After researching BBQs online I was all set to buy a Weber Genesis Silver C. It seemed like a great upgrade to my 16-year-old dinosaur. Then I saw it in person, and changed my mind completely. I could not believe that they took up the entire right-hand work shelf with the burner controls. I know that another work shelf swings up perpendicular to the grill, but it’s a pain to raise, and once up it restricts movement in that direction. I’m sure that Weber cooks very well, but at that moment I realized that for me a BBQ must be easy to use, too, and with that odd dial placement the Webers don’t meet my requirements.

So I kept searching for a BBQ that both cooks well and is easy to use, i.e. has solidly attached open workspace on either side, with the burner dials on the front. I read that the heat dispersers are important, too, and that was an area where Weber got high marks, so I looked closely at them to compare to other brands. Things like tool hooks and racks are fine, but optional for me. Because I live in the US Southwest desert, durability is important, but rust-proofing is not. For the same reason, a handle other than black metal is a plus. And although I rarely have use for one, I really wanted a side burner as a “guilty pleasure,” so I decided I’d get one if it wasn’t too expensive. It had to have a solid cover, though, or it would become unusably dusty very quickly. A good cover also acts as work space when the burner is not in use.

After hitting places like Home Depot and Target and not finding something I liked, I was walking through Sears and saw their BBQs. They happen to sell Webers along with Kenmore, their house brand. They had both on the floor, so I was able to make a side-by-side comparison in many cases. After much comparing and discussion with my wife, I decided that the Kenmore Command Flame (16223) BBQ was the one I was looking for. It has a good-sized cooking space fine my family of four (slightly larger than the Weber), fixed shelves on both sides, front burner dials, plenty of heat, wall to wall heat dispersers, wide-bar grills, a light colored handle, and (yes!) a covered side burner. It also has the three burners arranged side-to-side, instead of front-to-back. I’m sure both arrangements cook the same, but I prefer side-to-side so that you don’t have to lift different foods over others and worry about drips or spills contaminating the other foods. In short, it had all the features of the Weber Genesis Silver C, much better workspace, and at $299, it was $200 cheaper!

There are two versions, one with the bottom area fully enclosed and a slide-out propane tank holder, or without those two features. Although it looked a little better, the enclosed version didn’t seem worth the $90 difference, especially when enclosed areas tend to draw the black widow spiders common in our area.

I checked the online reviews, and although there wasn’t anything on this particular model, the Kenmore BBQs in general typically received fairly good marks, so I went back and bought the one without the enclosure (model 16223) that afternoon. I was hoping to have it ready for dinner that night. The box is clearly marked “Easy Assembly! No Tools Needed!” so I figured I had plenty of time. Well… It seems that “easy assembly” is open to interpretation. “No tools needed” is correct because they supply small a small disposable screwdriver and wrench, and no drilling is necessary. I must admit that Kenmore did an excellent job in labeling all the parts in a special package that made it very easy to find the right screw or pin every time. The grill box was already assembled, and the legs are cleverly designed for home assembly. However, there is still a lot to do, and in many steps you need two people because of the weight of the pieces. Worse, the instructions were sometimes a little off, forcing some trial and error detours. From the time we opened the box to “first light” was two full hours. Nothing was very complicated, and everything fit perfectly, it just takes time. Although there was a two-day wait, if I had it to do over again I would definitely take advantage of the free assembly that Sears offered.

Fortunately, you only have to assemble it once. You get to cook with it all the time, and I do several times a week. I’ve had it for about a month and cooked on it about a dozen times now. I am very, very pleased with the grill. It cooks very evenly, which was a small surprise for me--my old BBQ was smaller and used lava rocks for heat diffusion, so there were a number of hot & cool spots, and I became quite skilled over the years in using them to adjust the cooking speed. So at first I was disappointed with the even heat of the new Kenmore, where’s the sporting challenge in that?! But I quickly realized that grilling with the old BBQ had become stressful and food doneness was sometimes a problem, which did not meet my “easy to use” requirement at all. From that point on, cooking evenness was my friend.

The grill perfectly cooks all the different kinds of food I make. We BBQ a wide variety of foods, and with a vegetarian in the house, I often have quite a diversity of both meat and veggies on the grill at one time. The three burner zones adjust well, and everything has always come out done just right and very tasty. There is plenty of workspace on either side. Construction is solid throughout. The outer surfaces are finished well and clean up easily. There is a heat shield between the bottom of the grill and the propane tank; I don’t know if that’s a safety standard now on all BBQs, but I really appreciate not burning my hand anymore when I turn off the tank. My wife even brought me a pot of noodles to cook on the side burner, I’m happy to report that it works just fine. About the only thing I don’t like is the turning stop at each position (HI/MED/LO) on the burner dials. I like to go all the way from one end to the other without interference. It’s only a small annoyance, though.

For someone looking for a quality family BBQ with many useful features, I would highly recommend the Kenmore 16223 BBQ. I have found it to be a fun, great way to BBQ and is an excellent value.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 299