 Love this grill |
I've had the Q300 for about 10 weeks and grilled on it 3-4 times per week. Grilled steaks, roasts, chicken (both direct and indirect heat), pork
loins, hamburgers and hotdogs and the Q300 handled it all.
Gets hot fast:
From start with both burners on high...3 minutes grill is at 310 degrees....7 minutes 400 degrees.....10 minutes 520 degrees....14 minutes maxes out at 590 degrees
I like to cook chicken and pork over indirect heat, so I really like having the two burners with separate controls. The larger burner runs the perimeter of the grill and a second, smaller burner, goes down the center.
Outside burner only (High)..maintains 400 degrees,(Low)..300 degrees
Center burner only (High)..maintains 300 degrees,(Low)..200 degrees
Both burners on (High)..maintains 590 degrees, (Low)..500 degrees
Heavy duty cast-iron cooking grates. Grates dimensions are 25" x 17.5". |
Top Shelf
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Although I'm a diehard charcoal fan, I do believe that a gas grill has it's place.
I've owned a Weber One Touch Performer with the gas ignition for over 13 years, and use it about 4 times a week. It looks as good today as it did when I first bought it. Weber is a wonderful company that always stocks parts even on discontinued models, and their customer service is second to none.
As well, I own a couple of smokers and an island gas grill from Barbecues Galore. The ignition no longer works on the gas grill, after only a couple of years, and thus far I've been unable to get a replacement from them. Interestingly, I only used the grill maybe twice a month.
Well, I bought the Q 300 about 3 weeks ago, thinking I'd use it occasionally. Guess what? I can't stop using it. It's that great.
I put it together with little effort, and it's really a nice looking piece of equipment. Also, the cover is extremely well made.
The Q 300 lights quietly and effortlessly. The grill heats to over 500 degrees in less than 10 minutes.
The best part? The porcelain coated cast iron grates.
If you want a grill capable of really searing, and creating serious grill marks, than look no further.
Of all the grills I have now and have previously owned, none have created the grills marks that this baby does.
And, not just on meat. It grills veggies like nobody's business.
I love the way they have the perimeter burner as well as the burner which runs through the middle. This allows you to cook with indirect heat if you turn of the middle burner.
It has lots of room for cooking, while at the same time using a small footprint if you lower the side tables.
Add to all this the Weber 5 year warranty, their excellent customer service, and their reputation for quality.
You can't go wrong.
Yes, you can get many gas grills for less money. But, in my experience, they don't last.
You get what you pay for, if you're lucky.
If you're even thinking about buying this grill, then don't hesitate. You'll be glad you bought it.
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Big enough for a family
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I won't elaborate since the other reviews do a great job. Just want to add my 2 cents that the grill is outstanding - gets hot quickly, cooks everything you throw at it, and has plenty of surface space for grilling for about 6-8 people.
If you frequently throw parties then buy a larger grill, but if you primarily grill for the family then this one is excellent! |
Works on Steak; Well Designed
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Time to update this review which was written in June, 2007, because it is now April, 2009, and I have accumulated cooking experience that may be of interest.
1. I am about to use up my second tank of propane.
2. I no longer fool around with an outdoor grill to cook steaks in the dead of winter or the heat of summer. I learned how to use a cast iron skillet on an electric range. Try it sometime. Just heat the skillet until it starts to go "gray", put some salt, pepper, and canola oil on both sides of the steak and throw it into the skillet for about 3 minutes per side. If the steak is 1.5 inches or more (or any thickness desired well done), you may have to finish it for about three or four more minutes in a 400F oven.
3. Barbequeing is not grilling. Someone recently said that "grilling is to barbequeing what boiling is to baking". I am first and foremost a barbequer. Barbeque is low and slow, grilling is hot and fast. One cooks tough meat low and slow and tender meat hot and fast. One does not grill a brisket, for example. One does not smoke beef tenderloin for five hours at 220F.
4. The lowest temperature I can get with this grill with the lid down is 220F using the center burner only on low. If I use three of the aluminum drip pans(available from Amazon.COM)they will completely cover the direct heat from the center burner. Place two of them upside down with a few maple, hickory or cherry wood chips in the flame area under them. Place the third pan right side up, with no space between the three pans, and fill it with tap water. I have a microwave rack with long legs on it. Straddle the center pans with this rack. If it isn't long enough, steal a cookie cooling rack and use paper clips to temperorarily tie them together to increase the size of the rack. Spray the rack liberally with canola cooking spray.
5. Brisket. Buy a "packer brisket" for less than $2.00 per pound. It has a lot of fat on it and weighs about 12 pounds. The leaner the brisket, the easier it bends when you handle it in the meat market. Trim off all but about 1/2 inch of fat. You can cut the whole brisket into smaller lengths and freeze them. To experiment, slice off a pound (about 4 inches). To have a barbeque, cook the whole thing. To feed your family, cut it into halves or thirds. You can approximate the (Memphis) Rendevouz Seasoning (rub) available on Amazon.COM and in some super markets by adding a few cracked WHITE and cracked BLACK peppercorns to Old Bay seasoning. Sprinkle just a little of this rub on all sides of the meat and rub it in. Don't cover the whole thing, just a little bit rubbed out really thin.
Place it on your raised grill, fat side up, and confirm that the aluminum pans cover the flame. Be sure there is water in one pan. Close the lid and check the thermometer periodically to be sure your tank still has gas. Every hour, open the lid and refill the water pan. Cook at least four hours. When the internal temperature reaches 190F, you may baste lightly one time with your favorite barbeque sauce, or simply let the rub do the trick. (Most barbeque sauces have tomatoes and/or sugar in them. This will burn if you put it on too early or too thick.)
