Open the door to the world of grilling with crazy good food and friends coming together. The compact open-cart design and the practical folding side table makes it fit even on small spaces, and you have all the basics you need to get familiar with gas grilling. So whether it’s a busy Monday or a relaxed Sunday – invite a couple of friends over, push the ignition and enjoy the special atmosphere that surrounds the grill. The Spirit II E-310 also exhibited the most consistent heat across the entire cooking surface in the 2018 test, just as the original Spirit had done in 2017. Among the competition in our 2017 test, the Napoleon model in particular had noticeable cool spots toward the front of its grates.
This grill has ample amount of cooking space for smaller crowds and families. This grill also features a porcelain-enameled cast iron cooking grates, fold down left side shelf, tool hooks and LP tank gauge. In 2021, Weber introduced a line of smart grills that we chose not to test. The app also has recipes and weber spirit 2 a step-by-step feature that sends alerts to your phone when it’s time to tend to your food. All of these extra gadgets require power, and the Genesis Smart Grill takes 10 batteries. The Wi-Fi module alone uses six D batteries, but there is an option to power that part (and only that part) with a power bank.
This may have a lower price, but the E 310 outclasses it in cooking surface area, power, and the number of burners, so there is no competition, really. A good gas grill should last a decade or more, provided you clean it after every use and protect it from the elements. Weber, which makes all three of the grills we recommend, guarantees all parts on its Spirit II series for 10 years. So we expect our top and budget picks to hold up for at least that long.
A dedicated rotisserie burner is usually located on the back of the firebox, slightly above the cooking grates; some models use the grill’s main burner(s). This feature allows you to roast meat (a whole chicken, for example) very evenly, yielding Blackstone Adventure a flavor that some people prefer to that of grilled food. Spirit II has four legs, two wheels and a lower open-air storage rack. Spirit II continues to be a solid, dependable tool for aspiring backyard pitmasters and pitmistresses.
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices on Spirit II 3-burner and 2-burner grills are $599 and $499 respectively, but the street price is about a hundred bucks less. Those who take the long view on purchasing decisions could consider Spirit’s $500 (3-burner) and $400 (2-burner) street prices Blackstone Adventure a bargain. Most gas grills use metal heat tents under the cooking grate to disperse heat, protect the burners, and to sizzle drippings that impart flavor to foods. Better quality grills, like Spirit II, blanket the entire cook box for more even heat and more delicious sizzle (see below).
This one doesn’t, nor did any grill in our test group, so you’ll need to buy one separately. Weber’s dedicated Spirit II cover costs about $80, and a well-regarded generic cover costs about $30 (both at the time of writing). Of course, you may also have concerns about how each of these fuel choices might impact the environment. There’s no easy answer, but we discuss some of the considerations in the sustainability section below.
It’s doable, but it requires more attention from the griller to make sure the chicken (or roast, or what have you) is evenly cooked. Cooking with indirect heat on a three-burner grill is more hands-off because the food sits over the middle burner, which you leave turned off. The right and left burners surround the food with heat—basically creating an outdoor oven. But with a two-burner grill, cooking with indirect heat means the food gets heat from only one side, while it sits over the other, inactive burner.
I may have been using grills for practically my whole life, but I will be the first one to admit that I absolutely hate cleaning up after a cookout. Therefore, I was interested to see just how easy it would be to clean and maintain the Weber Spirit II E 310 gas grill. One of the interesting features of the Weber Spirit II E 310 review is that it has just two wheels instead of the typical four wheels. Yes, it can make moving the grill around a little trickier, but it’s nice to have that added stability while grilling. This is especially true if you are balancing food items on the two side tables on either side of the grill – another nice touch. If you grill regularly or you enjoy grilling on weeknights, when time is at a premium, you should invest in a gas grill.