We had a bunch of our kids over and were able to get everything on the grill at once and it all came out delicious. Weber-Stephen is one of the oldest and most respected manufacturers weber charcoal grill of BBQ equipment and related accessories in the world. Weber grills and smokerscook beautifully and have great features that are clever, effective and easy to use.
I inserted one of the iGrill probes into the center, front patty. I closed the hood, and gave the burgers a flip after 6 minutes. With the lid closed again, I recorded how long it took the internal burger temp to hit 145 degrees. The Genesis II took 10 minutes and 10 seconds for its burgers to finish, just 5 seconds faster than the Char-Broil SmartChef Tru-Infrared. Another advantage the iGrill app has over SmartChef is a simple wizard to setup probes to actively monitor your food while it cooks. For example, you can select the food type and iGrill knows what target temperature you need to hit.
Then we had a taste, paying special attention to the breast meat—a long cook can dry it out. Over the course of four days in Spring 2017, we put our gas grills through a battery of tests designed to demonstrate their qualities and highlight their differences. We cooked burgers on high heat to see how well the grills seared meat and how intense and even was the heat they could generate across portable bbq the whole grate surface. We slow-grilled cut-up chickens to see if the grills could hold a low temperature evenly across the whole grate. And we roasted whole chickens indirectly on both low and high heat to see if the grills could create browned skin and perfectly cook meat without charring. Sam Sifton, editor of the Cooking section of The New York Times joined us for these tests.
The warming rack can be tucked away and extended depending on your cooking needs, which is a bit of versatility we really like. You get three burners with 39,000 BTU input plus the dedicated sear-zone burner for an extra 13,000 BTU. We will run through the main differences as you go through the lineup. We’ve picked the cheaper enamel models and the non-natural-gas versions. The first number following the letter tells you how many burners there are, while the second number refers to features. The Genesis lineup gives you more models to choose from although unlike the Spirit II there are no two-burner models.
Our upgrade pick, the Weber Genesis II E-310, is no longer in production, though it is still available weber charcoal grill with some retailers. We’re updating this guide to replace it with the new Weber Genesis E-325s.
Like the other models we tested in that category, it has a cast-aluminum firebox, porcelain-coated cast-iron grates, and three burners. On paper, it has a lot going for it, but we were disappointed in its performance. It also struggled to hold a steady heat on the barbecue-chicken test. Napoleon’s signature is its wavy grates, and they do look cool—but they’re harder to clean than straight grates. They also leave odd, distorted sear marks if you try to make the classic crosshatch pattern.
The combined heat output from these burners can equal 30,000 BTUs. When you consider the 529 square inches of cooking space between the main area and the warming rack, this is enough heat and space to serve a larger family between 5 and 7 people. This grill is a bit smaller than several of the Genesis grills, but it still has plenty room.
The tried and true Weber Cooking System is great at providing even heat distribution and minimizing flare ups. The Genesis II features porcelain-enameled cast iron cooking grids. If you would like to upgrade to the 7mm stainless steel rod cooking grids,the Genesis ll Stainless Lid Models are a great upgrade. The grills also has a tuck-away warming rack, that cleverly folds down when you aren’t using it. Lifting the hood, you get the by now familiar Weber porcelain enamel cast iron grates that give you those lovely thick sear marks on your food. There’s also a stainless steel warming rack, adding additional cooking space.
Most of these capabilities are only available in grills starting at $2,199. Smoking or the ability to add wood flavor is not built into the Genesis grill either. You cannot place an LP grill or wood pellet grill on your roof deck or balcony by code for Bostonians. However, they are designed to be one or the other and should not be field converted. The grease is centered with a better angle to allow a better flow, unlike the other two series. The GS4 has a second row of burners, whereas the regular Spirit and Summit have just one.