BBQ Info Weber Vs Kenmore
 

Seeing how Summer is around the corner and you might be blowing the dust of the old BBQ and finding out the its time for a new grill I wanted to share what Info I came across.

I had a Charbroiler , It was a well used but a very functional grill. It started acting up and that started me on the Quest for a new grill. It turns out all I needed was to replace the burners $15 on Amazon and the grill was working like new. But in my quest for a New grill I had discovered how cheep and light weight the Charbroiler was. A simple trip to Home Depot and a side by comparison will show you how the Webers are SOLID. The price reflects it. The Webers are almost 2X the price of the Charbroilers. And yes there are much more Expencieve Grills on the market, We have a Viking BBQ at the family house and yes it's an nice grill but I cant say it's any nicer then the top of the line Weber. And it doe's EXACTLEY the same thing in the same amount of time.

So Weber has 3 Lines, "Sprint" is the Entry level grill "Genesis" is the Mid Line "Summit" is the top of the line.

I had my Eye on a "Genesis" E30 is a $719 grill with 3 burner's Pic #1

Well I had heard that Weber made grills for Kenmore and labeled Kenmore Elite. So I took a trip to my local Sears to check them out and sure enough the Kenmore Elite was pretty much the same grill as the Weber "Genesis" Pic #2 Sears had the Kenmore Elite for almost 1/2 the price as the Weber and even offer 20% off for the floor model pic #3
I even made a run back to Home Depot to see if I could spot the differences in the Weber vs the Kenmore. They were pretty much he same. The Weber had a thicker tub but not by much.
So I loaded it up and for around $400 I was out the door with a cover!

So if your in the market for a Weber but wanna save some $ check out the Kenmore Elite. FYI the New models are coming in so Sears is selling what ever they have on sale.

And If you have $1900 you feel like spending on a grill check out the LED handles on the Weber Summit.

I got a Tragger and will never look back.

Go Tragger Pellet or Weber Smokey Mount or for built in http://www.bbqgalore.com/barbecue-grills-smokers.html. They make there own line and it is top notch.

I have two Traegers, and I dont BBQ, I smoke everything multiple times a week. Skipped the ham on Easter, this year, went for the smoked RIbs. Any pellet smoker I am sure is fine, but Traegers are turnkey pieces of gold, and theyre rubs are top notch as well. I got tired of replacing burners everything 3 years on all bbq grills.:banghead:

I just picked up a Weber Summit S420 and I love it. For the money there is no better gas grill. I know a lot of people are going the pellet way but I'm just not a fan of smoked meats. I've had meals from the Green Mountain and the Traeger and while they were good I don't prefer them. Also I think they're aren't Aesthetically pleasing and for me that counts.

What ever you do dont get those bbq with the indirect heat things. Your better off cooking in your oven.

3 simple words will solve all BBQ/Smoker arguments......

Big Green Egg

And I see a trend for small more efficient BBQ's. When I first started looking for a new BBQ "bigger looked better" But when you take a good look at how much wasted space is on the grill most of the time you grill I bet most of us could get a way with a grill 1/2 the size and be more then fine. Smaller grills heat up faster and use less fuel. Sure when you have the Huge family get together it might not be the Ideal grill but the other 99% of the time it works just fine. I wanna pick up a Weber Spirit for the house cause space is a premium and I don't need the sides most BBQs use

I wish the Charbroiler TRU Infrared was a Better/More heavy duty feeling unit because I like the lay out and how the TRU Infrared is supposed to cook. But I agree for the price you can't beat the Weber.

There's a pretty slick BBQ at Sams club right now I'm gonna pick up.
Decent in size. Half of it is charcoal, other half is gas, also has searing table

Went all stainless

Big Green Egg and don't look back.

You spend money on a grill so you can control your heat. Anyone can turn the grill on high and sear steaks/ burn the food. The trick is to be able to turn down your grill without hot spots, not have flare ups and not be influenced by wind/ weather. That is why they have multiple burners, tight lids, double walled lids and so on. That is why I like my Big Green Egg. I can let it cook for hours at 225 or let it breath and cook at 500 plus degrees. Nothing like food on a wood charcoal fire.

Not sure if the Kenmore had the double walled lid like the Weber but I am sure it is close. Gas grills are a rip off anymore. They are almost just expensive ovens. One trick you can do and most of your smoked meat places do it. Just get a ugly drum smoker. Hang your food over the coals of your smoking wood for an hour then take it and put it in the over and cook it to the perfect temperature.

