good size, excellent construction, easy assembly
Written: May 25 '06
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Pros: Well built, easy to assemble, should last a long time
Cons: I exceeded my budget by a factor of 2.5
The Bottom Line: You would think there are halos around Webers. Now I know why.
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| goblaise's Full Review: Weber-Stephen Products Genesis Silver B (LP) Propa... |
I have a charcoal grill. It's great for flavor, but it's time consuming to start up, even with the Weber chimney starter. My original budget for a gas grill was about $200-300 USD. I've seen some gas grills for as low as $150, and of course knew about those $8000 grills too.
From Epinions, and other reviews found on the Internet, it appears that Weber grills are pretty much the grill to get if you want something long lasting. There are other grills in the price range that offered more BTU's, stainless steel, but I went with Weber based on its reviews and reputation.
The Weber gas grills start at $400 (Genesis Silver A). This is their smallest gas grill just enough to allow a family to cook on a weeknight. Within the Genesis A reviews, there were some who wished they bought something a little bigger. Family/friends cookouts would require us to move up to the Genesis Silver B, which typically sells today for $500. The $500 unit has slightly more grilling real estate, and has an extra burner (3 total).
It does not appear that Webers are discounted substantially anywhere. The prices found at the Home Depot are pretty much the same as anywhere else. However, I did find out-of-state websites that offer "free shipping" which basically saves you the sales tax. It wasn't worth the hassle of shipment delays and involvement of third-party carriers. With my luck, I would get a 4-hr window of delivery, and it would get delivered 3hrs after that window. So I bought it locally. I'm glad I did--you get it right away!
None of these prices include the cost of a Weber "premium" cover; $50, fuel tanks: $30 each, and the Liquid Propane itself: $17 each. In defense of Weber, the cover does appear to be well made. Rhinestone would have been a nice touch.
The total cost of this grill pierced $650. OUCH!
Home Depot has an exclusive with Weber where their grills are sold with porcelain cast iron grates, as opposed to stainless steel, or porcelain enameled grates. Cast iron is supposed to warm and retain heat better and therefore produce better sear marks and flavor. I am all about sear marks, so that's why I bought it at Home Depot. I don't think you can buy naked cast iron grates for this model. I searched and searched and searched but to no avail.
I carted the unit out and took the pieces out in the parking lot. It's the only way the grill will fit into a normal size car. Even you smug SUV owners will have to take the contents out. The hardest part is getting the grill box out of the cardboard box. Bring a box cutter to help you out. Get a buddy if you're not a regular at Gold's Gym.
Paying someone to assemble this unit is not necessary. I'm a fumbling idiot, and I was able to assemble this unit by myself in less than 30 minutes. You can be illiterate and still put it together, as the instructions is in diagram form mainly. There's some written instructions here and there in both english, and spanish for you hombres.
All fired up and ready to go, the grill works quite ideally.
It starts easily. The Weber is made for "closed grill" cooking, which is annoying for me because I like to maintain visual contact on the food, not stare at my stopwatch at 2 minute intervals. The temperature gauge located at the center of the lid is fairly accurate, and quite useful.
The sear marks are really wonderful. I'm still new to grilling, so I'm in definite honeymooon phase right now. I have grilled several times this week already, and I predict this trend will continue. I have also bought the Weber Big Book on Grilling, and can't wait to diversify my menu. So far, it's only been hotdogs, sausages, burgers, chicken breasts, Barramunda fish, swordfish, NY strip, and various vegetables. In line for the near future includes drumsticks, beer can chicken, and Korean bbq (kalbi). yeah!
Beer seems to taste better when I'm in front of the Weber!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 500
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Epinions.com ID:
goblaise
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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