This design also allowed Weber to put a sturdy shelf under the grill—a handy place to store pans, bags of wood chips, a small cooler, and other stuff you may need while grilling. Plus, one of the side tables folds down, making the grill more compact for storage when it’s not in use (it’s 43 inches wide with the table down). I learned that while 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). That same high setting and preheat time on the Char-Broil SmartChef Tru-Infrared yielded an internal temp of 457.4 degrees. Likewise, medium power on the Genesis, especially cooking with indirect heat, was much cooler than I expected.
When we first started working on this guide, back in 2017, we spoke with more than a dozen experts before opening the valve on a single propane tank. With more heat per square inch and a larger grilling area than the Spirit E-310, the portable bbq Genesis E-325s is our top choice for dedicated grillers. Weber is one of the most popular grill brands in the US. That’s why I’m surprised by the unpredictable behavior the $850 Weber Genesis II E-310 demonstrated on our tests.
In 2018, we tested Weber’s new Spirit II E-310—successor to our previous pick, the first-gen Spirit E-310—against our upgrade pick for the best gas grill. The Genesis II turned in mixed results on our beer can chicken test, designed to assess how well a grill operates at medium heat. 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. To add smarts to the Genesis II you’ll need to purchase the iGrill 3 accessory separately, a $100 upgrade.
But, if you genuinely value the experience of grilling AND you like food that tastes delicious, you’ll want something a little better. For $200 more, you get a third burner and a larger cooking area, bumping the Weber Genesis II E-310, $700, into our midsized category. Performance was similar to the E-210, and indirect cooking was even better. We are very excited to begin the grilling season and finally get these incredible grills into the hands of our customers.
Pro grills use infrared technology, a hotter, more direct heat for much faster searing. They did increase the sear zone in the middle from 9,000 BTU to 13,000 BTU. It’s more powerful, but it’s just another row of burners, not an infrared like the better yet more expensive grill types. The burner specifications of the Genesis have also remained the same at 13,000 BTU burners for a total of 39,000 BTU or 48,000 BTU for the four burners. The side burner if you like to boil corn or lobsters while grilling is the same as last year at 12,000 BTU.
But thermometers in the lid are several inches above the cooking grate and don’t accurately report the temperature on the surface where you’re actually cooking your food. Consider getting an inexpensive infrared thermometer to gauge the temperature of the cooking grates. The size and power weber genesis 2 of the Weber Genesis II S-435 complement its impressive engineering. Flavorizer bars protect your food from flame ups by blocking the burners from drippings. Due to the proximity to the burners, the stainless steel Flavorizer bars on this Weber Genesis natural gas grill get incredibly hot.