Time for a new grill. Requesting input

[Bean438]

Hi,everyone. My grill is approaching 14 years old, and I’m at the point of not wanting to put any more money into it. The fact that some parts are no longer available factored in to the decision.

There are two points I’d like some input on:
1. To buy cheap, or quality
2. What to buy (if buying quality)

I’d like to mention that although I’m not made of money, our daughter is now self sufficient and the Bank of Mom and Dad now has some extra disposable money available. I’m also of the belief of “buy once, cry once”, and to be quite honest I’ve now been around half a century, and feel it’s appropriate to splurge on ourselves.

After reading the last paragraph it will seem contradictory that my first point is to buy cheap, or quality. I’m only asking because my current grill has lasted 14years (including a 5 continuous day run time when I forgot to turn it off....it’s my first natural gas grill) it’s a centro, and was not expected to last much longer tha 4-5 years.

Do I really NEED to buy quality after all? Did I luck out and buy a reverse lemon?
Life has taught me to buy quality, but my experience with this grill has my perplexed.

Point 2, what do I buy? I really, really wanted a Weber genesis. My wife’s sister has one. It’s fantastic. Traditional Weber , extra sear burner, you know, the usual.
I’m not sure what’s happening at Weber, maybe the kids took over or something but the “new” genesis in my opinion was not the correct move for Weber. I’m sorry if I offend any Weber owners. Their warranties have been lowered. My experience is that this is usually not a good thing for consumers.

Next up is broil king. I’d be looking at a Regal, or Soverign. Guys at work have them, and like them. They seem well built, and as a bonus, made in Canada. (I’m Canadian .... sorry!) warranty is a bit better than Weber.

Also on the table is Napoleon. I’d be looking at the prestige pro, or prestige.
Nice grills, appear to be well made, gotta nice ceramic infa red thingie side burner for searing. Also made in Canada. (Sorry for being Canadian again).
The warranty is really good.

I’d appreciate some input, thoughts, etc.

Do I roll the dice and hopefully replicate my buying cheap experience or not?

Any thoughts on Napoleon or broil king? Other brands ? Am I being harsh on Weber? Anybody wanna sell me their older genesis? My in laws won’t sell me theirs.

Thanks everyone.

 

[ChrisBarb]

I have a BK Regal 4 burner model that I am quite happy. The build quality was significantly better than the comparable Weber (Genesis). Also, worth noting is that Genesis production has moved to China. BK's are built in Huntington Indiana, Dickson Tennessee and Waterloo Ontario.

 

[JayQ]

I’ve had the Weber and a Broil King. For the money the Broil king is a very good unit. I just got rid of mine after 8 years and it was still kicking.

 

[LloydQ]

The new Webers with the low slung tops look funny to me. I had a Huntington ( low end BK ), and I thought it cooked as well as my neighbor's Genesis for less than half the price.

 

[Bean438]

Chrisbarb, your grill is on my amazon wish list. It’s a nice grill. I didn’t know Weber made the genesis in China now. Funny, because they are still priced like a made in the US. I’m calling it now.... Weber will have issues, and will not be supplying parts forever. Something has happened. Either the mellenial kidlets took over from mom and pop, or they got bought out and are cutting costs at the expense of quality.

Jayq, if your broilking was alive and kicking, why did you get rid of it?

Loydq, I’ll have a look at Huntington.

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Input? I'm a Weber Guy for life. Quality and Customer Service second to none.

Just my .02. Good Luck.

 

[Robert]

Hi,everyone. My grill is approaching 14 years old, and I’m at the point of not wanting to put any more money into it. The fact that some parts are no longer available factored in to the decision.

There are two points I’d like some input on:
1. To buy cheap, or quality
2. What to buy (if buying quality)

I’d like to mention that although I’m not made of money, our daughter is now self sufficient and the Bank of Mom and Dad now has some extra disposable money available. I’m also of the belief of “buy once, cry once”, and to be quite honest I’ve now been around half a century, and feel it’s appropriate to splurge on ourselves.

After reading the last paragraph it will seem contradictory that my first point is to buy cheap, or quality. I’m only asking because my current grill has lasted 14years (including a 5 continuous day run time when I forgot to turn it off....it’s my first natural gas grill) it’s a centro, and was not expected to last much longer tha 4-5 years.

Do I really NEED to buy quality after all? Did I luck out and buy a reverse lemon?
Life has taught me to buy quality, but my experience with this grill has my perplexed.

Point 2, what do I buy? I really, really wanted a Weber genesis. My wife’s sister has one. It’s fantastic. Traditional Weber , extra sear burner, you know, the usual.
I’m not sure what’s happening at Weber, maybe the kids took over or something but the “new” genesis in my opinion was not the correct move for Weber. I’m sorry if I offend any Weber owners. Their warranties have been lowered. My experience is that this is usually not a good thing for consumers.

