Grills & Smokers

Weber Genesis Gold C (NG) Grill Weber Genesis Gold C (NG) Grill Key FeaturesType:GrillFuel Type:Natural GasCooking Area:611 ...

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My Weber Genesis Gold C arrived two days ago. I purchased it at Amazon.com. (Free shipping, no tax in CA, and an instant $25 rebate for purchasing) It was a screaming deal!

It arrived about 9 days after placing the order. Eagle Global Logistics called me 2 days before arrival to set up an appointment for delivery. Two gentlemen carried the box from the back of their truck into my garage.

The shipment receipt states that the box weighed 167 pounds. I concur with Weber that assembly is a two-person job. I did it myself, but it was quite a balancing act–holding a heavy grill and trying to use my knee to find the legs of the base to set it on. Once you get the grill on the legs, everything else can easily be done by one person and assembly is complete with about 8 screws. They even include the tools you need to tighten the screws!

They say you can assemble this unit in 10 minutes. Maybe it is possible with a helper and some previous experience. I unpacked the box carefully, spread the pieces in the garage and took my time assembling it. Had a fun time with it. Took about 10 minutes just to peel off all of the protective plastic on the stainless steel components. The instructions were very well illustrated. Total time to assemble the grill from opening the box to cleaning up was about an hour, which is still not bad.

The grill box is 18 inches deep and 24.5 inches across. That’s 441 sq inches. With the warming racks near the back, you get a total of 611 sq inches of cooking surface.

Yesterday, the gas company came to install a shut off valve on our NG tap in the back yard. Took him 15 minutes.

Next, I fired up the grill. I didn’t see the flame so I kept clicking the button. Suddenly, I felt a lot of heat. The grill probably lit up right away, but the bright sunlight made it impossible to see the flame.

First surprise: This grill gets HOT QUICK! Scary hot! I was stunned! Til now, I’ve only used low-end disposable propane grills. I now know why they don’t cost as much.

Later, I did a test. I turned all the burners on high and measured how fast the grill heated up. Weber says it takes 10-15 minutes to reach 550. Mine beats that by a wide margin. It was about 80 degrees outside, no wind.

1 min - Temp: 240

2 min - Temp: 375

3 min - Temp: 460

4 min - Temp: 520

I reached 550 in 4 min, 38 sec. My thermometer did a full 360 in about 8 minutes. Yikes!

I have cooked every meal on the Weber since its installation. I’ve cooked a chicken and some hamburgers. Couldn’t be happier with the results The chicken was tender and the skin wasn’t burnt. The burgers have all seared nicely. I never could do this on our throw-away grill–too many flare-ups, not enough heat, and not enough control.

What makes Weber Grills unique?

No lava rocks in this one. Actually, lava rocks collect fat and cause flare ups to occur. The point of having lava rocks is to even out heat inside the box.

With Weber grills, the lava rocks are replaced by upside-down V-shaped flavorizer bars. The juices fall on to these bars and vaporize causing smoke that flavors your food. The heavier drippings run off the bars and are collected in a pan below the grill, avoiding the flame. This virtually eliminates all flare-ups.

Three burners run from side to side, with the outer burners focusing their flames into the box. The center burner points its flames up, for direct heating required for searing meat. While slow-cooking larger items, you simply turn off the center direct flame and use the two outer burners to heat the box like an oven. This design provides nice, even heat throughout the entire cavity.

The natural gas hose with its quick-release valve is slick! If you have a natural gas connection outside your home, you’ll want this grill instead of the propane model. Click here to read how natural gas is more economical than propane: http://www.grillsearch.com/html/guide.html

Benefits of Stainless Steel

The stainless steel components require very little maintenance. The cast iron grates need frequent seasoning and will rust. I have found that these steel grates do a great job searing meat.

Cleans up easily too. Yesterday I cranked it up full blast for ten minutes, and then scrubbed the grates with a wire brush. Pretty much all of the residue had turned to gray ash and scrapped off easily.

The heat will discolor the stainless steel grates. In fact, in just two days, the stainless steel grates, flavorizer bars, and heating elements have turned from shiny silver to a reddish, golden bronze color. The parts now look more like brass than stainless steel.

There are also lots of black specks/spots where food residue has baked onto the grates, but the grates are essentially clean. Just use a wire brush, detergent and warm water to clean the grates after they cool. I’m not too concerned with the flavorizer bars, watching them to see how long it takes before they really need a good scrub.

One other important note, the first time I lit the grill, I noticed white smoke as the grill reached 300 degrees. I called Weber and they said this was normal. It’s the spray-on coating they put on the stainless steel. They said I could either wash the grates in soapy water, or do what I did and let it burn off on high heat for about 15 minutes. They said the smoke is non-toxic. The smoke eventually stopped after about 15 minutes.

Bottom line

At $600, this is a not a cheap grill. On the other hand, it is much more grill than I’ve ever experienced. It’s actually a decent value. I expect it will save us money in the long run. We will eat out less and save on AC by not using the indoor kitchen during the hot summer days. With the side burner, we can do all of our cooking outdoors.

I highly recommend this grill!

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