come. With a 10 year burner warranty, I expect many more years.
 
I have been trying to get the wife to let me get a 330. The problem is my 15 year old Silver B is still going super strong, may have to clean the grates soon. I also grill 3-5 times a week year round.

This past winter we had 110 inches of snow in 45 days, the snow banks around my grill buried my WSM's and OTG but I kept digging out the Silver B although it kept getting shorter as the snow underfoot kept packing down until it was 8 inches think snow and ice.

in the pictures the black peeking out of the snow is a 22.5 and 14.5 WSM!

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The Saber looks impressive on their website. I've never seen one though, and I bet they are made in China. They are part of the same parent company that has Charbroil, which must embarrass the Saber people to no end.
Also, I don't like how the Saber model numbers sound so familiar to us.
 
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