This is the second Weber gas grill I have owned since 1996. My first was a Weber Summit II but I, foolishly, gave it to my nephew about 4 years ago, because I got a good deal on a Frigidaire GL30. I regretted that decision many times because, from day one, the Frigidaire was nothing but a very pretty, but useless heap of stainless steel. When it blew up in my face a few weeks ago, I took the opportunity to return to the very best grill in the market place. Also, my nephew refused to give back my now 14 year old Summit, which is still working at peak performance.
After many days of internet shopping, I ordered the Weber E 320 from Amazon for $669.00 with free shipping. Although it was shipped from Portland, Oregon to Flat Rock, North Carolina, it arrived on time in good condition. It comes in a very big and heavy box but the driver placed it in my garage where it would be the best area to assemble the grill. I was impressed that the packaging contained no plastic foam to go in the land fill, but rather used some very ingenious honey combed cardboard.
It is the intention of this review to pass on a few assembly tips. After opening the top of the box and removing the parts that are tucked around the sides of the box, you will be faced with trying to lift the entire hood assembly (the pictorial shows two men lifting from both sides). If, at this point, you take a box cutter and cut down the four corners of the box and lay out the sides, you will have a flat surface to work from. THEN, after removing the two hinge pins from the hood (they slide out easily) you will be able to remove the hood and set it aside. I am 78 years old and was able to do this without help. You will then notice that the die cast aluminum fire box is packed with more, rather heavy parts. After these parts are removed, a single person can lift out the fire box and burner assembly, which is far lighter than it looks.
Assembly of this grill is nothing short of a very happy dream. The parts are of extremely high quality and fit together with precision. I strongly suggest that you throw away the included wrench and use a 7/16 nut driver for assembly. I did use a 7/16 socket wrench to torque down the front frame support, but I left every thing finger tight until I had all of the parts of the lower cart in place. Pay close attention to the shading of the bolts and washers so you use the proper bolt and washer in the proper place. I got a bit confused while installing the front frame support, in step 2, because it is unclear as to which way the return flanges face. They do point to the outside and if you go the other way, the firebox, in step 6, will not go in place. Also, if the doors don't line up after installing, there is an adjustment of the lower pin. A 7/16 box or open end wrench is best for this adjustment. I left a gap of about 1/8 inch between the doors. I used the included drip pans to hold the hardware while doing the assembly.
I did not want to do the assembly on our rear deck, where the grill will reside, because I was afraid that I might drop a part through the deck planking, never to be seen again. The finished grill is very heavy so I assembled the grill in the garage, except for the hood, flavorizer bars, drip pan, grates and, of course, the gas tank. At this level of assembly, my wife and myself were able to easily lift the grill into the kitchen and roll it through the house, to the rear deck where I did the final assembly.
As expected, the Weber fired up immediately and we were ready to do some really fine cooking. When I researched the E 320, I agonized over spending the extra money for the stainless steel grates and flavorizer bars, but I have quickly learned to prefer the cast iron grates. I am an amateur chef and I love the way the cast iron grates place wonderful sear marks on a good steak. If my old Summit II grill is still running after 14 years, I don't expect to be replacing any parts in the future. As an aside, I use Whirlpool stove top protectant on the porcelain hood for a super glossy surface that is easy to clean. I have it on hand for our smooth top stove and it works great on high temperature ceramic or porcelain surfaces. As a final thought, the Weber comes with a very handy gas gauge which measures the weight of the tank. It works very well so no other gauges are necessary.
I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. Weber is the only grill for Me!!!!
PS: Sunday, February 21, 2010 It finally warmed up enough for me to uncover the Weber grill and do some wonderful cooking. However, I noticed a small wear spot on the Weber 7553 premium cover, probably due to the very cold winter we had in the mountains. I took a picture of the wear spot and sent Weber an e mail explaining the problem. Would you believe that I got a response from Weber within two (2) minutes of the time I sent them the e mail. Their customer service only wanted the serial number of my grill and they would send me a new cover via FEDEX. WOW!!!! Talk about customer service. In all my 78 years, I have never had service like that --- nowhere!!!!
