This is an excellent grill. Good, old-fashioned, solid quality and design. I'll try to cover some things that haven't been mentioned already.If you want more info before you buy, download the assembly instructions and owner manual at the Weber site, under Gas Grills, Genesis 2011 series. Don't bother printing the instructions, as they will be too small to be useful. The included instructions are on both sides of a 22" by 17" (56 x 43 cm) sheet.
From arrival of the box to first flame was about two hours. None of the assembly steps are difficult, there are just a lot of them. There were some trivial things about assembly that could be improved.
Lift properly while unpacking: Most everything is heavy, and packed-in tight, and you have to lean over the large box to get them out.
The included wrench isn't that useful, so I used a socket wrench. All the parts were SAE instead of metric.
The doors are very simple to install. Set the door on a pin in the front of the frame, use your finger to push down on a retracting pin on top of the door, and move it into place. That's it. The instructions say to use a screwdriver in a slot in the back of the door to pull down on the spring under the pin. This is actually what you would do to remove the door.
The side tables are stainless, and they were covered by a sheet of sticky protective material. Although it pulls off cleanly, it is a little hard to pull out of seams and corners. I would guess the stainless model of the grill would have a lot more.
There are two locking nuts that are used when attaching the cookbox to the frame. The instructions show a flat nut. Putting the smaller, locking part of the nut facing into the cookbox seemed to be the correct way to do it.
The grease tray slides into position on two rails, and securely drops into place. The instructions show some kind of spring clip that isn't there on this model. It's definitely not needed.
Left over parts? Two. The grill is shipped with the lid attached to the cookbox using the same pins that are in a bag. I can't imagine those ever being lost or worn out, but you will have spares if they do!
You'll forget all that when you start to use it.
First, the casters work extraordinarily well. I literally rolled it across my wooden deck with one finger. It's a good thing the front two lock, because I think it could move on a high wind day.
Ignition is instant. With the first click of the igniter I had fire on any burner.
The instructions say 10-15 minutes to get to 500 degrees. On a 78 degree (26 C) day, with a good breeze blowing, and in the shade, it took 10 and 1/2 minutes to get there using the three main burners. There were a few, small wisps of smoke that smelled like hot paint.
Other reviewers have said it cooks really well, and I agree, so I won't bore you with how delicious that chicken was....
If you're looking for a top quality grill that cooks great, I'd recommend this one.
Construction:
Theirs : stainless steel hood and shelves painted panels, nut and bolts through flimsy painted black steel panels of the cabinet. Joints were folded ends of the panel. Burners were standard tube style with a 90'd piece of aluminium or the same flimsy steel as the sides. Cast iron grates, what you would expect to find on everyday grills.
The E330: First of all the box and grill weigh 190 pounds. I'll let that sink in for a second. 190 pounds.... The panels are thicker than you would expect. Framing the panels....welded square tube stock. Now THAT is how you make a durable piece of equipment. All through the process you will find welded support pieces attachment points, cast pieces, etc. Very impressed. Just a handful of nuts and bolts and the rest are machine screws into tapped holes. That's right the steel is thick enough to run a tap through and thread the holes for the screws! All my experience with cheap grills over the years, who knew?! Anyway back to assembly. Everything fit VERY well. No bending, forcing, cussing. Follow the instructions and this thing goes together like a precision machine. Burner and hood construction? This impressed me before I even turned it on. Sure the typical tube burners are present but then you also have porcelain coated iron plates that go underneath the burners to reflect the heat up (wow that's new), porcelain coated iron heat distributors or flavor bars I think they call them to go over the burners. Basically just 90 degree folded strips that that run front to back over the burners and even the space where there are no burners. Really? Between the burners? Weird but ok, probably for good reason. The grates, I opted for cast iron. And these suckers are about twice as thick as what you see in other grills. Great for retaining heat and searing food, which I had yet to do on any gas grill to this point. The hood is nice and durable and insulated on the inside very well. When you're done it effortlessly glides around the patio on its castors but if you lock it into place it's solid as a rock. Go ahead try to make it flex, I dare you. Oh yeah and it looks like a million bucks. chrome and stainless trim powder coated panels. My wife who was an extremely hard sell on spending $700 on a grill walked out and said "Wow, that's a NICE grill."
OK on to the good part...cooking: I won't even go into the part about how my parents grill cooks food. If this isn't your first grill you already know how much it's not what it's cracked up to be. Go get a Weber charcoal and spend the extra time to get superb results with cooking steak. By the way my wife told me she wouldn't be upset if I got rid of mine (a gift from her) to which I replied HELL NO I'm not getting rid of that!
