Sell Me On A New Gas Grill

[nofishfisherman]

I'm in the process of shopping for a new gas grill with a budget roughly in the $500 range.  What grills should I be looking at?

 

Do you think its cheaper in the long run to buy a more expensive grill and then replace parts as needed or buy a cheaper grill that will last 3-5 years and then just replace the entire thing?  I did a rough cost breakdown of the weber spirit 310 grill.  I assumed having to replace the flavaorizer bars and grates three times at 5, 10 and 15 years and the burners once at 10 years to achieve a 20 year lifespan before the replacement burners burn out (this assumes each part burns out right at the end of their 5 or 10 year warranty).  For you weber owners does that seem about right or do parts last much longer before needing to be replaced?  Does the rest of the grill hold up for 20 years?  If so thats roughly $900 for grill and replacement parts for 20 years.  Is this the type of lifespan I can expect from a Weber?  Less?  More?

 

The other option is to buy a cheaper grill and simply toss the entire thing and replace it every 3-5 years as parts burn out.  I've had a few cheaper grills and they all seem to fall apart right about year 4.  So I could buy a new $200 grill every 4 years and spend $1000 over 20 years assuming I don't have to buy any replacement parts over the 4 year lifespan of the grill. 

 

Right now I'm leaning toward the Weber Spirit 310 but I'm pretty open to your suggestions.  I'm open to spending more money upfront if it means spending less money long term. 

 

Lets hear your thoughts. 

 

[smurfy]

i'm not gonna try and sell you anything, but i will give you my opinion. i wouldnt buy anything but a weber.

 

i have a weber spirit, its 20 plus years old. i've replaces the flavor bars once. i will need to replace those bars and the burners soon. AND its still the same ignitor. easly spend more now for quality . and throw a cover over it!!!!!!!!!!!

[nofishfisherman]

If I can expect that kind of longevity out of the current spirit models with limited part replacement then its a no brainer.  

[leech~~]

Word: Pellet-grill.  Or you will never hear the end of it.  Trust me!    

 

A few suggestions.

Don't buy one with more burners then you need, your just burning more gas to heat them up and cook with and it's doesn't make your penis any bigger having a 50 knob grill! 

Find one with the newer cast metal grill as they will last longer and not rust out like the welded wire ones.  

A side burn is nice to have as well.

 

I bought a new Charbroil last year so I really don't have a lot of time on it yet to suggest it other then is working nice for me. 

 

Good Luck! 

Edited April 1, 2019 by leech~~

[Cooperman]

This is not 20 years ago. Components for all Weber grills are now made in China. There is only one Weber grill (their top of the line series) that is assembled in the USA, with Chinese parts. Just something to think about.

[nofishfisherman]

11 minutes ago, Cooperman said:

This is not 20 years ago. Components for all Weber grills are now made in China. There is only one Weber grill (their top of the line series) that is assembled in the USA, with Chinese parts. Just something to think about.

 

That is something I've been thinking about.  I know they went Chinese but haven't really seen anything about how that is impacting long term durability.  

 

When they went to china for production did they keep the same material specs or have they gone with cheaper materials?  And if so what does that mean to durability?  Going to China doesn't have to mean sub par products as long as you don't also start using cheaper materials but often times one usually means the other. 

[smurfy]

17 minutes ago, Cooperman said:

This is not 20 years ago. Components for all Weber grills are now made in China. There is only one Weber grill (their top of the line series) that is assembled in the USA, with Chinese parts. Just something to think about.

ugh.....yea what was i thinking??????? 

[Cooperman]

I’m not saying they are worse quality then in the past, they could very well be made in China to Weber’s specification., I don’t know, time will tell. I own two Weber grills and am happy with them. What bothers me is they ship their production to China and still demand a premium price. You know they are saving a lot of money by doing this, but the prices for their grills keeps going up?

[nofishfisherman]

Anyone aware of what type of stainless steel Weber is using now versus on their older models?  If they were using 304 stainless 20 years ago but are now using 430 that would tell me they have reduced quality with their shift to China as well.  

 

I may just start taking a magnet to all the stores and testing all the different brands and models of grills in my price range.  The first grill my magnet doesn't stick to will probably come home with me. 

 

 

[BRULEDRIFTER]

I’ve got a 3 burner Weber Spirit. Love it! I’m going into year 7 with it. I replaced the flavor bars last year or the year before. Probably should have changed them a year earlier as there wasn’t much left of them. Grill still looks good and works as it should. 