I spent some coin on my Saber but I love it although it is a different cooking method as you do really have to rely on a thermometer.

Weber fan for life, just referbed my 15 yr old Weber, it's like new again and I cook on it all the time!

^^^This is a consistent theme amongst Weber owners and the big reason I went with them. Additionally its very easy to get replacement parts if need be.

Tonights feast.

I've had pretty good luck with my charbroil IR, but definitely could be better quality. Cooks great but needs new grates every year at $120. I grill probably 3 times a week so that may be part of the problem. I put everything on there, even French fries and tator tots. I'm going to start looking pretty soon for my next grill, will definitely take a look at weber and kenmore. Here is a stip and some Carolina shrimp from Saturday. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/quvuna4a.jpg

My Weber Genesis Silver B is now 12 years old and the only thing I've done is replace the grates with some new SS ones. I can't really comment on the quality of the new models but if you need to save some $$ hit up CL and refurb an old one.

One thing I think everyone can benefit from is actually calibrating your grill and getting some good temperature measurement tools. I don't have any affinity to this site but it was pretty solid advice on playing with a loaf of bread:

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_tech...our_grill.html

As a tinkerer I've also built my own temp controller for a drum smoker based off of the heatermeter project.

http://tvwbb.com/forumdisplay.php?85...BBQ-Controller

My weber is perfect for let's grill right now and I can smoke some pork shoulders for 18+hours in my drum with hands off precision.

I've always said I'm not getting a gas grill until I hit 50 when I get too lazy to use charcoal. I'm 46 now and I think I'm gonna raise that age to 60. You can't replicate a real fire with a gas grill and the flavor proves it.

I love grilled beef, lamb, pork & fish. It's unrelated to BBQ which is low and slow. Grilling is searing (high) and finishing (low).

Those pellet cookers are great for smoking and crap for grilling.

Any grill can provide a LOW setting. So, IMO, the best grills are the ones that can deliver the heat. Heat capacity in the grate to put grill marks on the meat and heat delivery to put a sear on the meat.

Years ago, I bought a very expensive Ducane because a friend had a good one years back. It sucked. So, I went with Weber. I own a Weber Spirit in Redwood City and a Weber Genesis in DiscoBay. They are both very very good grills. But, to be honest, the Spirit, while not as fancy and not as pretty is a slightly better cooking device. It has more uniform heat and delivers a better sear. When I cook 8 tri-tip for a holiday party that I cook for every year, I do it in Redwood City because the grill is perfect.

My advice: go with Weber and go for the summit because life is short!

The spirit and genesis, I have. The summit I want.

Yhea I agree that a Thermapen is more important than the grille for most. I have used the touch method for years with good results. When it comes to smoking and cooking more precisely like a perfectly medium rare filet, 7 degrees can make all the difference. When smoking I use Maverick with 1 probe in meat and one in the smoker. Any chance I can give a thermapen for a gift I do.

x3 for Big Green Egg. Thing does absolutely everything. We cooked homemade pizzas yesterday and have done turkeys, entire racks of ribs, and it cooks burgers to perfection. Tons of flexibility and a cult following for new ideas and add-ons.

Weber for life

Just for fun I'll throw this one out there. It's not mine and I'm sure it's not better than a nice weber but it still looks badass!http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/25/5ebupage.jpg

My buddy has won the snap on grill off the truck, pretty decent but the webber grill is the only grill.

That is crazy! I wonder what that costs.

I pretty much guessing but I'd say in the 2k mark for that one. My buddy is a snap-on guy and he has 3 different sizes of these grills in his storage unit. If I remember right the smallest one which just has one lid was like $700

I picked up a genesis e310 yesterday and made dinner on it, it was delicious. I am sure this grill will last me many, many years!http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/28/e9ubypep.jpg

Newmy, right on just in time for summer.
Hey a cleaning trick you may or may not know of. I clean the grill right after I finish cooking (while the meat is resting) take the meat off and crank the Q to high. Once the grill is nice and hot 500+ degrees I take a spray bottle with water and spray all the dirty surfaces, (adjust the spray bottle tip to be on straight stream) most of the time just the blast of the water hitting the dirty surfaces will remove and clean the surface in the other hand I have a wire brush. What's happing is the water hits the hot surface and the reaction between cool water and the hot surface creates a micro explosion at the surface level and instantly turns to steam and blasts away the dirty left overs. This way your not using any chemicals to clean the grill and when your done you can close the grill turn off the gas and your good to go, I keep the bottle of water under the grill so it's handy.

