This Weber grill is very durable. I’ve just finished my third season with it and it works just as good as when I got it. Some people say you should get a cover for it. I haven’t covered it since I got it and it works and looks just fine.

It comes with a five year warranty and their customer service is excellent. It thought it had a problem and they very promptly shipped a part. It turned out it was operator error (mea culpa!) but I do have a spare for it. They looked up the serial number and said they’d be happy to replace what I thought was a broken fitting.

I’ve been a dedicated charcoal person for practically my entire cooking life and food tastes significantly better when cooked over coal. I was also very smart in getting it from a store that sold it put together and delivered to my house so I can’t say anything about assembly. Even if the store charges a few bucks to assemble and your mechanical abilities or patience is think, it is worth it.

Using the grill is very simple. There is a covered chute on the side that holds up to a 20 lb. bag of coal. You pour charcoal into the pit, turn the gas on, press the igniter and let the flame burn for about five minutes. Spread the coals, let them get hot for a few minutes. The additional time involved versus gas is about 10 minutes. The flavor you get versus gas is about 10 fold.

However, although this grill is wonderful, there are a couple of downsides:

1) Changing the gas tank can be a bit tricky. You have to hold it in an exact position to screw it in.

2) The gas tanks really don’t last that long. Make sure you have an extra one on hand. Of course, you can rig it up to a larger propane tank with an adaptor which you can get at a hardware store, possibly online from Weber.

Cooking on charcoal can require some special techniques which you don’t have to worry about with a gas grill. If you are smoking food, you have to have the coals around the side and keep the grill covered. As coals burn down, you need to replenish them periodically which can be somewhat cumbersome as you man have to remove the grill (with food on it), add more coals (properly spread around) to continue. (you can lift up a section of the grill to add more coals if desired). The procedure described is not as bad as it sounds, it just requires attention on the chef’s part.

Some brands of coal cook hotter than others. As someone who prefers the hardwood coals (over the commercial brands such as Kingsford), these can burn hotter (and sometimes for a shorter duration), than the briquettes. A lot of coal is not required; in fact using a bit less will result in lower temps (less burning) and better taste results. If you are a grill aficionado, you will definitely prefer the more expensive hardwood coals as they provide better flavor.

Maintenance is very simple. You can clean the grill with whatever you choose to use. A sturdy grill brush will suffice. Removing the coals is very easy as the burnt ash goes into a sealed well beneath the grill. It is important to make sure that you run the scraper that removes ash as it allows the fire to burn better.

If you have a power washer, that will do a great job cleaning the ample work surface. There are hooks on the front to hang utensils.

The lid can vent if you wish and it comes with a temperature gauge so you know how hot (or cold) the fire is.

The charcoal storage is fine. It keeps the coals dry, you won’t have damp coals even after a lengthy rain.

You can roll the grill around to another location of the deck should you need to get it out of the sun or rain.