Weber Summit Charcoal Grill and Summit Charcoal Grilling Center - New for 2016


 
I called my local BBQ Grill center and he had no price.

As per Yahoo Finance:
"Weber Summit Charcoal Grill is available at select Canadian stores and is priced at $1,999.99 (MSRP)"
"Consumers will have the option to upgrade to the Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Centre which includes all of the features found on the Summit Charcoal Grill listed below plus a stainless steel tabletop and wire storage basket, diffuser plate storage area, and Char-bin storage container that holds up to 20 lbs. of charcoal (MSRP $2,499.99)." :eek:

Any takers?
 
Pricey...pricey! I'm not sure that all of the new features aren't something that you can do to an existing kettle. A few fire bricks and you can raise the charcoal grates. A pizza pan could act as a diffusor and well the hinge, someone is selling a hinge that looks a lot like that one. Cool grill...but lots of coin.
 
The video that discusses the thermometer says it features "increased accuracy". Let's hope so.

I also think the diffuser plate is quite interesting. I wonder if an empty or water-filled foil pan is intended to be placed in the center of the diffuser plate?

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Not at that price!

Fire's so easy (& stable in their existing products) that a caveman can do it!

 
The Amazing Ribs video shows a temp probe running into it. I wonder how unless the gasket just seals around it.

Yep, just like using one in your oven.

At this price point, I'm underwhelmed. I'd like to see some field tests first. Everything from a 180 degree chipotle making slow burn, to burgers, to a scorching pizza cook. But so far, I think I'd rather spend the money on a ceramic.



Only available in BLACK?

You can have any color you want. As long as its black. :p
 
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Gonna have to wait for the end of season Target clearance sales on this one, LOL. Can't mentally get my head around the value proposition here.
 
It's beautiful but the price for what it would add above and beyond a kettle and WSM, I just don't see it.
Very happy I picked up the new WSM 22 last week. With that and my OTG I'm in good shape for summer.
 
I don't think anyone has pointed out the fact that this is 24.5 inches AND it has the inserts for legs... I'm wondering is Weber intends to offer a 24.5 inch kettle.
 
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Maybe its a 24.5" cooking surface? Weber liks to re-use existing parts/patterns, maybe the bowl is based on the form of the 26" bottom with the inner layer added.

Amazing Ribs notes that there is a port for a TCS though I haven't seen a good shot of where that might be. There are a few fleeting shots in their video where I think I might have seen something but could well have been a reflection.
 
The things I dislike the most about the charcoal grills is cleaning out the ashes after doing anything that drips down and is sticky. The WSM isn't too bad - it doesn't even pretend to have an "easy" option but it doesn't really need one - you just lift the base up and dump the ash out. No big deal.

The kettles, on the other hand, have those stupid spinning things that work for maybe a week after getting the grill and then jam up against the slightest bit of drippings and then either take a lot of force to move, or will eventually just get bent out of shape and just not work at all. It's also really difficult to see down there to see how far open they are (and the little gauge on the performer one that is meant to show you when they are open or not is not very accurate in my experience)

The snap-jet ignition is a nice improvement, but to be honest the way I start my charcoal grill for most things is with a weed burner - you can get the coals red hot in about 2 minutes flat and you can also pre-heat the grate to the point it is literally red hot if you want to sear stakes or something. Using the gas-assist to start and you are still looking at about 30 minutes from when you light up to when you can actually grill. (I can't imagine that they would ever put in a weed-burner like inferno as a starting element because it'd be super dangerous to have built-in - that's not my point. My main point is that gas assist is a nice-to-have, but not a necessity. If they shipped this without gas assist I'd be just as likely to buy it - and more so if not having gas assist made it a few hundred dollars cheaper.)

Before it came out I was skeptical. What they came out with honestly doesn't impress me much. The air control on this would still be a major pain in the butt to mount a blower to use a stoker or other computer temperature control. It'd be nice if they had manufactured in some kind of port to make it easier for those kinds of systems to be used... and had some kind of auxiliary thermometer hole in the lid that would let you easily put an aftermarket temperature probe in it or something...

I would not consider this the "Ferrari" of charcoal grills. It's more like a very expensive sedan... In other words - it's not (for me) something aspirational. For years when I was grilling on various old weber gas grills I bought off craigslist I knew that eventually I wanted to get an S-670 - I aspired to get it and saved etc - and when I found one at a good price I jumped at the chance to get it. After using it for over a year I'm happy I did - it's a great grill and it is extremely versatile. It lets me easily do things that I couldn't easily do on my other grills.

When they first did their teaser for the "Grill of a Lifetime" I actually was equally excited that they may have found a way to make their top-of-the-line even nicer and then I'd have to start saving up for a new grill... This "grill of a lifetime" is not something I'm going to aspire to add to my collection of five other weber grills or smokers... but a BGE - maybe. They are going to have to really do a good job selling the performance of the insulated kettle vs ceramic for me to even consider it. (And again - the temp range of this thing doesn't scream "outdoor pizza oven" to me)
 
I'm so depressed :(
I'm 62 on the 12th & had hoped to justify one for my birthday!
Even with house paid for last year & kids off the payroll I cant justify that price!
I can take a small vacation for that!
 
So much for signing up for an early email from Weber, it still hasn't arrived yet. :(

I was in the dentist chair when the reveal came, checked in here on my phone afterwards.

My thoughts so far:
Looks good, it looks very Weberish.
Thought it would be a bit taller.
Happy to see them offer something new in the charcoal line, even if I don't have plans on buying one.
Sent wife a pic of it at her work, her reply was "it looks lovely" (I'll call that nice sarcasm)
I'm sure it will initially show up in comps more so than backyards.
 

 

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