Customer Reviews

Weber 1780001 Summit S-650 Propane Grill, Stainless Steel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is my fourth gas grill which replaces a very expensive stainless "Turbo" unit I bought from Barbecues Galore about eight years ago. That Turbo started out fine, but steadily deteriorated to the point where I didn't even want to fire it up anymore. The quality of materials and workmanship on the Weber Summit S-650 is top shelf. Every detail is well thought-out and executed, including the burner system, high-end side burner, LP tank weight guage, heavy guage stainless grills, jet ignition system, separate smoker box and burner, drip tray system, massive lid, and LED grill-out lights that really work. I've only owned the Summit for a short time, but everything I've grilled so far has turned out perfectly. The six burners and large cooking area make it possible to cook for a large party, but also provide more options for indirect cooking. Want more heat without increased gas usage? Turn on the burners closer to the food. It's brilliant. Perhaps the best features are the flavorizer bars and grease drip system. They virtually guarantee no flare-ups on fatty foods like burgers and chicken quarters, which was a constant source of frustration with my previous grill. The grease hits the flavorizer bars and disappears into a poof of smoke. What misses the flavorizer bars hits the full width slanted grease tray that terminates into an aluminum catch pan. Clean and easy to manage with zero flare-ups and no charred food.

I really can't say enough good things about this grill and I can't think of a single negative to write about. While the Summit S-650 may seem expensive at first glance, it compares very favorably to grills costing 4x as much. With the Summit, you don't get what you pay for...you get much more. Is it possible to love a grill? :-)

We looked at numerous box store stainless gas grills and after reading many opinions indicating the cheaper grills don't hold up more than around two years, we realized to own a grill with longevity it would have to be a Weber Summit.

The initial cash outlay is significantly more but will pay for itself by providing years of dependable service and if there ever is a problem is backed by a well known, in it for the long haul, reputable company.

The boxed grill arrived perfect, supported in a heavy-duty plastic shipping base strapped to a wooden pallet. Assembly was quick and simple with picture type instructions.

We have owned the grill for about a month and are extremely satisfied with its performance. We were impressed by the following features: Super heavy-duty 3/8" dia. stainless steel cooking grates that leave perfect grill marks, cooking grates are mounted flush with the opening at the front making it convenient to insert a quick read thermometer sideways into the center of your food and allowing the lid to be closed on the thermometer keeping the heat in, easy to access and clean stainless drip trough, flavorizer bars provide a nearly charcoal flavor, heats up to 700 degrees in 3-4 minutes at 85 degrees outside temp, smoker burner can be switched on in normal mode providing an additional 8,000 BTU, all burners light nearly instantly with the turn of each knob, tip-up battery lights are very effective and provide a bright white light in the optimum location.

The smoker system is extremely convenient and allows you to control the grill down to the 225 degree range with just the smoker burner on that is ideal for indirect slow smoke cooking ribs, briskets, vegetables. The stainless smoker box is easily removable for cleaning and the top is hinged to provide easy access to allow additional wood chunks/chips to be added during the smoking process.

Rotisserie burner is mounted in the ideal location up along the back center of the interior shell of the unit out of the way. The spit is easily serviceable during cooking and provides an adjustable location for two items approximately 10" diameter.

The only negatives we have seen: discoloration of a small painted area on either side of the main grill cover as a result of the smoke exiting the grill only when the smoker is used, the weight of the unit made it a challenge to get it into place.

This is my third gas grill and by far the best. It really seems built to last and passes the shake test with fying colors as mentioned before. It gets hot very quickly and gives your meat those nice sear lines, the smoker works well, as do those neat grill out handle lights. Packaging was very good, set up is very simple basically remove the grill from carton (takes 2 people as it is very heavy) install the side shelves, flavorizer bars, cooking grates, grease trap and hook up your lp tank and your ready to grill.
Overall I would highly recommend this grill even with the hefty price tag. For me it is a long term investment and is well worth it.

I got rid of my 10 year old Weber gas grill last summer and I'm sorry I did. I had a large red Weber, not sure of the model number, that served me well for 10 years. There never seemed to be enough room on the grill however so when I saw the new S-650 I just had to get it. Big enough to cook for a crowd, smoker box, it seemed like a dream grill! Except for the price!

One of my favorite things is slow cooking on the grill but this has turned out to be a disaster on this grill. The smoker works flawlessly but the temperature is just not right inside the grill. Slow grill-roasting requires indirect heat at a "slow" temperature of 250 to 275. When this grill is set to that temperature the food just does not cook. My old, smaller Weber did a great job at slow cooking ribs, briskets, chicken, pork shoulders, whatever, But I just couldn't seem to get them to cook correctly on this grill.

I suspected the temperatures were not what the thermometer on the hood said they are. So I bought an oven thermometer and tested the temperatures under the hood. I tested it by slow cooking and smoking two racks of spare ribs. I had the smoker burner on low and the two main burners next to it on medium (the closest one) and low. When the grill hood thermometer read 275 the temperature on the far left side of the burner surface was only 150 degrees! And the temp just to the right of the ribs rightmost side was 175 (to be expected as closer to the lit burners). A 125 degree difference between the grill hood thermometer and the surface...totally unreliable in my estimation.

