With 424 square inches of cooking space, the Spirit II E-310 can easily accommodate 12 large hamburgers, two whole or cut-up chickens, or a large cut like brisket for smoking. Or it can cook a complete meal for five or six people—the three-burner design means you can, for instance, sear steak or fish on one side of the grill and cook vegetables on lower heat on the other. We then oiled the grates and distributed a whole cut-up chicken—two each of breasts, thighs, drumsticks, and wings—skin side down.
The Genesis II’s most obvious design innovation—and our favorite by far—is the externally mounted propane tank. Instead of having to wrestle the tank into and out of a cramped cabinet beneath the grill, you hang it on easily accessed mounts on the left side of the grill’s support frame. Overall, the cooking tests were far more important to us; you assemble a grill only once. But poor instructions can make assembly slow, frustrating, and full of retraced steps. Same for assembly that requires lots of screws and bolts, or screws and bolts of multiple sizes.
The iGrill 3 Smart Grilling Thermometer is the ultimate grilling tool that makes it easy to achieve grilling perfection. It mounts to your grill allowing you to monitor your food straight from your phone. Ace Rewards members spending $50 or more are eligible to receive free Next Day delivery on in-stock orders. Orders must be placed on days the store is open, before 4pm local time or 2 hours before store closing time, whichever is earlier.
Prices, promotions, styles and availability may vary by store & online. Once shipped, items usually arrive within 3–5 business days. If your item or order is large, it may ship via one of our third-party freight carriers, which deliver from semi trucks with lift gates. If you prepare in advance with portable bbq our guide to freight delivery, it doesn’t have to be. The Weber Genesis II Special Edition does not score well for high heat due to a low maximum BTU output, when compared to other grills in the same class. Michael Sullivan has been a staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter since 2016.
Enjoying cooking outside and not having to heat up my kitchen. Really great to see temperature with the guage on the outside of grill. Lesley Stockton is a senior staff writer reporting on all things cooking and entertaining for Wirecutter. Her expertise builds on a lifelong career in the culinary world—from a restaurant cook and caterer to a food editor at Martha Stewart. She is perfectly happy to leave all that behind to be a full-time kitchen-gear nerd. Finally, be aware that a few parts of a grill are consumables, so you will need to replace them occasionally.
The weber spirit comes with 10,000 BTU/hr output capability. This is primarily due to the two separate burners on the grill. In fact, if you’re grilling something that needs space to cook all sides then I’d recommend using multiple grills instead of just one. The weber spirit is extremely simple to use – it comes with a little side burner which you can turn on and off weber charcoal grill easily, as well as one ignition switch. I’ve never had to contact customer service for my weber spirit grill – it’s served me admirably for several years now without any significant problems. It’s not cylindrical like most grill designs – I’m beginning to think that with all their different models it’s simply hard to make any new type of shape with propane grills.
Weber provides a 10-year warranty on this grill’s stainless steel burners, which is double the industry standard. Although the E-310 has three stainless steel burners, you can buy other Weber Genesis II models with up to six burners. The primary advantage of this grill is its price – at around $500 it’s a great value and definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for optimal cooking potential without spending too much money. Both models are somewhat similar in terms of design, with the main differences being size, weight, BTU output, noise levels, warranty length, durability, and price tag. The genesis has an upgraded infinity ignition system, which ensures your grill will easily start every time.
The app also has recipes and a step-by-step feature that sends alerts to your phone when it’s time to tend to your food. All of these extra gadgets require power, and the Genesis Smart grill takes 10 batteries. The Wifi module alone uses six D batteries, although there is an option to power that part with a power bank. We assume the four other batteries power the igniter, LED lights, and fuel gauge. We’re not big fans of smart cooking gear, there’s too many little things that can glitch out. It’s also nice to just put down the phone and engage in cooking time without screens.
It does not sell a conversion kit for the Genesis II product line, so you can’t convert this propane gas grill to a natural gas grill without buying a new one if you change your mind in the future. Natural gas can save you money in the long run, but the location of your connection limits where you can place your grill. The Weber Genesis II E-310 has three stainless steel primary burners that cook evenly and efficiently with a total of 37,500 Btu of heat. The grill takes around eight minutes to reach a preheat temperature of 500 degrees, but because of its construction, it maintains a high temperature using less fuel than other grills.
With room for up to 18 four-ounce burgers, the Weber Genesis II E-210, $500, is in our small-grill category. This two-burner grill was slower to preheat than the top grills in our tests and might need more than 10 minutes to reach the grilling temperature you want. Once it does, our tests show that the temperature remains constant across the grates.