Love this grill

I've had the Q300 for about 10 weeks and grilled on it 3-4 times per week. Grilled steaks roasts chicken (both direct and indirect heat) pork

loins hamburgers and hotdogs and the Q300 handled it all.



Gets hot fast:

From start with both burners on high...3 minutes grill is at 310 degrees....7 minutes 400 degrees.....10 minutes 520 degrees....14 minutes maxes out at 590 degrees



I like to cook chicken and pork over indirect heat so I really like having the two burners with separate controls. The larger burner runs the perimeter of the grill and a second smaller burner goes down the center.



Outside burner only (High)..maintains 400 degrees(Low)..300 degrees

Center burner only (High)..maintains 300 degrees(Low)..200 degrees

Both burners on (High)..maintains 590 degrees (Low)..500 degrees



Heavy duty cast-iron cooking grates. Grates dimensions are 25" x 17.5".More detail ...

An electric grill that matches gas or charcoal

Recently the fire marshal forced our condo to ban gas grills. We love our grilled steaks ribs and chops and were afraid that we could no longer enjoy them.



After scouring the web for ideas I learned about a new electric technology developed by Weber ( the famous kettle cooker people). This small "egg shaped" grill uses reflective surfaces to allow an electric coil to produce temperatures matching those of a gas grill. The meat tastes as good as comparable cuts cooked on my old gas grill.



Furthermore the internal parts simply lift out for easy washing in the kitchen sink.More detail ...

4 Year Long Term Update A+

I am writing this long term review because as so many reviews are just initial impressions when the product is new. They are hard to find but some people will write a review later in the product's life cycle especially if they have had problems. This is not one of those "problem" reviews. The Weber Q is my all time favorite grill.



Background Info:



I bought my "Q" back in 2004 when they first came out; there were only two models at the time the Q and the Baby Q. The overall design theory and execution of a portable gas grill was amazing in my eyes - like nothing I had ever seen before. I was in the market for a gas grill and the portable nature yet still nice enough to grill on a daily basis design sold me instantly. I had used my dad's Weber gas grill since he bought it new in the mid 90's (comparable to today's Genesis models) and was impressed in every aspect especially the longevity and quality of the components compared to "big box store" look-a-like grills. The price for a standalone Weber like my dad's was too high in my opinion and I wanted more for my money. The Q's dual nature fit the bill perfectly. In addition to the Q I bought about every accessory available at the time: rolling cart Weber Q specific tools cover hose for external LP tank etc. Every accessory followed right in line with the Q's portable design intent. The tools are my favorite as they snap into the side tables and easily fold up inside enhancing the go-anywhere part of the design. I recently (Summer 2008) upgraded my home setup to include the stationary cart for a more finshed look at home on the back patio.





Performance:



The grill holds a surprisingly large amount of food. I can grill for the whole family or more with no problems (This totally depends on what you are grilling). I have grilled everything from the ubiquitous burgers dogs and brats to fajita meat and vegetables to corn on the cob and steaks. I can even fit 2-3 whole racks of ribs on the Q. Heating is surprisingly even with the rectangular shaped burner (which is stainless steel and after 4 seasons is showing zero signs of wear corrosion etc.). The heavy thick cast iron grate should get most of the credit for the even heating. I really like the wide bars and tight spacing of the grate; I can grill sliced veggies and meats as if I were cooking on a skillet with no fear of them falling though. Temperature control is ultra easy with the single burner knob. I have taken the Q tailgating at sporting events to picnics at the park to friends' parties etc. and it has performed flawlessly. It offers tons of cooking room for the size and minimal effort to bring along with the clever design of the grill and accessories. People are always amazed when they watch me unpack/pack the Q. Other than an occasional and end of season cleaning this thing is maintenance free. Just brush off the grate check the drip pan and clean out the burned drippings in the bottom from time to time.



Final Thoughts:



Looking back at my Q experience I wouldn't have it any other way. In fact I can't imagine owning any other gas grill - except another Q. If the day comes when I have to replace my beloved Q I would probably stick with the original size the 200 series; it is the perfect balance. The 300 series looks nice with the bigger size and extra burner but I don't necessarily need the size and I feel it loses some of the portable utility that makes the original Q so great. More detail ...

Excellent but a little pricey

I am cooking ribs on my 22" WSM as I type this. This will be my third time cooking since I received it a few weeks ago and the results I've been getting have been some of the tastiest barbeque I've ever had. The design is excellent the build quality is excellent the instructions and support from Weber - all excellent. But after all this "hype" the reason I only gave it 4 stars out of 5 is because as good as it is I believe Weber has over-priced it somewhat. I would have expected something of this size and quality to be priced closer to $350 or so.