So I read somewhere that BTU's don't mean squat. And that makes sense to me now after assembling this sucker. If you don't have correct heat distribution and insulation, the cold air hitting that hood, etc will make it take forever to heat up. Keep in mind this only has 3 burners (left middle and right) and they sneak in one more between the left and middle and call it the "searing burner" or "searing station" and you'll see why in a minute. I haven't officially clocked it but if you turn on the main 3 burners on high this thing is at 500 degrees in the blink of an eye. Which for the purpose of this review we'll concentrate on how well this thing cooks steak since you can technically cook hamburgers and hotdogs on any grill. 500 degrees is roughly where you want to be for the baking part of the process. First you sear then you move to indirect heat and let it cook for a few. OK so back on track...500 degrees in a flash, we're talking 5-7 minutes. Parents grill 20..at LEAST and I have yet to leave sear marks on a steak over there, even letting theirs get up to 800 degrees. (This is where the heat distribution, flavor bars, whatever they call them, come into play. The WHOLE grill is hot, not just over the burners.) With the Weber you now fire up the searing burner on high, turn the right burner to low (equivalent to indirect heat on a charcoal) and slap your steaks on. Listen to them crack and sizzle. Go ahead, spin em at a minute and a half you will already have sear marks, might as well make some more! Flip em after 3 minutes (this is where other grills fail big time) and what do you know they are STILL sizzling on the hot grates! I still think charcoal cooked steak tastes better but I was seriously impressed by this point. I totally expected this thing to run out of steam and the grill to cool down too much to leave any marks on the 2nd side of the steak. And because of the thick cast iron grates you've got some big time sear action on those puppies. Exactly what the mission is with steak. Seal it up so the juices stay inside. So now you turn off the searing burner and throw the steaks off to the right, close the lid and let em cook for just a few minutes at about 500 degrees. I don't even need to tell you how they tasted because you've had a beautifully cooked steak before and you just did it on a gas grill for 700 bucks and 18 minutes of your time from start to finish. Now I'll tell you a funny story about hot dogs. After heating the grill up I put this on medium heat on 2 burners and threw some hot dogs on there. I left expecting to come back in a few minutes to flip them. I came back MAYBE 10 minutes later (rule number 1 don't get distracted from cooking) The hot dogs were beyond done. And I'm not talking about burnt on the bottom. They looked like they survived Hiroshima blast and were equally burnt ALL THE WAY AROUND THEM! You couldn't tell which part was facing own. Anyway funny story but it shows you how fast this cooks and how well it uses that heat under the hood. I screwed up my lunch and was still impressed. Now that's a grill. And burgers a few nights later. Nice thick black sear marks and juicy as all getup, enough said.
Obviously I'm very excited about this purchase because I never write reviews and this is a bit long. haha I found one article that gave this grill a stellar review for its price point and it has not disappointed me yet. I would be weary that other models might have different construction and all Weber grills might not be built the same (they need to have something different among their price ranges) but I can tell you first hand that this Genesis E-330 grill is the real deal and it won't break the bank to do it. I know 700 is 300 more than a sears Kenmore special but I'll happily go up against their $1000+ stainless model too. And I'll be happy to come back in 10 years and tell you how great it still is because there is no doubt in my mind it is built to last and is an impressive piece of cooking appliance. If you need/want a grill and can afford around $700 (Notice I didn't ask if you WANTED to spend $700 because I was skeptical at first too, I asked if you could "afford" it) pull the trigger on this thing. If the cooking space is what you need you will be as ecstatic about the results as I am.
Buy Weber Genesis E-330 637-Square-Inch Grill Now
Through a confluence of circumstance I was in a hurry to get this grill in and installed right when this new model came out. Other than the pain suffered through paying full retail (ouch), it has been a great experience.Assembly:
Everything fit together as it should. Get an 11mm socket on a real wrench though the 'tool' that comes with the set is great for adjusting the doors, but don't count on using it for primary assembly unless you have a few days to spare. Hint: Use the 3 silver headed screws for the drip tray the black headed screws are for the side burner.
NG vs Propane:
If you're going to grill year around in a climate that can get cold and can get the hook up done go NG. Seriously. I'm loving it.
Pre-heat:
40* ambient to 600* in 9 minutes (NG version). I took it up to 650* (13 min) just to clear any remaining mfg oils on it. This is WAY hotter than any reasonable use would entail. All 4 burners running full out.
Cooking:
Food has come off the grill outstanding. Set the three main knobs to the same position and the entire grill cooks at the same rate. I have not found any cold or hot spots food has cooked evenly anywhere I put it on the grill. It has all come off with great flavor. Frankly, after cooking on several other grills over the years, this one makes it too easy.
Searing:
The addition of the 4th burner creates a large HOT zone on the left side of the grill. It's kind of this grills hidden weapon. You can grill 'normal' on the entire surface. Then, if you want, you can crank up the left burner, sear burner and center burner and turn the left half of the grill into a searing wonder. When you're done, turn off the 4th (sear) burner and you're back to 'normal' pretty quick.
Side burner:
Pretty straight forward turn the knob, push the igniter, put stuff on to heat it up. Works just like it should.
