Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Supergrill!!, April 21, 2004
This review is from: Weber 2004 Model 6250001 Genesis Gold C Propane Gas Grill, Stainless Steel (Lawn & Patio)
We're heading into our second summer with our Genesis Gold C. It's been GREAT! It is very well designed and built. The flexibility of the 3 burners with the wide heat output range makes anything possible. It's a nice big grill, something I've needed for a long time. I added the smoker accessory which takes away about 3 inches of grill space, but there's still plenty left. And the smoker works well. I especially like all the "counter" space you get with the Gold C. I haven't used the side burner as much as I expected, but it was handy when I wanted it. It's so unbelievably good to not have to deal with charcoal! Turn it on, turn it off - so simple, so clean! When I was shopping, I was concerned about the welded sheet metal grate. I was skeptical that they wouldn't cook the meat as well as welded rods (like those in the Summit) or the cast iron grate that comes with this grill at Home Depot. No worry - the stainless steel grate works wonderfully! It cleans up real nice and it isn't rusting away or sagging, at all. I have to warn about the accessories. The reviewer that gave it 1 star was right about the cover. Of course, he is way out of line giving the grill a bad rating because of the optional cover. The cover has mesh vents right above the hood handle. A lot of rain and dirt can get in where you really don't want it. I also have had no luck making the funny basket style rotisserie work. I have a friend that bought the same grill and the same rotisserie, and he says it works fine for him. I guess I just don't get how to work it. As I said, the smoker was a good investment. Oh, yeah, the cast iron griddle is really neat. It eats up half of the grill space (more than half if you leave the smoker in), but grilling onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc. is much simpler on a griddle than a grate. And it fits on our gas stove in the kitchen, too. (psst.. I had to go elsewhere to get the griddle and the smoker - amazon didn't have them, am I allowed to say Abt?) There are only a couple things that bother me about the grill: the wheels and the way the frame screws tend to work loose. The main wheels are the same as those on my old (real old) Weber Kettle, and those eventually disintegrated. The Genesis wheels show no signs of that happening, but eventually, I'm afraid they will. The little swivel casters on the other end really don't feel like outdoor sort of wheels. They get bogged down in my grass and I tend to lift that end and move it around like a wheel barrow. Maybe that's what causes the frame screws to periodically work loose. That's annoying, but easily fixed with a socket wrench. But, you know what? The Genesis performs so overwhelmingly well that those complaints pale in comparison. So I will still give it an enthusiastic 5 stars! I love it!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent grill but has a major shortcoming for the $, August 29, 2004
This review is from: Weber 2004 Model 6250001 Genesis Gold C Propane Gas Grill, Stainless Steel (Lawn & Patio)
First of all, while I can't say that I'm an expert griller, I have bought my share of grills. Since I bought this Weber, I have started doing a lot more grilling (during the summer I probably grill four times a week) and as I got into it I started to see some of the shortcomings of this grill.
First the good though - This is an extremely well-made grill from an excellent company that stands behind their products. The sucker is built like a tank, but believe me, you won't have this thing together in 10 minutes. It took me about 30 to put it together, although it probably would have gone faster if I had some help.
Secondly, I disagree with the comment about the person who burns their hands on the handle. Yes, the handle does get warm, but I have never burned myself on it. Obviously it is more of a problem if you have the heat cranked way up (this grill can do well past 550 degrees, but outside of the initial warm up, I never run my grill that hot - you will burn the outside of you food to a crisp before you can cook the inside.
Third, this thing will last you a long time so you really need to make sure that you like it. Which brings me to the bad:
As I mentioned, this thing can get really hot. Problem is that it has a hard time staying around 250 degrees, which is what you want if you are going to slow cook a whole chicken. I find that I need to turn off two of the burners entirely and set the third to low to get the temperature down.
Second point is the side burner - It gets really hot, but does not have much of a simmer setting - even the lowest setting is really hot, so don't plan to use it to keep a side dish warm - cook it - yes, but keep it warm, no (unless you have a really big pot)
Now, finally my biggest beef. Once you start grilling a bit more seriously (and if you are thinking of laying out $600 for a grill, then you probably will sooner or later) you are going to want to do things like cooking over indirect heat. Here is the Weber Genesis series' biggest failing. The burners run left to right accross the whole grill, splitting it into three zones from front to back. The grill is really not deep enough to properly do indirect cooking. For that, you would need the burners to run front to back like they do on high end grills (and incidently on Weber's Summit series). My problem is that when you get into the neighborhood of $600, front to back burners should be standard.