Anyway the good news is the key to successful barbeque is temperature control. I threw away money a few years ago on a cheaper smoker in which it was almost impossible to control and ruined several dollars worth of meat trying. But temperature control is what makes this unit great. The WSM almost feels like cheating. Once you get it set it just seems to stay locked into a very narrow temperature range requiring very little adjustment as it cooks. It's as easy to keep it "locked in" at 200 degrees as it is to keep it at 325. However there are a few little tips and tricks of the trade to cooking on a smoker and barbeque in general that require a little research trial and error and discussion with experienced "pit masters." For this I highly recommend The Virtual Weber Bullet website and The Virtual Weber Bulletin Board. There is a wealth of knowledge there and you can get questions answered by professionals as well as pit master wannabes who are just starting out and learning too.



I would recommend starting with a Weber Smokey Mountain a high-quality easy to use smoker rather than wasting money on a cheaper one only to realize later that it's too frustrating to use and then have to break down and buy the good one later. That would be the MOST expensive way to get into barbeque at home.

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good small gas grill

The Patio Caddie is a nice small grill-good for small spaces when you want the convenience of propane. It is well constructed and easy to use. Assembly is a bit of a pain though nowhere near as bad as their old full size units. If you have a cordless screwdriver and can follow their instructions it should take about 30 minutes to an hour. It's very easy to use-a push button ignition burner control on the front and with the propane tank sitting down below you have easy access to the valve. There are nice touches like a built in thermometer and a retainer clip so you can hinge the lid on the lip of the grill if you don't have a place to put it when you have the lid off. It does generate a decent amount of heat for a single burner grill-just enough for searing and the ceramic charcoals do much better than lava rocks. On the bad side it's hard to see the flame so it's not exactly easy to tell if you've sucessfully ignited the gas. An electronic battery operated ignition would be a lot nicer. And while easy to wheel around the small propane tank doesn't cut it-it doesn't hold enough and if you do the tank exchange instead of filling your old one no one will accept it. It's great for a small grill-a good step up from a small charcoal grill. If you have the space you'll be a lot happier with a full size grill. With multiple burners and a lot more BTU power you'll get better results with a full size grill-and many don't cost much more than the patio caddy. But if you only have enough room for a small grill this is one of the best on the market.More detail ...

This is the one to get

You're probalby thinking that there's no reason to update the 10-year-old Weber you've got in your back yard. Well turns out Weber has made some smart improvements over the years-- the new "gold" model is worth the upgrade.

The ash-catcher is super the one-touch vent system is a big improvement (no more knocking each vent with a trowel) the plastic handles stay cooler... you get the idea. Nothing dramatic but good progress.

But here's the clincher: setting one of these up (takes about 20 minutes even if you make a mistake or two) just makes you feel like you're in heaven. It's summer embodied. People rhapsodize about the new car small... well fughettaboutit. The look of a shiny new grill that you've assembled yourself is about as good as it gets.

Highly recommended accessory: the charcoal companion. Put your lighter fluid (or your MatchLight) away and use this instead-- it works flawlessly and it's better for the environment.More detail ...

Seems well-built and functional with very few annoyances.

I bought myself this grill for Christmas when nobody else got it for me and now I've had it almost three months and have used it quite a few times. I bought it based on the Amazon recommendations and the recommendation of FoodTV host Alton Brown in his book GEAR FOR THE KITCHEN. Also in perusing the internet I found the "Blue's BBQ" web site from Australia. One reader asks "How did the Weber become the icon for the Australian BBQ?" Blue had to disappoint the reader by informing her that the Weber is actually American. But if it has that kind of reputation in Australia is must be good.



Judging from the reviews here I'll have to wait 20 years to see how it holds up. It does live on my back porch but with the Weber cover.



It is fairly easy to assemble and in my humble engineering opinion seems well-made and designed with few exceptions. The Silver model has an ash catch-pan hung between the legs. The pan sits on top of spring clips clipped to the leg. After how well everything else went together this seemed really cheesy to me. If you're a prefectionist you'll go nuts trying to level the pan.



I guess that the "one touch cleaning" feature is the vanes on the bottom that also act to adjust the temperature in the grill by adjusting the airflow. If you swish them back and forth opened and closed it'll push some ash through the vent in the bottom. The problem is that the vanes themselves are wide and flat and half of the ash just rides back and forth on them. I think Weber overstates this "one touch cleaning" feature.



The vanes closely fit the bottom shape of the grill when assembled but after a couple of uses one warped. I don't know if this is from heat or something I lodged under it. I had to disassemble the vanes and bend the offending blade a bit and it's been perfect since.



