Weber Spirit E-210 - High Quality Grill

We had recently purchased this Weber E-210 grill ($299) because our old Charbroil was in need of a new burner and deflector shield. The old Charbroil was rated at 35,000 BTU and had about 530 square inches of cooking space. The New Weber is rated at 26,000 BTU with 528 square inches of cooking space.

When looking at all of the new grills out on the market, the first thing that we had to consider is the overall size and weight. I do not have a porch to leave this on, so I have to move it in and out of our garage whenever I want to grill. Most of the larger grills have small wheels on it and are very heavy to move, which makes this very difficult to do. The Weber grill has two larger wheels on one end and two smaller wheels on the other end. It also has a grip area on the end with the smaller wheels to pick up and maneuver the grill with.

I wanted to get away from the Charbroil style burners and lava rocks because they tend to give you hot spots and the rocks will hold onto the grease. The Weber E-210 has two long stainless steel burners that have the gas holes facing the inside of the grill. The Weber also has the "Flavorizer Bars" that are suppose to be really hot and evaporate the fat that drips off the food, letting the flavored smoke drift back up to the food to add extra flavor.

The grill racks on the Weber are porcelain coated steel, which are OK for general grilling. I opted to purchase the ($49) Porcelain coated Cast Iron racks, which are much better for holding the heat and cooking stuff faster. The racks that are made for the Genesis Silver A and Spirit 500 fit this grill perfectly.

My biggest worry when purchasing this grill was the 26,000 BTU rating. I thought it would be under rated and slow to cook on. Boy was I wrong! This grill easily preheats to over 500 degrees in about 10 minutes and everything cooks faster that it did on the Charbroil grill. The Weber has Porcelain-enameled shroud with cast-aluminum end caps. This combination holds the heat in and cooks great. Weber sure knows how to get the most out of the BTUs it uses.

(Weber's website says that "BTUs are not a measure of cooking power. They indicate the volume of gas a grill can burn. Tightly engineered grills use fewer BTUs and cook food more efficiently.")

The burner layout also makes this cook very evenly throughout the grill. When placing 8 hamburgers or steaks spread out on it, they are all very close being done at the same time.

I usually only cook for a family of 4, but do have the occasional outdoor cookout party with up to 20 people. I do have to plan on cooking a few rounds instead of one big lot like the larger grills would allow.

One really smart and handy item on this grill that is not usually listed in the features is the propane tank gauge incorporated on the side of the grill. It has a durable metal bracket that you attach (and leave) the tank to that weighs the tank. The less propane in the tank, the lighter it gets. This gauge automatically adjusts to show you about how much propane is in your tank.

I had chosen to assemble this myself, because I could get the box into the Jeep easier that the assembled grill. The instructions are in picture-grams with very little writing next to the pictures. I had found it pretty easy to follow, but some may struggle with this. If you are not very mechanically inclined, I would recommend you have the store assemble it for you.