They’re also spaced out well so pulling the machine apart for maintenance is easy. Weber also built an elegant grease management system at the heart of the cooker. Any juices and drippings that make it past the burners are funneled towards a waiting disposable drip tray for collection. A Weber GENESIS grill delivers excellent value, which is one reason why they are perennially some of our best-selling grills.
If you are looking to get your first ever gas grill and have a smaller budget, the Weber Spirit is an excellent choice at $499. My new Weber Genesis has some features I’m really loving over my 5 year old Weber Genesis. Back in 2011 Weber changed the burner configuration on the Genesis. My Genesis 1.0 (which I got back in 2008) had the burners in a horizontal configuration, ie, left to right. This meant when you did direct/vs indirect cooking your zones would be front/back.
I again used one of the grill’s probes to tell me when the internal temperature reached 165 degrees. I also set the left and right burners to the midway mark as indicated by on their dials. Since indirect heat is the goal here, I left the center burner off. I learned that while weber genesis grill its burners are mighty, they also offer a wide temperature range which can be unforgiving if you’re not careful. For example, when I turned the Genesis II’s burner dials all the way up, after 10 minutes the temperature under the hood easily cracked 600 degrees (633.7 in fact).
This time around, the drip pan is attached to the pull-out grease tray in a more seamless design, and the grill comes with a plastic scraper for your dirty work. Just pull out the grease tray, scrape food remains into the drip pan, and remove it for easy disposal. It’s quick and mess-free, just the type of cleanup you need to spend more time enjoying company in the backyard. Our proprietary NIGHTVISION lighting illuminates the entire grilling surface when you open the lid.
All in all, the Weber Genesis gas grill is a premium combination of quality craftsmanship and innovative features. Whether they were charcoal or propane, stationary or portable, all of our favorite Weber grills had some things in common. High-quality Weber grills are easy to assemble (although as with most other brands, the charcoal grills have fewer parts and are simpler to put together than gas models). The best grills are intuitive to use, without confusing bells and whistles.
The Genesis II produced patties with a decent crust but considerable char too. Searing for too long or at too high heat levels gives food burnt charcoal flavors I’d rather do without. Unfortunately the insides of these burgers were also on the dry side. By contrast I found the burgers from the Char-Broil grill juicier, and with more flavor.