I am a bit disappointed in some of the accessories like the tool rack and little side table. They hang on the edge of the grill and compromise the otherwise pretty good seal between the lid and grill. They also sell a lid rack but note that the lid does comes with a hook in it so you can hang it on the edge of the grill although it is certainly not as easy as using the optional rack.



Based on recommendations here I got the 22" (larger) model. I can't disagree with that. Unless you just don't have the extra 4" of storage space or REALLY need a good grill but just don't have the money get the bigger one. It doesn't use that much more charcoal.



The other thing I scratched my head over was whether to get the Silver or Gold model. The differences were not completely clear to me until I actually got the grill. First the Gold model adds a catch can that fits closely to the bottom of the grill instead of the pan I complained about. That would be nice. Maybe when you're grilling hot specks of charcoal won't fall out the bottom and burn your legs and if you grill somewhere where you don't want a lot of ash this might be worthwhile. But the Gold is almost twice the price of the Silver and I had a hard time justifying the additional cost.



The other feature added by the Gold is a grate with folding sides to allow you to add more charcoal when doing a long roast. A handy feature for sure if you're cooking includes that but I found those replacement Weber grates locally for twelve dollars so wouldn't pay for the Gold model to get them.



And I guess that's another advantage of the Webers in general: They're so popular replacement parts are easily found locally.





Sometimes I long for the built-in side table of the Platinum but that's a lot of money.



The grill came with a small cookbook that has proved useful. I don't know getting burgers and steaks done right has been such a hit or miss trial and error proposition that most people make it out to be. You look up in the little book "Beef 1-1/2 in thick well-done (I know Alton Brown wouldn't like me) 10 minutes first side 9 minutes second side" and they come out perfectly.



DEFINITELY pick up a Weber charcoal chimney if you don't have one yet. It's the best way by far to start the grill - no kabooms no fumes no smell no dangerous fluids stored in your house and a good use for Florida Today newspaper. If you want to try something different pick up the book AMERICAN PIE by Peter Reinhert and try the grilled pizza.

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Great for novice and experienced

The Masterbuilt smoker is a wonderful product for the price. Whether you're new to smoking or an experienced smoker who wants a less hands on labor intensive smoke this is simply the best you can get for the $$.



Pros:

1. Digital thermometer: If you've smoked much you know keeping the smoker at the right temperature is often what takes the most attention. As an electric smoker with a built in thermometer you can set your preferred temperature and then just focus on keeping the woodtray filled the contents mopped and you're good to go. (You will still want to use a digital thermometer on the meats themselves to check their internal temperatures but that's a different matter.)



2. Well insulated: Unlike a traditional side smoker bullet or most other form factors the masterbuilt is nicely chunky and really doesn't care overly what the outside temperature is at (within reason)



3. Capacity: Four racks (though with chickens big roasts shoulders and ribs you may only end up using two at a time. Still I've loaded it up 30+lbs of meat at a time which for a product that often drops under $200 when on sale is not bad at all.



4. Economy: It runs on electricity and with small amounts of wood relatively speaking. Rather than going through large amounts of wood and charcoal you have a much more affordable smoke which if you want to smoke regularly (or smoke small batches) is great.



5. Customer Support: You'll find repeated reviews of this online but Masterbuilt's customer support is second to none. Its hard to find companies that stand behind their products the way Masterbuilt does. If something is defective they will fix it with little to no questions asked.



So why don't I give it a 5 stars?



1. Size: Masterbuilt has a 40" version but it is very hard to find. Really if they made the 40" the standard that extra little bit of space would allow you to use all four racks more often even with larger cuts.



2. Temperature Range: The Masterbuilt only goes up to 275. This is excellent for red meats which will often cook between 220 and 250 and fish but not as good for poultry where you want it up to 350 to get the fat in the skin to render (and avoid chewy skin).



3. Power: The Masterbuilt's electric heater sometimes doesn't seem to have quite enough oomph if you really load it with meat. I've had a hard time keeping the temp up when its full. There are people online who add their own heating elements to help boost it.



4. Needs direct plug: Masterbuilt requires you plug directly into an outlet. So given the relatively short electrical cable that means you need to install an outdoors outlet if you believe them. I did use it fine with an industrial extension cord but talking to their customer support they felt it might be a reason for problem #3 above.



So what do you have? A great form factor for a smoker with good capacity that maintains a set temperature with multiple racks for different products and that gives a consistently result. On the other hand they have a slightly larger product that is only distributed much more limitedly and they have odd limitations on the product based on max temp and wattage to the heating element. Given the price difference between the Masterbuilt and its nearest competitors perhaps these limitations are forgivable. I still regularly recommend it to friends and have many including some who run a couple of well respected restaurants loving the products that come out.



