Are Weber gas grills worth the premium?

[QueBert]

Jenn Air grill's can be had for the same price and they're better IMHO. Not that Webers are bad, but Jenn Air makes some of the sweetest grills out there. Weber is like Toto, good Toilets but mad expensive.

 

[Eug]

I think my Weber is better than previous BBQs I've had, but sometimes not worth the price premium.
Maybe my current Weber is worth 50% more than another BBQ, but the one I bought probably costs something like 3X as much..

 

[TheUnk]

This one

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...A1SV1BYDTUK2Z5

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

here's a Weber deal OP....not sure how it compares to your buy

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=109723&t=2079474

 

[silverpig]

My dad has a big Weber and a little portable one. Basically, the cost per year of the nice Webers makes them about the same cost as a cheap-o piece of crap because they just last so much longer.

 

[sjwaste]

100% yes. Forget everything else, they're durable and their customer support kicks ass.

The grill won't rust out, but if it does, there's a warranty on the parts and they honor it. I bought a floor model "as is" with missing parts. I called Weber and told them, 100% truthful, that I bought a Home Depot floor model (Genesis E-310) that I knew was missing some parts, and if I could order them. I figured I got a good enough deal that I could just buy what I didn't have. The guy said no problem, asked me for my serial #, and asked me what I was missing. He then told me to enjoy my grill, and that the missing parts would be covered under warranty for me. Also asked me if I wanted an owners manual and recipe book.

That's service. Not to mention the grill is absolutely awesome. I do have one side starting to heat up more than the other (right side of the burners), so I might need a new regulator or burner assembly. I don't doubt for a second that they will have me covered on that.

Buy a Weber and keep it for 15 years.

 

[JEDI]

Lets start this thread with this - I know dozens of you are going to want to chime in with "lolz deeko real men use charcoal ha gas is for n00bs" or some other elitist garbage that has nothing to do with my thread. Save it. I intend to get a simple charcoal grill as well, but I'm generally too lazy for that so I want a nice gas grill as well, and that is what this thread pertains to.

Ok, now that we've got that out of the way....

I'm looking at grills in the $400-$600 range. I really like the Char Broils in that range, they've got some grills with a lot of features, infrared cooking (which really I don't know much about, but quick internet research seems to approve), etc. Webers are much simpler, and much more expensive. To get the same grilling space, burners, surfaces, etc as the $400 Char Broil, I need to spend $700 in Weber. The consensus is that they're a higher build quality and therefore more durable.

My question is...does that make them worth the premium? If something fails on the Char Broil, I can get a replacement part, and it will still be cheaper than the Weber. Does anyone have experience with both brands? As a side note, opinions on infrared vs standard propane grills?

i bought the Weber Silver Genesis from amazon ~10yrs ago for my parents house warming party.

THe ceramic is beginning to crack. I keep telling them to call and check if it's under warrenty. Sigh...

 

[sjwaste]

Jenn Air grill's can be had for the same price and they're better IMHO. Not that Webers are bad, but Jenn Air makes some of the sweetest grills out there. Weber is like Toto, good Toilets but mad expensive.

The Weber Genesis and up are still made in the USA. Jenn Air is made in China. Actually, to be more accurate, Jenn Air doesn't make grills - someone else does, in China, and then they rebrand them.

Two things to consider with a grill. Upfront features, where most brands will be better than Weber for the same money, and longevity, where most brands will fall short of Weber. A grill isn't a cell phone, so I'll go for the construction any day.

 

[sjwaste]

i bought the Weber Silver Genesis from amazon ~10yrs ago for my parents house warming party.

THe ceramic is beginning to crack. I keep telling them to call and check if it's under warrenty. Sigh...

The ceramic on the lid? It is. 25 years.

http://www.stainless-steel-grills.com/warranty_weber.html

 

[gar3555]

I currently own a Weber Gas, and a Traeger Lil' Tex, and the Weber works great for burgers, brats, and dogs, better IMHO than the Traeger, but obviously the Lil' Tex smokes, hehe, the competition for ribs, brisket, chicken, and pork.

 

[lokiju]

I bought a Weber grill this year because I was sick of the other brands slowing falling apart from the day you buy them.

