The now-discontinued Char-Broil Advantage 3-Burner Gas Grill from Lowe’s met the low expectations we set upon seeing its sub-$200 price. It cooked burgers acceptably, but to get an even cook we had to shuffle the patties around from hot spots to cool spots. Unable to keep a steady low temperature, it burned the barbecue chicken. To this grill’s credit, char broil performance it made a nice indirect-roasted chicken—but then again, every tested grill did. Assembly was a pain, with unclear instructions and multiple fasteners of different sizes and types. And this model’s bizarre design, with a fixed panel running across the front of the grill, means you have to sneak around the back of the thing to replace the tank.
On top of all that, this grill is particularly easy to assemble, maintain, and use, and its finish comes in four colors (black, white, red, and blue). No matter the brand of grill, we don’t like to fully rely on built-in thermometers. But thermometers in the lid are several inches above the cooking grate and don’t accurately report the temperature on the surface where you’re actually cooking your food. Consider getting an inexpensive infrared thermometer to gauge the temperature of the cooking grates. Weber added two new models to its Spirit line of gas grills in 2020, but we ultimately chose not to test them.
That makes it much easier to install a new tank and unhook an old one, because you’re not scrabbling around a small, dark enclosure to find the hoses and brackets. This design also allowed Weber to put a sturdy shelf under the grill—a handy place to store pans, bags of wood chips, a small cooler, and other stuff you may need while grilling. Plus, one of the side tables folds down, making the grill more compact for storage when it’s not in use (it’s 43 inches wide with the table down). For our 2022 update, we relied mainly on market research and meta-analysis. Most new grills worth considering are still produced by the same companies whose products we’ve tested in previous years. And with each new version of the models we’re familiar with, the most important characteristics—such as quality of materials and construction—are the same.
An interesting feature is that the burner tubes have netting over them. This is great for keeping creepy crawlies away so that you don’t have to clean them out later. That being said, it is a nice way to enjoy upgrades with your Weber Spirit II E 310 without having to splurge on high end models. It can also be an interesting accesory to have if you aren’t a fan of hanging around the grill all day long. Of course, a pretty important aspect of any grill is temperature control and maintenance.
Like its predecessor, Spirit II is a workhorse that delivers solid performance and is easy to use, easy to clean and available in two and three burner configurations. Increasingly cuckoo for color, Weber offers Spirit in black, ivory, red, sapphire, exclusive mocha versions for Lowe’s and exclusive stainless steel versions for Home Depot. Before wrapping up, let’s take a look at how the Weber Spirit II E 310 gas grill holds up against other models.
Weber tries to help these people out by making the side tables collapsible. Take the guesswork out of cooking with Weber’s iGrill Digital Thermometers. This grill includes a dedicated side shelf mount specifically designed for use with the iGrill 3 so you always have it by your side when cooking. The side shelf mount keeps it from taking away valuable shelf space. (iGrill 3 Digital Thermometer not included) The technology connects to WiFi for remote access to monitor your cook.
Side tables are quite an underrated feature when it comes to grills. Those who have worked without them would truly appreciate the importance of a little extra space in cooking. Side tables help in holding spices and prep material, keeping everything you need ready at our fingertips. A feature that is absent in the Spirit char broil performance Series, is the iGrill option available in Spirit II. This is sold separately but uses technology to make your grilling more efficient. The iGrill feature is generally paired with your smartphone and gives you the real-time temperature inside the grill, making it easier to monitor your meat from start to finish.
One of them, the Spirit S-315, is similar to the Spirit II E-310 (our pick) with regard to the specs, and with a few cosmetic differences—and higher price tag. The S-315 has a slightly higher Btu output than our pick (32,000 Btu versus 30,000 Btu, respectively). But other than those minor variations, it looks like the S-315 would perform about the same as our pick—and wouldn’t be worth the higher price. Next time you cook, brush the cold, soot-covered grills clean, wipe them with a wet paper towel or rag, and then proceed. That goes against the common advice to clean the grates while they’re hot. Salvaggio has found that cleaning hot grates more easily damages the porcelain coating on cast iron, allowing rust to form.
The last Spirit Series had cast aluminum sides with a large, slide out grease tray that doubled as firebox bottom. Spirit II has a single piece, cast aluminum fire box with a funnel shaped bottom that diverts grease into a small slide out grease tray (see below). The sleek open-cart design provides additional room and accessibility of your grilling tools. The Spirit II grills have an open cart design as opposed to the closed cabinet on the standard Spirit grills.