The only way to get the 275 over on the left surface was to get the grill hood thermometer up to around 375. The distance between that thermometer and the left surface is only about 12 to 18 inches in an enclosed space. The only thing I can figure is that the heat is rising up inside the hood but not staying down lower. Perhaps the hood is just too big or the thermometer needs to be lower. Didn't these guys test this before it went into production???

After all the money I spent on this thing, I wish I had my old grill back (which I gave away, still in decent shape!). I can't control the time or the cooking like in my old grill. Last year many outdoor cooking days were ruined by the food not being cooked or just undercooked and tough.

I did notice that Consumer Reports in their latest issue only rated this grill average in slow cooking ability. They are correct. I gave this grill a 3 rating because it does a really good job in the normal tasks of grilling steaks and hamburgers, etc.

One final thing. I wrote to Weber about this issue and got a really strange response from them about how this is a bigger grill than my older one and I have to get used to cooking on it, etc. What a stupid response! And even worse, the Weber person suggested that maybe I need to use more wood in the smoker box...what that has to do with a faulty thermometer and uneven temperatures I'll never know.

Grill arrived with bent front doors. Weber customer service was great on the phone. New doors arrived, missing the magnetic clasp and interior instruction sticker and themselves slightly bent. In removing the old doors, I saw rust streaks underneath, which didn't make me feel very confident in the durability of this grill.

The back and sides are painted, not stainless, so you'll probably want to place it against a wall. The base bends easily on uneven surfaces. The casters are lame. But in the end it cooks well. All the business parts, the grate, burners, etc., work nicely and it can definitely crank out the BTU's.

I have the Weber summit 670 - great for cooking, but very poorly designed. If the grill is not covered, it will leak water into the grease pan and fill it up in one day. If there's grease in it, it too will leak all over your deck, or wherever it is. I specifically avoided the Kenmore because of this issue, and WOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT THE WEBER if I knew this was going to be a problem. For the money this costs, it should not leak like this. Weber was very defensive about their faulty design, and said I should remove the grease pan after each grilling, and place it on the cooking surface so the water can run right through - nice.

Its amazing the amount of heat this puts out. My cooking times have almost halved. It gets so hot - if you have a full grills worth of food you have to take a break between turning all the food over - your hand gets soooo hot.

Once you get over the fact that you have spent $1700 on a grill its easy to enjoy it.

It came almost fully assembled. Minor ding on the door - have not called webber yet - not sure I will. Very easy to put together the rest. Took about 30 mins.

This is a big grill. I dont think there is a need for the bulk except for the rotisserie feature which I have not yet used.

The lights are actually quite useful and usable. I like them.

Burns through the gas tank much faster than my old little webber - so I keep a spare just in case.

Not sure its a good use of money - but I am not sure you could getter a better grill.

I purchased the nearly same s-670 grill as a replacement for an older weber and returned it as defective. the replacement also was flawed and was taken back. There is a serious disgusting design flaw on this model. there is a large gap all along the attachment of the grill to the cart that leaves a one inch opening around it. In ANY rain storm water leaks in here, runs down the grease trap catcher and fills the grease pan that sits in the cabinet. In a short time your entire cabinet fills with a flood of rotting greasy overflow and water destroying anything inside. Weber claims to know nothing of this and asked for photos to analyze but if you search on line for this problem you will see many many people have had it and demanded refunds from weber. Their only answer is to leave the grill covered at all times when not in use-- this is just unacceptable for a $2000 grill. Beware!

I have had this grill for a few months now and the grill part itself is awesome. The burners and the entire cooking part of the grill I would give 5 stars to. I haven't had any problems the temperature guage is accurate and the knobs work well. The body is shiny but not built as good as it could be. The doors have weak magnets that if you push the doors closed they bounce right back open. Im not saying slam the doors and this happens its just a little push. The doors must be closed by gently pushing them all the way against the body of the grill. The metal piece that is holding the drip tray is attached to the bottom of the grill and the side. The part attached to the side has one screw holding it in place and that screw is in the middle so the metal can be teeter totered from both sides of the screw. This can easily be fixed with one extra screw. Does Weber save that much money by using only one screw? There is also the problem that many others have mentioned in their reveiw when it rains the drip tray fills up and can quickly overflow into the bottom of the grill. Whay a mess. I purchased the cover weber makes for this model because I was expecting this problem but the cover for some reason has 2 screen ventilation holes so it still allows rain in. Sure these are all minor problems and I love my grill especially since I added an extra screw and better magnets but for the price I shouldn't have to do anything but enjoy my grill.

I have a Weber Summit S-420, but my comments are applicable to the entire Summit line. Whenever it rains, water flows down the back and enters the internal drip tray, which the flows into a drip pan. The pan overflows creating a greasy mess inside the cabinet. The problem occurs with and without the Weber cover in-place. Weber does not consider this to be an issue!!! I give the grill a 2 star rating because it does do a nice job of cooking - once the mess is cleaned up.