This may have a lower price, but the E 310 outclasses it in cooking surface area, power, and the number of burners, so there is no competition, really. A good gas grill should last a decade or more, provided you clean it after every use and protect it from the elements. Weber, which makes all three of the grills we recommend, guarantees all parts on its Spirit II series for 10 years. So we expect our top and budget picks to hold up for at least that long.
She is perfectly happy to leave all that behind to be a full-time kitchen-gear nerd. As a company, Weber constantly refines its designs, even on its classic charcoal kettle grill, which has been around for well over 60 years. And, again, Weber’s warranty covers all parts of the Spirit II E-310 for a full 10 years.
They took the quality of the Spirit line and added their new Weber CONNECT technology so you can monitor how quickly your food is cooking via the included probe thermometer. You can see the readout at the grill itself on the display or check it via the app on your smartphone. A warming rack and fold down left side shelf are included with Spirit II.
A dedicated rotisserie burner is usually located on the back of the firebox, slightly above the cooking grates; some models use the grill’s main burner(s). This feature allows you to roast meat (a whole chicken, for example) very evenly, yielding a flavor that some people prefer to that of grilled food. Spirit II has four legs, two wheels and a lower open-air storage rack. Spirit II continues to be a solid, dependable tool for aspiring backyard pitmasters and pitmistresses.
Indicates whether the grill provides one ore more hooks to hang your grilling tools. While burners remain the grill’s most-replaced part, most are warranted for only 3 to 5 years. An indication of the sturdiness of the gas grill, based on our rigidity test and judgments of our expert testers. When you make rubs at home we recommend you add salt first then the herbs and spices because salt penetrates deep and the other stuff remains on the surface. We put salt in these bottled rubs because all commercial rubs have salt and consumers expect it. You can still use these as a dry brine, just sprinkle the rub on well in advance to give the salt time to penetrate.
The Spirit II have two large wheels on the right side of the grill and leg mounts on the right. On the Spirit II only the left side table can be collapsed to create a grill with a width of 38 inches. On the original Spirit both the right and left side table can be collapsed to create a grill with a width of 29.5 inches. Fold the left side shelf of the grill down to make a smaller patio footprint.
It also gives an indication how quickly the grill reaches its maximum temperature. All of the products below have been tested and are highly recommended. Attention to detail such as this is one reason the Weber name commands char broil performance higher prices than many mass market brands. Weber’s price tag also includes quality construction and the best customer service from a manufacturer in the business, on call seven days a week from 7am to 9pm CST.
Finally, although we looked at grills from high-end makers such as Hestan, Lynx/Sedona, and MHP for comparison (and a sense of what’s possible in a grill, for a price), we did not test them. Most of them cost four or five figures, well above our established price range of $400 to $900. If you’re buying a grill, your first decision is which type of fuel works best. When we first started working on this guide, back in 2017, we spoke with more than a dozen experts before opening the valve on a single propane tank. With more heat per square inch and a larger grilling area than the Spirit E-310, the Genesis E-325s is our top choice for dedicated grillers. Common to both Spirit and Spirit II, Weber grills come with some excellent wheels that make the movement of the grills smoother.
It’s doable, but it requires more attention from the griller to make sure the chicken (or roast, or what have you) is evenly cooked. Cooking with indirect heat on a three-burner grill is more hands-off because the food sits over the middle burner, which you leave turned off. The right and left burners surround the food with heat—basically creating an outdoor oven. But with a two-burner grill, cooking with indirect heat means the food gets heat from only one side, while it sits over the other, inactive burner.
Open the door to the world of grilling with crazy good food and friends coming together. The compact open-cart design and the practical folding side table makes it fit even on small spaces, and you have all the basics you need to get familiar with gas grilling. So whether it’s a busy Monday or a relaxed Sunday – invite a couple of friends over, push the ignition and enjoy the special atmosphere that surrounds the grill. The Spirit II E-310 also exhibited the most consistent heat across the entire cooking surface in the 2018 test, just as the original Spirit had done in 2017. Among the competition in our 2017 test, the Napoleon model in particular had noticeable cool spots toward the front of its grates.