Next up is broil king. I’d be looking at a Regal, or Soverign. Guys at work have them, and like them. They seem well built, and as a bonus, made in Canada. (I’m Canadian .... sorry!) warranty is a bit better than Weber.

Also on the table is Napoleon. I’d be looking at the prestige pro, or prestige.
Nice grills, appear to be well made, gotta nice ceramic infa red thingie side burner for searing. Also made in Canada. (Sorry for being Canadian again).
The warranty is really good.

I’d appreciate some input, thoughts, etc.

Do I roll the dice and hopefully replicate my buying cheap experience or not?

Any thoughts on Napoleon or broil king? Other brands ? Am I being harsh on Weber? Anybody wanna sell me their older genesis? My in laws won’t sell me theirs.

Thanks everyone.

Buy a vintage Genesis C off of Craigslist or Facebook marketplace for less than $100. If you take your time, you can find some that are in really great shape. Buy stainless steel flavorizer bars and grates from RCPlanbuyer off of eBay. You won't believe to quality and the much heavier gauge of material in those parts. Expensive, yes, but you truly get what you pay for. If burners and spark igniter need to be replaced, either buy from Weber or ereplacments. IN the end, you will have about $250-350 invested in a grill that should last you much longer than you 14 year old grill.

JMHO.

Good luck,

Robert

 

[Bean438]

Input? I'm a Weber Guy for life. Quality and Customer Service second to none.

Just my .02. Good Luck.

I respectfully disagree. I was at a bbq only retailer today and looked at Weber, broilking, and Napoleon. Weber used to be second to none. My prediction is that whoever took over the company is cost cutting and relying on the power of their name, much like Toyota, and Honda are doing.

I will conceid that the summit series quality is still there, however! Again I predict that the famed Weber customer service will begin to decline. People buying the current genesis will have issues going forward with parts availability.

Hopefully I’m wrong, or Weber sales will drop and they will smarten up.

Again, no disrespect, but I have absolutely no confidence in Weber at this point in time.

 

[Bean438]

Buy a vintage Genesis C off of Craigslist or Facebook marketplace for less than $100. If you take your time, you can find some that are in really great shape. Buy stainless steel flavorizer bars and grates from RCPlanbuyer off of eBay. You won't believe to quality and the much heavier gauge of material in those parts. Expensive, yes, but you truly get what you pay for. If burners and spark igniter need to be replaced, either buy from Weber or ereplacments. IN the end, you will have about $250-350 invested in a grill that should last you much longer than you 14 year old grill.

JMHO.

Good luck,

Robert

Thanks for the tips! Rcplanbuyer has some nice stuff. I would never have thought there were other options for parts.
I’m confused about ereplacements? All I found was aftermarket electronics for charging iPads, etc.

I usually have ZERO luck buying used. I will search for MONTHS and to give up and buy new. I kid you not, but usually within hours of buying new just like magic the same newly purchased product appears on kijiji.

 

[Bean438]

I’ll try as Robert suggested and look for used. I don’t have much faith based on my experience.
Until then, I was out today for a peek at what’s out there. In the running are

Broilking regal s490 pro. Looked great on amazon, and even better in person. 4 burner, rotisserie and decent warranty. Sry reasonable parts replacement costs. 1300 dollars

Napoleon prestige pro 500. Same as above, 4 burners with a infa red “sear” burner, lights, soft close doors, thick grates, rotisserie , 2200 dollars

Napoleon prestige 500. Same as above Napoleon. Slightly thinner grates, no lights.

Just wondering if anyone has used these ceramic sear burners? Are they a gimmick? I cook my steaks via sous vide and usually sear on a hot cast iron frypan. I don’t really need the ceramic station but it will save me from having to bring out a fry pan. Assuming it does what it says it does.


Broilking also has a regal without sideburner and rotisserie for a grand. I think side burners are useless (unless the Napoleon burner works as advertised ). I don’t have a rotissiere now but I’d for sure use it. My friend did a rib roast on his rotisserie for me 5 years ago, and I have yet to replicate that meal.

Yes, quite the price range from a grand up to 2200 bucks.

Coincidently I have 2100 in a savings account that is completely 100% disposable. Wifey and daughter have also offered to cover the two taxes for Father’s Day ! Is this a sign from the bbq gods?