I am selling this grill and stepping up to the Summit D series.
So in conclusion: This is a really well built, durable grill. Buy it if you need the grilling space and want something that is going to last a really long time. On the other hand, if you plan to become a serious griller, the layout of the burners is going to frustrate you fairly quickly as it did with me.
I am torn about giving it a 3 since it really is a great product, but the orientation of the burners is inexcusable for a $600 grill.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The one and only true grill, June 2, 2004
This review is from: Weber 2004 Model 6250001 Genesis Gold C Propane Gas Grill, Stainless Steel (Lawn & Patio)
I didn't want to buy my Weber before the patio is done. Which will be in late June. But, something happened. Then, the Weber end up in my garage. You know the story. It's been bit more than two weeks since I bought the Weber Genesis Gold C. We have grilled 8 times on it. Including scallop, baby back ribs, country style ribs, spare ribs, fish, stack and some vegetables. ALL CAME OUT PERFECTLY. If you were doing research like I did. You can stop right here. You don't even need to finish this review. Just go and buy a Weber Genesis grill Gold or Silver, you will be a happy person for at least 20 years. Just like me. ;-) I spent three months researching gas grills. Checked into brands including Jenn-Air, NexGrill, Char-Broil, COSTCO brands and Weber. I emphasized on two things, how well does the grill cook and how long will the grill last. I don't care how bad or cheap it looks, don't care about any special features (smoker tray, rotisserie kit). What I found out from reading reviews on alt.food.barbecue, amazon.com and several other grilling/barbecue web sites is that countless people swear on their Weber gas grill, all the other brands together have less than a hand full of people. Also buying and reading the two best grilling book before the purchase helped me a lot in what I should really look into in detail. The two books are: Weber's Big Book of Grilling by Jamie Purviance How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques by Steven Raichlen, Greg Schneider I am, or shall I dare say "was" :-), not an expert griller. I was able to fully understand what the books said and able to follow the books. Which results in perfect food. My ribs are better than the ones from Sweet Water Tavern. The baby back ribs from Sweet Water Tavern was my family's favorite. With the same amount of money we paid for a rack, we can have 4 full racks now. Anyways, back to the books. The Weber book explains in detail about the characters of different food and also how to take advantage of their characters not just deal with them. I was able to understand the grill better because I understand the food, which the grill is designed to deal with, better. I am not going to say too much about grills other than Weber's because I've never used them. All the knowledge I have about them is from other people's experience. The conclusion I draw from my research, alt.food.barbecue, web sites, Consumer Report and a cooking magazine(forgot name), is that if you want the same cooking quality like Weber, you would have to pay more than 3 times for other brands. And Weber throw in the unparalleled durability and quality pre/post sale customer service for free. I bought the Genesis Gold C because of the durability of Stainless steel parts. Though many people in their review said the cast iron sear stack better. I still went for the stainless steel and paid more. Now, after 3 meal of perfectly seared stack, I realized that I could have saved some if I went for the Genesis Silver. No regret though. I would not recommend stainless steel grates other than the solid thick bar type grates on other brand's grill. The reason Weber's relative thin stainless steel grates can still sear great is because the grill can reach 800F. Yes, you read me correctly, my Weber can reach Eight Hundred Degree F with only 36000 BTUs. This actually caused me some problem when I tried to do some medium temperature cooking. The grill would not drop below 300F. I read about this in reviews and also called Weber. The reason is that the new stainless steal cover reflects heat too well. After several usage, the inside of cover looks dark brown and black and the grill surly can drop to around 250F now. Not like the Coleman, which grills food pretty well but took my friend 6 hours to assemble. My Weber took me 15 min to assemble. Only 8 big scrolls. Weber even provides tools to do it. Weber's customer service is perfect. Never had to wait for more than 2 min. You might say if the grill's quality is good, why would you ever call customer support. This might be true for you expert grillers, but not for me. I appreciate very much Weber support people's courtesy and knowledge of their product. I can't say my Weber is the best looking grill. To be honest, it actually look cheap. When my wife saw my Weber the first time, she said "What, you spent $??? for this?" I said "Wait till you try the baby back ribs". She now constantly beg me to grill. Partly because then she does not have to cook, but I believe it's mostly because the quality of food from "My Weber". :-)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|