 

I take pretty good care of it. Every year it gets a thorough scraping and cleaning, new aluminum foil drip pan (sometimes twice/yr depending on use). I keep it covered at all times out on the deck year round. I have a Weber cover, which I highly recommend, and clean the snow off it every time it’s building up on it. 

 

My FIL has a 20+ year old Weber, and while I’m sure they were built much better back then, it’s still going! Has some hot spots in it so you have to be careful and rotate, but it’s the cheapest grill he ever bought! 

 

I’d recommend a Weber over a cheaper grill all day! 

Edited April 1, 2019 by BRULEDRIFTER

[nofishfisherman]

Anyone have experience with a Monument grill.  For a stainless steel grill they come with a lot of features for a lot less money than a Weber.  A 4 burner with side burner runs about $340 compared to $450 for the Weber Spirit 3 burner. 

 

I haven't looked at them in person to judge the quality of construction or compare materials to a weber.

[Getanet]

I bought a 3-burner Spirit after my wedding 7 years ago. Just took the cover off it this weekend to make some burgers. The igniter didn't work - and when I went light it with a lighter I poked one of the flavor bars, which fell apart in some places. I haven't had time to look at the igniter issue, but I know the flavor bars don't last forever.  I don't think I'll get 20 years out of mine, but it's been pretty dependable so far.

 

[bobberineyes]

Sorry can't help ya, kingsford briquettes are still made in the good old US of A.. 

[Cooperman]

1 hour ago, bobberineyes said:

Sorry can't help ya, kingsford briquettes are still made in the good old US of A.. 

Agreed, of my two Weber grills,  the gas unit doesn’t get used very much. I love the Weber Proformer (charcoal)

[CigarGuy]

I bought a Cabela's pellet grill a couple years ago.  I think I like it, but definitely a learning curve and I'm still learning. Smoked a turkey (first time) during one of the holidays, my wife didn't trust me and made a back up in the oven. Mine turned out fabulous!  With that being said, I'm still not totally comfortable with it.  I need to replace my gas grill at the cabin and was debating between a pellet grill and a gas grill. I've done the $300.00 gas grills and get po'd with all the flare ups, that's why I went to the pellet grill. After a bunch of research, I just ordered a Weber 2, 310.  In the cities the sale price is $449.00+tax. I looked on eeebaay and found a new-open box for 439.00 b/o, free shipping.  Plus, they had a 10-percent off coupon. I ended up getting it for $399.11 including tax, it will be here Friday!

[eyeguy 54]

bought my silver A in 2004. when I replaced the grates and flavor bars after a few years I went to stainless instead of ceramic. still love it and it gets used a lot. for smoking i use a bradley now, upgraded from the masterbuilt. cook over indirect heat for no flare ups. only thing i grill with direct heat is a nice steak. if you cook a lot of wings clean it out often also under the burners. easy to do. good luck and have fun also I dont ever use the cover. traps too much moisture. And i try to burn grates off after each use. on high for 10 minutes with timer set on stove so i dont leave it going... LOL 

[rl_sd]

Didn’t we discuss this last fall as well?

[rundrave]

35 minutes ago, rl_sd said:

Didn’t we discuss this last fall as well?

Found this one:

 

[PurpleFloyd]

7 hours ago, leech~~ said:

Word: Pellet-grill.  Or you will never hear the end of it.  Trust me!    

 

A few suggestions.

Don't buy one with more burners then you need, your just burning more gas to heat them up and cook with and it's doesn't make your penis any bigger having a 50 knob grill! 

Find one with the newer cast metal grill as they will last longer and not rust out like the welded wire ones.  

A side burn is nice to have as well.

 

I bought a new Charbroil last year so I really don't have a lot of time on it yet to suggest it other then is working nice for me. 

 

Good Luck! 

Leech is getting smarter in his increased age.

 

I got rid of the gas grill and bought a pellet grill last year and couldn't be happier with it. I would never go back to a propane grill again except maybe one of those tailgater ones from Coleman. 

[leech~~]

22 minutes ago, PurpleFloyd said:

Leech is getting smarter in his increased age.

 

 

Stockholm syndrome  I love pellet grills!  

[PurpleFloyd]

57 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

Stockholm syndrome  I love pellet grills!  

[nofishfisherman]

Ok for you pellet grill guys can you educate me on them?  How does your cook time from start to finish compare to a gas grill?  I'm talking from the time you walk out the door to a cold grill to the time you're walking into the house with a plate of cooked meat?  

