Heat was fairly well-distributed across the cooking surface and the temperature range was very good, but you’ll need a bit more than 10 minutes of preheating to get it nice and hot. It’s easy to understand why when a gas barbeque will help you cook evenly, they are easy to light and they look so stylish. No longer will you have to spend your time lighting coal and waiting for it to be at the right temperature.
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 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.
This series of Weber propane gas grills have a very sleek design made mostly out of stainless steel, which gives it that stylish look that many Weber models offer. All of the grills in the higher-priced Genesis II LX series have stainless lids and stainless grates, which aren’t as prone to scratching and chipping as porcelain-coated grates. In addition to a side burner, the LX grills have a cabinet where you can stash your grilling accessories and an LED light that shines down from the lid when you open it. The grills in this series also come with electronic igniters, a fuel gauge, and a 10-year burner warranty.
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.
It also struggled to hold a steady heat on the barbecue-chicken test. Napoleon’s signature is its wavy grates, and they do look cool—but they’re harder to clean than straight grates. They also leave odd, distorted sear marks if you try to make the classic crosshatch pattern. Assembly was straightforward, and the instruction manual was well-thought-out.
The burners are lit by a reliable push button infinity ignition and produce around 13,000 BTUs per burner on the 3 burner models, and are lit by a reliable electronic infinity ignition. 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 did in 2017. Among the competition in our 2017 test, the Napoleon model in particular had noticeable cool spots toward the front of its weber charcoal grill grates. To a degree, all grills suffer this problem, because the burners don’t extend all the way to the front of the firebox, but the Spirit offered the most consistent heating across the entire grate surface. After 10 minutes, the burgers at the rear were medium-well and those at the front were medium-rare to medium . On the Napoleon grill, on the other hand, some of the front burgers were nearly raw in the center, while the rear burgers were well-done.
If you want to easily move your grill into and out of storage, you’ll also need to buy a quick-disconnect system, which can add another $150 or so. The benefits of natural gas include no more wrestling propane tanks on and off your grill, always-available fuel , and lower fuel costs . The now-discontinued Char-Broil Advantage 3-Burner Gas Grill from Lowe’s met the low expectations we set upon seeing its sub-$200 price. It cooked burgers acceptably, but to get an even cook we had to shuffle the patties around from hot spots to cool spots. Unable to keep a steady low temperature, it burned the barbecue chicken. To this grill’s credit, it made a nice indirect-roasted chicken—but then again, every tested grill did.
The wide, flat grill grates on the E-310 are easy to clean and give your food appealing sear marks. The genesis is the first model of Weber’s propane gas grill line-up. The main benefit from purchasing a natural gas grill is the convenience of having a direct connect to your home’s natural gas line.