 

[gtsum]

If you are looking at gas grills and want quality and performance , look at fire magic or lynx. I had a lynx years back and there is absolutely no comparison between a lynx and any Weber grill. When your burners are 1/4” thick red brass and guaranteed for life, that tells ya something. Weber for 1k and under sure...for higher performance and cost, there r much better options


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Blue Kettle]

I was disappointed in the new Weber Genesis II line as well. That said, I believe even some of those higher end ones are still USA made. Weber is bulett proof as far as I'm concerned. I've got the Genesis E-310 model and couldn't be happier with it.

 

[SmokePigTails]

I recently helped my father in law pick out a new gas grill. Many of the lower cost units are very well built and unless you need a side burner might what you are looking for. He went with a lower end broil king signet. That thing is a searing machine.

Amazing ribs usually had a round up of the best cheap grills. I used last years as a reference.

 

[BBQchef33]

in 1990 I found and bought a grill thats catch phrase was "by your last grill today".. they were right.. Buy Quality, never buy again.

It is the Broilmaster P3. Heaviest cast in the industry, Lifetime warranty on the cast, 15 on the burner.

28 years later that grill still stands proud in my yard and I use it whenever Im too lazy to fire up the egg or kettle. All I've done in that time is replace the burner once(after about 20 yrs), the knobs when they wear out and keep up with the paint. It stays outside uncovered year round here on long island and has been buried under snow. I paid almost a grand for the p3 with a stainless steel base back then. It was pricey in 1990, but its still around the same price now surprisingly enough. Many places have them online.. including amazon. I would highly recommend you look at these grills also.

http://broilmaster.com/products/gas-grills/


On Edit: Was just cruising their website and it seems im not alone with those grill lasting forever.

http://broilmaster.com/hall-of-fame/


BTW.. in 2000 I bought a 48 inch DCS SS head to use for bigger parties. What a piece of crap.. trouble after the first year. Was only good for incinerating burgers.. and made decent rotisserie chicken.. but i will never buy a DCS again.

 

[EdF]

Infrared for searing works great. I'd dig further into those Napoleons too. Assuming you want gas, so I won't go elsewhere. TEC G-Sport is pretty amazing too. I'd have gotten one if I'd had the cash when I needed a good gasser. Saber has less expensive alternative infrared grills that review well.

This has some good reviews of gassers, as does amazingribs.com.

 

[Mikhail]

I have a two burner Broil Mate (By Broil King - same company) that I paid $220 for 8 or 10 years ago. I don't even cover it up and have not had to put a single nickel into it, except I cleaned it up and repainted it last summer. It just keeps on working. I did buy some Grill Grates last year and I love them, but again, that has nothing to do with the grill itself.

I'm not one that thinks highly of paying more for a grill than I would for an indoor range.

 

[JUSTCATCHINUM]

I owned a Vermont Castings grill for nearly 15 years. Never put a penny into it. Sat covered for about 8 and uncovered for the last 7 years. the frame and other parts are starting to rust out. I don't know what I'm going to replace it with now that they are made out of country and cheaper.

 

[JayQ]

Jayq, if your broilking was alive and kicking, why did you get rid of it?

It was needing a little TLC and I wanted something new. I bought a Memphis pro pellet grill. All it needed was one grate and one new burner.

 

[TheSmoke]

Napoleon

Hi Beans,

About 4 years ago I needed to replace my Weber gas grill and went through a similar search as the one you are one. I am also a cry once guy.

I was going to buy another Weber but discovered Napoleon. Weber at that point was just bought by private equity. The goal of private equity is not to make great multi-generation grills, it is to drive growth and reduce costs to make the company more valuable when they eventually sell or IPO it. Nothing wrong with that.

Enter Napoleon. They are the Weber of Canada, but they are privately owned. I was initially wary about the customer support I might receive in the USA but they have a unit in the US that is a pleasure to deal with for customer support services.

I bought a Prestige Pro 500. It has been a great grill. The fit and finish is great, The knobs feel great, and it gets very hot (700 degrees+ which was important for me) and retains heat well. Mine has the infrared side burner as well as the rear rotisserie burner. The rear rotisserie burner is useful for all sorts of things. I use to get extra hot in there when I make pizzas, and I use it to bring the grill up to temp quickly as well. They make a heavy duty charcoal pan which I have on the right side of the grill so when I want that feel, I cook over there.

The best part is the infrared side burner. It is amazing and gets really, really hot. It can sear a big steak or two small ones in about a minute and a half per side. And it is a great, high-end steakhouse type of sear with nice crunch if you want it. The best part is you can control the temperature so I cook my steak completely on in. I just sear it at full strength on both sides, then turn it down and finish the middle. I don't even have to mess with the rest of the grill. I can cook a 16 ribeye in about 5 minutes and it smells heavenly. Makes a ton of smoke which my wife doesn't like but I sure do.

Let me know of you have any questions about it. I love it.

 

[EdF]

The Napoleons have a great rep!