Thank you. I actually wasn't familiar with the 3200 Q line. We've been researching the Spirit and Genesis lines, but I'll take a look at this also.

It was time for us to replace our gas grill. We found a lot of good advice in the reviews on this site:

grilladvisor.com

We don't need a huge grill; a smaller one is just fine for our needs. We checked them out in person as well as looking through the reviews on that site. We decided on their top-rated Char-Griller Grillin' Pro 3001. We shopped around for good prices and saw $179 on Amazon and $169 at Lowe's. Given the quality recommendation and all the features and capacity, that's an excellent price. We encountered some kind of technical glitch trying to order it on Lowe's website - it gave us an error message and told us to call them to order it - so instead we headed to our nearby Lowe's where we found one in stock. (They didn't have any of this particular model already built on display, but we found one in the sealed box.) Lowe's also sells grill covers for this model for $27.



I assembled it myself in about three hours. The instructions were straightforward. We just got it (I built it yesterday) so we haven't used it yet.

Warning: Packed in the box, the grill weighs 92 pounds. It's fairly compact and easy to put in the back seat of most cars with four doors, but 92 pounds is quite heavy to lift.

Test driving a CharBroil infrared gas grill, a three burner Professional signature edition with cast iron grates. For a gas grill it works well, comes to temp fast, gets hot as fu*k though controllable, and the cast iron grates transmit heat effectively.

I am not switching to propane, just test driving.

Don't hate me Gary, but.... for my brand-new remodelled front end of my beach place at Lake Champlain, I've got a brand-new Char-Broil offset smoker (charcoal, wood, etc. of course), and, on order, a brand-new Weber E-310 Spirit propane grill. Sorry, but certain compromises with the Management (and the climate) had to be made...
But ever Onward! Eh?!

Geo

Geo wrote:Weber E-310 Spirit propane grill.

Sigh.........
At least you picked the winner in the recent Cook's Illustrated gas grill roundup......................

The CharBroil infrared gas grill is, for a gas grill, pretty nice. Though as simple as gas grill are supposed to be I find my 26" Weber kettle easier to use and more manageable for grilling, roasting, two zone fires and light smoking duties.

Geo wrote:But ever Onward! Eh?!
Geo

I have a gas grill made by Onward ... it's a Huntington Rebel ... best gas grill I've ever owned ... four burners and obviously solid construction, under $500. I didn't see it in the Cook's Illustrated roundup, though.

Any recommendations for a QUALITY grill that I don't have to buy new parts for in one-three years and replace two-three years after that? A close friend of mine swears by his Weber, but this guy is so anal, that he likely fully details it four times during grilling season.

I'm just looking for one that the burners and other parts don't burn/rust out after a season or two. A grill https://grillfaq.com/sandwich-grills/ that only requires REASONABLE cleaning once in awhile.

I bet everyone who answers you will give the same answer: Weber.

Me too.

Geo

Hieli wrote:Any recommendations for a QUALITY grill that I don't have to buy new parts for in one-three years and replace two-three years after that? A close friend of mine swears by his Weber, but this guy is so anal, that he likely fully details it four times during grilling season.

I'm just looking for one that the burners and other parts don't burn/rust out after a season or two. A grill that only requires REASONABLE cleaning once in awhile.

Definitely a Weber. I had a Weber gas grill that sat outside uncovered for years and then did have a problem with one of the burners. A quick call to Weber and they replaced it no charge. Over the years they have replaced several parts and never questioned or charged me.

A friend of mine just bought a fancy Napoleon grill with a side burner, rotisserie, etc. Maybe they're worth investigating.

That said, to me it seemed like an over-priced, style-over-substance unit with which he'd quickly get frustrated. I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn't listen to reason. Yeah, we're still friends but only because I'm a super nice guy!

=R=

I would add, to the Weber recommendations, that if you cannot or don't want to afford a Weber then your second best option is... you guessed it, a used Weber.

Ditto on Weber, parts are very easy to come by -- should you even need them. Left our old natural gas Weber at our old home for the buyers. It was almost 11 years old and I replace the grates and the burners about a year before the sale, so I'm confident they've had several years of use since we left. I'm 100% charcoal now but my wife still bugs me about getting another gas grill, mostly for winter use.

A gas grill is just a bunch of tubes and an igniter that breaks. (I've never had a Weber gas, maybe those igniters are built far more solidly?)
I buy them 75% off at Target in late fall, along with stick lighters. They last about 4 years, then I put together the new one that's been sitting in the basement. If I used them for more than a few burgers, or snausages, or scrimps, I'd probably spend a little more. My opinion? Buy a used one if you need one now, and then shop the sales in the fall. Just opinion. They are just a series of metal tubes that carry gas. I've had 3 with side burners - probably used a side burner 2 times. I really like having a gas grill for quick burning up a meal in nice weather, or having the option to throw some real deal fire grill marks on a fat steak and lobster on nye, but they are just metal tubes that spit out adjustable fire. It's an outdoor broiler and a highly variable temp outdoor oven. Some look nice, but they do the same thing as an ugly one - spit out fire. I'm too lazy to clean mine well, so, I just buy them cheap, and know that I'm gonna replace it in 4 years.

Just bought a Nexgrill from Home Depot for my sons. It's stainless, and there's a 5-year warrantee on the burners, 1 year on the grates. We'll see how it does through a few winters. The grates will probably last longer than listed because we bought them separate ones for Kosher and treyf.

