A beautiful grill, it's almost art in steel.
Written: Sep 24 '04 (Updated Sep 24 '04)
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Pros: It meets or exceeds all reasonable expectations for an outdoor grill.
Cons: DANGER, young children can be severely injured by this grill, the top gets unbelievably hot!
The Bottom Line: Get this if you really enjoy outdoor barbecues, but bear in mind the unit provides such a great foundation it cannot reasonably be blamed for any bbq cooking issues:-) .
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| pilchard's Full Review: Weber-Stephen Products Genesis Gold C Premium (LP)... |
For a few decades, I've bought various outdoor grills from Sears, Walmart, and elsewhere... usually I was happy on first or second cook, but over time, either the same year or the following year something (usually somethings) would start to go wrong. Burners wouldn't lite, handles would rust, flareups would be impossible to manage on relatively simple recipe's. Generally I was seeking an outdoor myth, a bbq which made me feel like the 1950's dad in movies. The problem with movies is they are of course fiction.
Enter the Weber Genesis Gold C Premium (LP) Grill, this grill is occasionally sold for under $500 at Amazon usually once or twice a year. When it came up for the 2nd time this year at $474 no sales tax, free shipping, I bit.
If you order one by mail, you'll receive a large heavy box. It'll require 2 people to assemble the grill (I have read reviews here of 1 person doing it, if you are an ultra handy Marine and can press 300lbs, maybe, for mere mortals it's a 2 person setup). Mostly it requires getting the top to sit on the bottom :-) (This isn't an involved assembly, but it did take about 45 minutes to assemble, by the husband and wife team I was part of :-). The base needs assembly, as do the side burner and table, additionally items which sit inside the cooking area must be installed, all warnings should be read, and there is a drip pan which must be inserted to catch grease. I'd note this even has a wasp / spider technology which keeps the critters out (I've had wasp issues before, spiders don't bother me).
Once assembled, you've got an impressive piece of cooking hardware. This is the heaviest, and perhaps best made BBQ I've ever owned. All burners go on quickly with a single button push, and have since day one (summers over, and it's gotten a bit of use, about once a weekend).
Overall, the Weber Genesis Gold C has more temperature control, gets hotter, and generally is far more intimidating than any other grill I've ever owned ... I have never felt inferior to technology (I love playing with computers), yet somehow this grill provides such an intimidating foundation, and it is up to me to finish, to furnish the product... that I must admit, for the first time in many years to feeling a bit intimidated of by all things cooking technology as manifested in this grill. The Weber will of course grill great burgers, chicken, hot dogs and what not... but I felt that somehow it was a failure to merely grill a hamburger, or cook a hot dog (yes, this grill actually makes me feel inadaquate, there are no excuses anymore for imperfection) ... the overkill which this grill affords vs other grills is so great in terms of the units innate capability that I as cook feel inadaquate at times. Though on the bright side, is has spurred me to seek more creative and challenging recipes.
The Weber is easy to clean (usually I leave it on high and closed, that is darned close to incinerate). The LP tanks hang off a scale, which lets you know how much propane remains inside the tank. Virtually all parts are identified and the installation manual is amazingly detailed.
Control of cook temperature is easy as there is a thermometer included with the unit. All the pro books recommend closed top grilling, which I'm trying to get used to, but occasionally I slip back to my pre-Weber days and just flip burgers with the top open, defying all online instruction from Weber and elsewhere.
About the only downside, is the entire top becomes brutally hot if you cook as directed (with the top down), so hot that a kitchen glove which has served me for years was inadequate to protect from burns when removing pans left inside the grill for a few minutes at high (I was scorched and burned through a protective kitchen mit). The result was a search for improved equipment, ultimately I went with leather.
Utensils can be hung off the grill, but only Weber utensils fit the unusual design. I found this annoying.
Overall, my feelings about this grill are mixed, it is undoubtedly the best grill I've ever owned, it's implementation is flawless, but it is intimidating... the real problem I guess is there is no way to blame the grill for any problems... anything wrong with my BBQ is now fully my own fault... until this year I never realized that inferior grills afforded a measure of comfort.
My suggestion is buy this if you want nobody else to blame but yourself for any BBQ problems... also beware of small children near it... the top could cause severe burns to kids who just touch it for an instant. I DO NOT recommend this grill for those with curious toddlers.
It rolls and locks on it's casters easily, though as it is so heavy and massive, any uneven surface results in the small wheels getting stuck... my deck has a solid grooved surface where pieces interlock to each other and the top is very smooth ... if I had a wood deck or a deck that had non-interlocking flooring it'd be tougher to move the grill about.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 474
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