Weber Genesis E-320

This is the second Weber gas grill I have owned since 1996. My first was a Weber Summit II but I, foolishly, gave it to my nephew about 4 years ago, because I got a good deal on a Frigidaire GL30. I… regretted that decision many times because, from day one, the Frigidaire was nothing but a very pretty, but useless heap of stainless steel. When it blew up in my face a few weeks ago, I took the opportunity to return to the very best grill in the market place. Also, my nephew refused to give back my now 14 year old Summit, which is still working at peak performance. After many days of internet shopping, I ordered the Weber E 320 from Amazon for $669.00 with free shipping. Although it was shipped from Portland, Oregon to Flat Rock, North Carolina, it arrived on time in good condition. It comes in a very big and heavy box but the driver placed it in my garage where it would be the best area to assemble the grill. I was impressed that the packaging contained no plastic foam to go in the land fill, but rather used some very ingenious honey combed cardboard. It is the intention of this review to pass on a few assembly tips. After opening the top of the box and removing the parts that are tucked around the sides of the box, you will be faced with trying to lift the entire hood assembly (the pictorial shows two men lifting from both sides). If, at this point, you take a box cutter and cut down the four corners of the box and lay out the sides, you will have a flat surface to work from. THEN, after removing the two hinge pins from the hood (they slide out easily) you will be able to remove the hood and set it aside. I am 78 years old and was able to do this without help. You will then notice that the die cast aluminum fire box is packed with more, rather heavy parts. After these parts are removed, a single person can lift out the fire box and burner assembly, which is far lighter than it looks. Assembly of this grill is nothing short of a very happy dream. The parts are of extremely high quality and fit together with precision. I strongly suggest that you throw away the included wrench and use a 7/16 nut driver for assembly. I did use a 7/16 socket wrench to torque down the front frame support, but I left every thing finger tight until I had all of the parts of the lower cart in place. Pay close attention to the shading of the bolts and washers so you use the proper bolt and washer in the proper place. I got a bit confused while installing the front frame support, in step 2, because it is unclear as to which way the return flanges face. They do point to the outside and if you go the other way, the firebox, in step 6, will not go in place. Also, if the doors don't line up after installing, there is an adjustment of the lower pin. A 7/16 box or open end wrench is best for this adjustment. I left a gap of about 1/8 inch between the doors. I used the included drip pans to hold the hardware while doing the assembly. I did not want to do the assembly on our rear deck, where the grill will reside, because I was afraid that I might drop a part through the deck planking, never to be seen again. The finished grill is very heavy so I assembled the grill in the garage, except for the hood, flavorizer bars, drip pan, grates and, of course, the gas tank. At this level of assembly, my wife and myself were able to easily lift the grill into the kitchen and roll it through the house, to the rear deck where I did the final assembly. As expected, the Weber fired up immediately and we were ready to do some really fine cooking. When I researched the E 320, I agonized over spending the extra money for the stainless steel grates and flavorizer bars, but I have quickly learned to prefer the cast iron grates. I am an amateur chef and I love the way the cast iron grates place wonderful sear marks on a good steak. If my old Summit II grill is still running after 14 years, I don't expect to be replacing any parts in the future. As an aside, I use Whirlpool stove top protectant on the porcelain hood for a super glossy surface that is easy to clean. I have it on hand for our smooth top stove and it works great on high temperature ceramic or porcelain surfaces. As a final thought, the Weber comes with a very handy gas gauge which measures the weight of the tank. It works very well so no other gauges are necessary. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. Weber is the only grill for Me!!!!

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I received the Weber E-320 grill for a late father's day gift. It fairly easy to put together (about 3 hours). The only grip were the instructions, not enough detail. So be patient and go over the entire… book first. Once together operation is great. Heats up quit and with the side burner the beans can be heated at the same time out side instead of running in and out of the house. Plus with the hurricanes in our area, when power goes out just fire up the grill and have dinner. Other pluses are the tank hanger that tells you how much you have left in the propane tank. And the removable drip pans for easy cleaning. I have had several different grills and they have all rusted out inside of 2 years. So far so good with this unit. I always recommend this grill to friends.

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I've had this grill now for a little while and tried it several times. I have no mileage on this thing yet, so I can't attest to it's longevity. However, I can readily agree with other who have posted… about it's even cooking and heating. I've had number of other brand grills of cheaper quality and the old saying really applies to grills, "you get what you pay for." I personally think the grill is a bit overpriced, but I'm tired of spending money on grills and grill components and still not really happy with the end result. This grill changed all that and then some. It will take you at least an hour to put this together (but easy enough) and you can tell you're getting a better than average grill during assembly. Like others have posted, I don't really understand why they mounted the burner knobs on top of the right hand side and not on the front like most other grills. Sure takes up some handy work area as result, but I still give this a 5 star rating for it's quality and performance. Only time will tell about it's life expectancy. I would recommend this to anyone serious about grilling!

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