 

I have been planning to stick with gas because of time.  I can go out flip a switch and I'm grilling in just a few minutes.  On a weekend its not a huge issue if things take a little longer but on weekdays when I have less time to get dinner on the table a gas grill is really helpful.  I probably use it 4-5 days a week at minimum during grilling season. 

 

Also how quickly do you burn through pellets?  Wondering how cost of pellets compare to cost of propane and how often you're filling them if you're grilling several times a week.  

 

 

[Big Dave2]

1 hour ago, nofishfisherman said:

Ok for you pellet grill guys can you educate me on them?  How does your cook time from start to finish compare to a gas grill?  I'm talking from the time you walk out the door to a cold grill to the time you're walking into the house with a plate of cooked meat?  

 

I have been planning to stick with gas because of time.  I can go out flip a switch and I'm grilling in just a few minutes.  On a weekend its not a huge issue if things take a little longer but on weekdays when I have less time to get dinner on the table a gas grill is really helpful.  I probably use it 4-5 days a week at minimum during grilling season. 

 

That's hard to say. It all depends on what you are cooking what method you are cooking and how you have things set up, what gas grill you have or what pellet grill you have. With a pellet grill you only have to flip a switch as well and you can set it for a specific temperature. If you want to cook meatloaf at 350 degrees, you just set it for 350 degrees. 

 

I don't doubt that it will take a couple of minutes longer to heat up the pellet grill but I don't know that for sure. I'm guessing the overall time difference would be very negligible but any edge would go to the gas grill. If you want to set the grill at a specific temp, I would give the edge to the pellet grill because you will avoid trial and error fiddling of the dials, trying to achieve a specific temp.

 

I used to think I needed a gas grill for this same reason. Many years ago I switched to charcoal and found that even charcoal didn't take that much longer if you have a system. Charcoals poured in a chimney and light with paper don't take that long to heat up. Especially if you use kingsford charcoal when you want things to go fast. IMO, kingsford always seems to light faster and be ready to cook faster.

 

Quote

 

Also how quickly do you burn through pellets?  Wondering how cost of pellets compare to cost of propane and how often you're filling them if you're grilling several times a week.  

 

 

That's a good question. We go through a fair amount of pellets here but we also cook on our grill 3-4 nights a week during the summer months. Price will depend mostly on the brand of pellets you purchase and whether or not they are on special when you buy or if you buy in bulk. I have no doubt that I spend more in pellets than I would in gas but it has been a long time since I used a gas grill regularly so I don't know. I do think however that I don't spend any more in pellets than I did in charcoal when I used my Weber grill 3-4 nights a week. To me it is worth it to have the enhanced flavor of cooking over wood or charcoal compared to gas but that's just my opinion.

 

If you are seriously considering a pellet grill then make sure you do your research so you don't end up with an over-priced piece of grilling equipment that you are not happy with. There's nothing worse than paying more for something and finding out you preferred the cheaper option.

 

IMO:

If you are only interested in doing quick meals at high heat, you might be better off with a gas grill

If you already have a smoker you prefer to use or you don't like smoked food, you might be better off with a gas grill

If you routinely cook large amounts of steak, burgers or other food that needs to be seared at high heat, you might be better off with a gas grill.

 

I love my pellet grill for it's versatility and ease of use. For me, it has taken the place of all other grills and smokers. I can cook, sear, roast, smoke, grill, pan fry almost anything there is to be cooked on this one appliance. I can even bake bread and awesome pizzas on a stone.

 

I don't mind buying the pellets because I know I always have enough for a cook. I have been in the middle of cooking steaks before and had the propane tank run dry. 

 

My grilling progression has been from gas grills to charcoal and now to pellet grills. I own 2 of them and love them but also love my Weber charcoal. I haven't owned a gas grill now for several years but wouldn't mind having a small one on a dedicated outdoor kitchen for simple, fast meals.

 

I hope some of this helps.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Big Dave2

[nofishfisherman]

Thanks BigDave, very helpful. 

 

I do have a smoker but I'm actually planning on upgrading smokers this summer as well.  Originally was thinking with going with a larger insulated electric smoker. 

 

How does the pellet grill work for smoking?  If I want to do a 12 hour smoke on a pork shoulder at 250 degrees is that easily doable?  How low of a temp can a pellet grill be set to?  Wondering about smoking other things like fish. 

 

If a pellet grill works great for smoking and grilling maybe it makes sense for me to get a really nice pellet grill instead of a gas grill and a new smoker like I was planning. 

[nofishfisherman]

What brands of pellet grill should I be looking at?  Same considerations apply, I don't mind paying more upfront if I'm going to end up paying less in the long run by buying something thats going to last.