As some know I’m working on a outdoor cooking area.... I already have a 4 gallon Cajun fryer by RV works.... blackstone griddle ( modidfied by me)... a fire pit/ charcoal grill built by me... finishing up on a brick pit..... I have a vertical cooker that I built and love.... it’s essentially a firebox/ warmer that would go on a 30 inch diameter cook chamber..... I’m toying with the idea of a gas grill too... yes I could prolly buy burners and make my on.... but still thinking of purchasing one.... the problem I as most have in a few years the burner peter out..... that being said..... what is a really good brand with exceptionally good burners....... thx

Oyrru wrote:what is a really good brand with exceptionally good burners

Weber.

My only issue used to be that their burners ran left to right. Maybe 10 years ago they corrected that and they now go front to back. I know many people who have traded up to very expensive grills and return to Weber.

Al Ehrhardt wrote:

Oyrru wrote:what is a really good brand with exceptionally good burners

Weber.

My only issue used to be that their burners ran left to right. Maybe 10 years ago they corrected that and they now go front to back. I know many people who have traded up to very expensive grills and return to Weber.

Really? My major annoyance with my (15+year old) Weber gas grill is that the burners run front to back, meaning I can't do an offset of anything decent-sized like a whole bird, and doing more than two strip steaks in the grilled-reverse-sear means running only one of the three burners. The cheapo gas grill I bought for my kids at Home Depot has four burners left to right, which to me seems more flexible.

Hi,

I see you live in Toronto and you like DIY projects.

What I am suggesting may not be practical: have you considered looking at burners for Chinese woks? Some of those go to 200,000 BTU. I know of Chinese people in the Chicago area who buy these to cook in their yard. Nobody has the set-up to do this safely indoors.

It would be interesting to see pictures of your DIY grill and bbq toys.

Regards,
Cathy2

JoelF wrote:

Al Ehrhardt wrote:Weber.

My only issue used to be that their burners ran left to right. Maybe 10 years ago they corrected that and they now go front to back. I know many people who have traded up to very expensive grills and return to Weber.

Really? My major annoyance with my (15+year old) Weber gas grill is that the burners run front to back, meaning I can't do an offset of anything decent-sized like a whole bird, and doing more than two strip steaks in the grilled-reverse-sear means running only one of the three burners. The cheapo gas grill I bought for my kids at Home Depot has four burners left to right, which to me seems more flexible.

I have one of the larger Weber's with six burners. They run left to right.

Gas grills are really dependent on knowing where the hot and cool spots are, regardless of the layout of the burners. I think it was consumer reports that did a test on the consistency of the temp across the grill surface. Besides measuring with temp gauges, etc, they took a bunch of slices of bread and spread them across the whole surface. After letting them sit for a bit, they pulled them off and you could tell where the hot spots existed by the relative brownness of the slices.

Weber consistently comes out on top of ratings for evenness of their performance.

Agree with JoelF - I had a 3 burner weber for 15 yrs that ran L>R and it made it really tricky to do any mixed cooking (steaks and veggies and potatoes) all requiring varying temps. After replacing the burners a handful of times, I finally broke down and got the new 4 burner Genesis F>B and couldn't be happier! Still learning all the temp spots, but being able to vary sides makes constant checking that you aren't crisping delicates a thing of the past.

Wait a sec, I think I'm messing up on terminology.
I have three burners on my Weber: One in back, one in front, one in the middle. So does that run front to back or side to side? The one I bought my sons has four burners: far left, near left, near right, far right.

JoelF wrote:Wait a sec, I think I'm messing up on terminology.
I have three burners on my Weber: One in back, one in front, one in the middle. So does that run front to back or side to side? The one I bought my sons has four burners: far left, near left, near right, far right.

Yes, you are not thinking about this the way I do. Yours is side to side and is not convenient for indirect cooking. My burners run from the front of the grill to the back of the grill, not from the left side to the right side.

I never bought a Weber gas grill when they were running side to side after cooking on them at friends and families homes. I happened to be ready for a new gas grill after they switched to front to back and it was a no brainer, for me. Weber grills, with some replacement parts, will last decades.

For gas grills under $500, America's Test Kitchen likes: Weber Spirit E-310.

Has anyone assembled a Weber Spirit 310? How complicated is it? Can one (semi-handy) person do it alone? They only deliver the unassembled version. If you want it assembled, you have to pick it up at the store. But I don’t know how I’d get it in and out of my car. I’m less than a mile from the store, and I’ve even thought about wheeling the damn thing home.

Judy H wrote:I’m less than a mile from the store, and I’ve even thought about wheeling the damn thing home.

That's what I would do.

Judy H wrote:Has anyone assembled a Weber Spirit 310? How complicated is it? Can one (semi-handy) person do it alone? They only deliver the unassembled version. If you want it assembled, you have to pick it up at the store. But I don’t know how I’d get it in and out of my car. I’m less than a mile from the store, and I’ve even thought about wheeling the damn thing home.

Can you build an Ikea dresser? I'd say it's along those lines...

Look at the manual online and you can see what needs to be done.

Judy H wrote:Has anyone assembled a Weber Spirit 310?

When wondering about assembly (or repair) of just about anything, searching YouTube should be a reflex reaction. Search weber spirit 310 assembly and you'll find more how-to videos than you'll want to watch.

I just put together my 4 burner Genesis with full cabinet a couple months back. If you can follow the fairly simple directions it's really easy. All the parts are well labeled and drawings correspond nicely. There is also the option to pull it up on video on their website.

Or you could rent a pickup truck from Home Depot, $19 for 75 minutes. For $19, I'd let someone else assemble it.