Things I'd love to see from Masterbuilt as aftermarket products or even just upgrades:



1. External smoke box that attaches to the wood feed hole so that you can do cold smokes for sausages cheeses and salmon and other products.



2. A higher wattage heating element that can be swapped out for the standard one.



3. A higher max temperature so I don't need to take the chickens and game hens out 30 minutes before done and toss them in the oven to crisp the skins.



Regardless to come full circle. If you want to dabble in smoking and are intimidated (which is easy) this is a perfect smoker to make things easy. And if you are experienced in smoking and just want to have either a more affordable smoke so you can do it more often or a less labor intensive one once in a while this is the perfect supplement to your existing set up.More detail ...

Great for novice and experienced

The Masterbuilt smoker is a wonderful product for the price. Whether you're new to smoking or an experienced smoker who wants a less hands on labor intensive smoke this is simply the best you can get for the $$.



Pros:

1. Digital thermometer: If you've smoked much you know keeping the smoker at the right temperature is often what takes the most attention. As an electric smoker with a built in thermometer you can set your preferred temperature and then just focus on keeping the woodtray filled the contents mopped and you're good to go. (You will still want to use a digital thermometer on the meats themselves to check their internal temperatures but that's a different matter.)



2. Well insulated: Unlike a traditional side smoker bullet or most other form factors the masterbuilt is nicely chunky and really doesn't care overly what the outside temperature is at (within reason)



3. Capacity: Four racks (though with chickens big roasts shoulders and ribs you may only end up using two at a time. Still I've loaded it up 30+lbs of meat at a time which for a product that often drops under $200 when on sale is not bad at all.



4. Economy: It runs on electricity and with small amounts of wood relatively speaking. Rather than going through large amounts of wood and charcoal you have a much more affordable smoke which if you want to smoke regularly (or smoke small batches) is great.



5. Customer Support: You'll find repeated reviews of this online but Masterbuilt's customer support is second to none. Its hard to find companies that stand behind their products the way Masterbuilt does. If something is defective they will fix it with little to no questions asked.



So why don't I give it a 5 stars?



1. Size: Masterbuilt has a 40" version but it is very hard to find. Really if they made the 40" the standard that extra little bit of space would allow you to use all four racks more often even with larger cuts.



2. Temperature Range: The Masterbuilt only goes up to 275. This is excellent for red meats which will often cook between 220 and 250 and fish but not as good for poultry where you want it up to 350 to get the fat in the skin to render (and avoid chewy skin).



3. Power: The Masterbuilt's electric heater sometimes doesn't seem to have quite enough oomph if you really load it with meat. I've had a hard time keeping the temp up when its full. There are people online who add their own heating elements to help boost it.



4. Needs direct plug: Masterbuilt requires you plug directly into an outlet. So given the relatively short electrical cable that means you need to install an outdoors outlet if you believe them. I did use it fine with an industrial extension cord but talking to their customer support they felt it might be a reason for problem #3 above.



So what do you have? A great form factor for a smoker with good capacity that maintains a set temperature with multiple racks for different products and that gives a consistently result. On the other hand they have a slightly larger product that is only distributed much more limitedly and they have odd limitations on the product based on max temp and wattage to the heating element. Given the price difference between the Masterbuilt and its nearest competitors perhaps these limitations are forgivable. I still regularly recommend it to friends and have many including some who run a couple of well respected restaurants loving the products that come out.



Things I'd love to see from Masterbuilt as aftermarket products or even just upgrades:



1. External smoke box that attaches to the wood feed hole so that you can do cold smokes for sausages cheeses and salmon and other products.



2. A higher wattage heating element that can be swapped out for the standard one.



3. A higher max temperature so I don't need to take the chickens and game hens out 30 minutes before done and toss them in the oven to crisp the skins.



Regardless to come full circle. If you want to dabble in smoking and are intimidated (which is easy) this is a perfect smoker to make things easy. And if you are experienced in smoking and just want to have either a more affordable smoke so you can do it more often or a less labor intensive one once in a while this is the perfect supplement to your existing set up.More detail ...

The Original Bradley Smoker hot smokers cold smokes and roasts to perfection. Unique smoke without fire system operates for up to 8 hours without refueling.More detail ...

The Weber Q 100 gas grill has push-button ignition for easy reliable lighting an infinitely adjustable burner valve with a high-quality regulator sturdy glass-reinforced nylon grill frame cast aluminum lid and body a large weather-resistant lid handle a porcelain-enameled cast-iron cooking grate and operates on a standard 14.1 or 16.4 ounce propane cylinders (sold separately). Includes Weber Q recipe booklet. Tubular stainless steel burner 8500 BTU-per-hour input 189 sq. in. total cooking area. Limited 5-year warranty.More detail ...