I have zero regrets.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Weber has a premium? No, Vermont Castings has a premium. Weber is the price point that the average person goes after. They have alot of volume and they do good designs for the most part.

I have a Weber and love it. I'd buy another one day. I think mine is a genesis Gold (no side burner). My only gripe with my 3 year old grill is hte small wheels on hte bottom. They are cheap pieces of junk that break. Hopefully this is improved these days.

 

[zinfamous]

lolz deeko real men use charcoal ha gas is for n00bs

 

[waggy]

i have 4 webber charcoal grills. the newest is roughly 8 years old (18.5 inch which we use the most). the oldest is 20-30 yrs old (22 inch).

they all look great.

my uncle has a webber gas grill that is going on 10 years and works great. while not top of the line grills they are worth the money

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I'm looking at Weber gas too for roughly the same price range. I don't BBQ that much but I think it'd be nice to have versus the Baby-Q I currently use.

Calling grilling BBQ is like saying you are boiling bread. Don't say that!

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

100% yes. Forget everything else, they're durable and their customer support kicks ass.

The grill won't rust out, but if it does, there's a warranty on the parts and they honor it. I bought a floor model "as is" with missing parts. I called Weber and told them, 100% truthful, that I bought a Home Depot floor model (Genesis E-310) that I knew was missing some parts, and if I could order them. I figured I got a good enough deal that I could just buy what I didn't have. The guy said no problem, asked me for my serial #, and asked me what I was missing. He then told me to enjoy my grill, and that the missing parts would be covered under warranty for me. Also asked me if I wanted an owners manual and recipe book.

That's service. Not to mention the grill is absolutely awesome. I do have one side starting to heat up more than the other (right side of the burners), so I might need a new regulator or burner assembly. I don't doubt for a second that they will have me covered on that.

Buy a Weber and keep it for 15 years.

Sometimes hot spots (or cold spots) are nice if GRILLING when cooking odd sized shapes like T bones. The tip can cook quickly so putting that part on a cold spot makes it cook more evenly.

 

[sjwaste]

Whoops, wrong message.

 

[sjwaste]

Sometimes hot spots (or cold spots) are nice if GRILLING when cooking odd sized shapes like T bones. The tip can cook quickly so putting that part on a cold spot makes it cook more evenly.

Good call on that. I do use that side of the grill to quickly get wood chips smoldering and quick searing. I suppose I should continue to take advantage of that.

 

[Deeko]

Weber has a premium? No, Vermont Castings has a premium. Weber is the price point that the average person goes after. They have alot of volume and they do good designs for the most part.

I have a Weber and love it. I'd buy another one day. I think mine is a genesis Gold (no side burner). My only gripe with my 3 year old grill is hte small wheels on hte bottom. They are cheap pieces of junk that break. Hopefully this is improved these days.

No need to be crass. Weber DOES have a premium over other grills in its range. That doesn't mean they're the most expensive grills you can buy, nor did I say that.

 

[Howard]

Good call on that. I do use that side of the grill to quickly get wood chips smoldering and quick searing. I suppose I should continue to take advantage of that.

Cook ribeyes, not T-bones. :\

 

[masterxfob]

ribeye ftw!

 

[dabuddha]

I own a Weber Performer and a Smokey Mountain and love them both. I've used cheapy gas/charcoal grills in the past and you do get better quality with a Weber.

 

[geno]

All I know is a TON of the user reviews for any grills $300 and under say the grills started rusting out after a season even while covered. While $600 is quite the premium, I'm not sure I'd want to have to buy a new grill every two years...

 

[Anubis]

we recently got a new grill, we looked at the webers but passed on them because the charcoal models don't have a rotisserie option and their gas models have dick for storage. we went with a Broil King.

We have a weber at our summer place, standard 22 inch round charcoal

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I'm planning on buying an S320 once I get off my lazy rocker. I can order it through Home Depot for a slight discount and get the Natural Gas version to use the NG line I had run out to be deck. This is going to be about $800-850.

I use to grill +5 times per week, for 10-11 meals worth. I can eat five Brats in a sitting with a tube of Goldens Spicy Brown mustard.