P.S why does every propane bottle leek! I have found that if you don't turn off the propane at the bottle you always have a empty bottle. Why can't with all these fancy grills we have a propane bottle/regulator that don't Leak??!

Isn't that the truth! (I turn mine off after each grill)



P.S., how long to get a BGE to grilling temp?

Good info grant I'll try that. I did clean it right after grilling while on high but will test out that water idea.

I have three Webber's, all are Summit or Genesis Series and nearing ten years old. Weber service is Amazing!!!

Last year with the serial #'s in hand ready to place $400+ order online to freshen them, I could not locate a part I wanted online. So, I phoned and spoke with the nicest southern lady in the world. She looked up my serial #s and then advised me I was still under the warranty on the main Summit grill I use the most and sent me most of the order for free. This included the sides of the lid, burner tubes, stainless steel rod grates, falvorizer bars etc..I was astounded!!!! I still bought other parts like new igniters, knobs, wheels, temp gauge etc and they shipped them promptly but they sure saved me a ton of $ by simply calling. Be sure to register your grill with Weber.

I also own a Traeger and use it frequently as we cook probably 5 night a week outside most of the year. the Traegers also rocks and has great service as well. If buying a Traeger get the upgraded controller.

As mentioned the Big Green Eggs are awesome and I have used one of those also but they are too fragile to take camping. For sure the best temperature control though.

Just picked up my Weber Spirit last night. pumped!

Miggs I saw OSH was having a BBQ sale this week. What did you pay for your Spirit ?
That's a cool grill I wanna get one for the other house.

G - 499 at lowes

Alright Gentlemen,

Some of you prefer gas grills, and that is all good. For those of you interested in a grill that can do anything you want: smoke, BBQ, grill, bake, make food wonderful, here you go:

http://www.greenmountaingrills.com

Many of you have heard of Traeger, and they are capable of making great food; however, if you can get a grill that comes with every feature a Traeger doesn't have, and is in the same price range, it's worth a look. And the temperature controller which comes standard on all of them is a state of the art digital controller, and even grills that cost 3x as much don't have this technology dialed. These are "set it and forget it" to a tee.

Here is a comparison chart between GMG and Traeger, worth a peek:

http://http://greenmountaingrills.com/comparison-chart/

Louisiana also makes a very nice unit, they just cost quite a bit more. Traeger pre 2008 was a hell of a company, and then the Traeger family lost interest and sold the company to investors in NY.. The whole town in Oregon that worked for Traeger lost their jobs, and now they are cheaply made overseas. Selling them to Costco was the smartest thing they've done since, but the quality will never be what they were previous to the sale.

Also, if you are afraid of how they look, I'd say most find these aesthetically pleasing.

A couple of my friends have Green mountain grills and they are amazing!

My brother in law has a GMG and yeah it cooks good but he seems to go through a lot if pellets with it. He got a new lid thus last week and is hoping that it solves the problem. The only problem I have with them is they always put a smokey flavor on your food otherwise they're pretty damn cool. He has the remote so he can control it from the comfort of his couch.

I have a 10yr old Weber Summit, it has been very impressive so far.

I was always a die hard Weber guy, have an older Platinum that is still going strong and a Genesis that is less than two years old. Unfortunately the gray paint on the Genesis fire box started to flake off in big chunks (up to 7"x4") a few months ago and Weber customer support told me that it was 'normal'. This is for a grill that is always covered when not in use and not kept near a pool or other chemicals.

After everything I had always heard about Weber support, I was very surprised to say the least! Not that I think Kenmore's support would be any better, but it doesn't seem to be as big of a differentiation for Weber as I thought it was. Definitely makes me think twice about unilaterally recommending Weber.

They did offer to sell me some Weber brand high temp spray paint. :banghead:

I'd Suggest calling Weber cust service back again and appealing for better service. Perhaps the rep was not so interested in helping you. By my experience they have been great. They sent me whole new lid when mine flaked off. I had registered the warranty etc when new...
Best wishes;

They supposedly ran it up to management. I was really surprised. The paint warranty is even on their website clearly within the warranty period. They insisted it was normal and not a defect. It sounded like there was one person handling support and they weren't overly helpful. Maybe I will give it another try... Every story I hear about someone having an issue involves Weber taking care of it. I don't know why my experience was different but it really turned me off.

I don't think its the responsibility of the customer to spend a bunch if time appealing issues. If they wanted to take care of it the right way they would have. Lesson learned for me when I recommend or purchase grills in the future.