Burners run NS instead of EW:
Pre 2011 Genesis models had EW burners. The 2011 model has NS burners. So far, from what I can tell, the difference is moot. I have not done rotisserie on it yet though, and apparently that is where the EW burners shine. I don't think it will be an issue though. This grill cooks so evenly that I don't think it's going to matter a bit.
Community Support:
Check out the forums at:
www (dot) bbqsource-forums (dot) com
They have a great bunch of people in the Weber forums there, and I put up a pile of pictures of this grill right after I assembled it.
Amazon's Service:
Ordered it with Prime shipping and it arrived 7 days later in a REAL big 200lb box. The delivery guy put it in my garage without any fuss.
Amazon's Photos Error:
At the time of this writing 12/2/2010 the pictures that Amazon has of this grill are not accurate. It looks like they are using stock photos of a 2011 Weber Genesis EP-330 instead of a 2011 Weber Genesis E-330. The difference? The pictures show a stainless grill rack and stainless flavorizers. The E-330 has cast iron cook grates. If you enjoy great grill marks, cast iron grates is a GOOD thing. Amazon's description is correct but the photos need fixed.
Drawback:
This grill makes great results too easy. It really feels like less work than it should be to get such great results.
Read Best Reviews of Weber Genesis E-330 637-Square-Inch Grill Here
The price online was the same as our local Home Depot and Lowe's. They, however assembled it for free. But, I would still have to rent a trailer and get it home myself. This would cost me about $40. In addition, I would have to pay the local sales tax, approximately $80. Getting it online I saved about $120. Amazon included free delivery, but I would have to assemble it myself. Since I am 75 and have a little difficulty getting up and down, I was a little anxious about putting it together.The shipper Amazon used was ABF Freight Systems, Inc. They called me when that had it at the local delivery point and made an appointment to deliver it. They were very cordial and flexible in setting up a time for delivery. I would not be home on the day the said they could delivery it, so they changed it to a later date. Amazon had per-approved basic inside delivery so I wouldn't have to worry about getting the box from the curb to the garage. Since the box weighted 190 lbs this was a concern I had had. When the deliver time approached, the deliveryman called and said he would be running late. He gave me an estimate of the time he would be there and was there shortly afterwards. When he showed up with the grill, he asked where I would like it. Since I would be assembling it on my back patio, I ask if he could take it back there, and he said sure, no problem.
The following morning I went out to my patio and unpacked and started to assemble the grill.
Prior to ordering the grill I found a YouTube video that shows how to unpack and assemble this same grill. It is:
This was a great video and very helpful in unpacking and assembling the grill.
The pictorial instruction sheet can be a little confusing at first. But having seen the video, it seemed to make sense.
I seem to have read that the assembly time is about 1 to 2 hours. In my case, due I'm sure to my age, It took me about 6 hours spread out over a couple of days. Everything went smoothly with the exception of the "wind deflector", the sheet metal part that goes under the control knobs. The next part to be installed after that was the doors. I found that they could not be installed, and finally figured out that I had installed the "wind deflector" upside down. Removing 2 screws and reversing it solved the problem.
The rest of the assembly went smoothly and later that evening I was trying out my first steak.
If you like to do steaks, you'll love the searing burner. Per the instructions, I turned on all the burners to high, let the grill warm up for 10 minutes, then turned the right burner down to medium. Put the steaks over the searing burner, rotated them 45 degrees after 1 minute, flipped them over after another minute, then rotated them again after another minute. This gave me those perfect steak house grill marks on each side. After searing I moved the steaks to the burner on medium and cooked them an additional 4 minutes per side. The were perfectly seared and cooked to a medium, which I like.
I've cooked a few hamburgers as well and they came out great.
Keep in mind, there are 3 different "models" of the New Genesis grills. There is the E, the S and the EP. The E series, comes with porcelain enamel grates. The EP and the S come with the stainless steel grates.
I was initially confused about which grate I was to get, contacting customer support cleared that up.
Bottom line, I like this grill, the third Weber I have owned. They are well built and while a little more expensive, last. You do have to assemble it yourself, but that is not to complicated.
Want Weber Genesis E-330 637-Square-Inch Grill Discount?
I have had quite a few grills including a $2k grand turbo elite and this was just amazing. I had debated on the summit 420 with the extra burners and size, but this grill works for everything. I have had it 2 months and cooked ribs, t-bones, rib-eyes, and beer can chicken. Completely thrilled with grill. No flare ups, great temp holding. I was grilling in 20 degree weather and no issue with holding temp. The sear burner works great and the side burner is wonderful. No regrets at all with this grill. Definitely a quality weber product especially with the change on the burner controls and burner routing (E-w vs. N-S).I opted for the e-330 vs the s-330 based on the price. You can go and buy the grills and and the warmer rack on Amazon for less than the price difference with the s-330, plus the swill start to brown after a few years.
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