Close the lid for a final hour and let the internal meat temperature go no higher than 200F. This meat should be served sliced with your favorite barbeque sauce poured over it. If it gets cold, heat it on a rack in a closed dutch oven with water in the bottom. (If you do this on your grill, no one at your barbeque party will know that you cooked it a week ago and just now took it out of the freezer and are thawing it for the party.)
6. Pork. Same as brisket, except use Boston Butt. Two whole butts will make a barbeque. If you cut one in half it should be about right for a family meal. One half will have a piece of shoulder blade in it. The other half will be boneless, so save the boneless half to impress someone. Same rub, same setup, cook for about five hours then baste lightly and cook until internal meat temperature is 190F. This meat should be served sliced with barbeque sauce poured over it.
7. Ribs. Same as above. If the ribs are too long for the raised grill, they will stiffen while cooking, so a little droop is not bad so long as they don't touch anything hot. Don't baste them until the last hour, if at all.
8. Chicken. I now use a "panini" grill indoors to grill chicken marinated in a small amount of barbeque sauce. It's messy. See the original review below for my original experience with chicken on the Weber. I haven't yet tried this "indirect heat" method on chicken.
Happy barbequeing.
Original Review:
The Weber Q300 is quite a grill. I've only had it a week, but would like to report some things I like about it and make some comments, as well.
First of all, I have been grilling for several years and gave up on finding a good gas grill for steaks. They just don't get hot enough unless you close the lid, in which case you have an oven instead of a grill. However Weber intended that steaks should cook on this grill, I have found that it is hot enough to sear a 1 1/2 inch steak and cook it rare with the lid open after preheating the grill with the lid closed.
Mission accomplished -- but wait, there's more.
12 chicken thighs cooked on "indirect" heat with barbeque sauce added late in the cooking cycle took about 35 minutes at a thermometer temperature of 250 degrees and were perfectly done. This brings up the definition of "indirect" cooking. The weber cooking grate has solid metal over each burner, so when the burners are on low, there is no direct flame on the food; however, the grate is still cooking things pretty fast. This is not a slow-cook smoker. (I notice that Weber's recipe for a whole turkey is to put it on a rack, in water, in an aluminum pan. So there are ways to slow it down, apparently.)
Close the lid and turn the flame up to reach 600 degrees, and you have a self cleaning oven that burned off the residual barbeque sauce.
Addendum June 27. Last night was "cedar planked talapia" night. After soaking the planks in water both burners were adjusted to maintain a thermometer temperature of 450 degrees with the lid closed while the planks preheated and the fish cooked for about 30 minutes. I would say that the fish was cooked just the right amount. The good news is that the boards didn't catch fire even though they are solidly black on the bottom side.
And that's the extent of my experience to-date.
Design: The Weber Q300 appears to have been designed. It's not just a few pieces of sheet metal and some pipes bolted together through holes. It is a two piece clam shell of rather high precision cast aluminum that appears to reflect radiant heat onto the cooking surface. This allows the use of a somewhat smaller burner for a grill this size. The clam shell fits precisely into the glass-reinforced frame with metal inserts pressed in the right places for a hand-full of screws. The frame and the aluminum grill body can easily be lifted or pushed on its rollers until the 30 lb cast iron grill plates and 40 lb propane tank are added. Still, no wiggle or wobble in the frame, even when so heavily loaded.
Assembly: If you are conversant with picture language, you can get about 75% of the assembly done. A few words are added at Critical Places, but they are easily over looked. For example, the first two screws that went in are the only ones that require washers, but the washers are not pictured in the assembly drawing where it says to put the screws in -- they are drawn really big somewhere else where you can't miss them later when you are trying to find out where they go. The only other problem was trying to find the axel, which is slender and slipped down between the layers of cardboard this thing was packed in.
But it was all there, it went together, and the only problem seems to be that the lighter only works on the center burner. Otherwise, a gem of a grill. |
Great 2 Burner Grill
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| The review with one burner in the title must have confused this with the 100 and 200 series Q. The 300 is a two burner grill and the two burners can be run at different temps or with only one burner lit. While this does cost more than some throw away grill made in China Weber is built to last. When you need a part in 10 years it will be available. When you have a question at 1 AM on Sunday morning about your grill or how to BBQ you can call Weber toll free in the US. |
Is a WEBER really worth the extra price?
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In short....yes. For years I had looked and purchsed various grills and thought what could possibly be the difference in how they cook or how the finished food tastes? The answer is outstanding on a WEBER. It is worth every penny I paid. I have done steaks and whole chickens. Whole chicks right on the grill with no burning and a wonderful juicy flavor. You can't beat it.
Today we did baby back ribs. Set it on Low for 1.5 hours and they were so good with our favorite B-Q sauce. Just put them bone side down and never turn. No flare up. Used the outer burner only. |
First Class Grill!!
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This is a fabulous barbeque! --- easy to assemble, to light up and to control the temperature (I love the thermometer) -- with even heating on the entire surface. Easy to move around and easy to clean (the split grill fits in my sink to soak). I love the smaller "footprint" on my deck, but it cooks like a much larger grill. Quality throughout and well worth the price.
PS: I'm also really happy I bought the cover --- quality and function are as wonderful as the barbeque itself. |
Excellent no-frills grill, great price.
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Simply stated, I have 2 requirements for my grills:
1. Powerful enough to sear steaks
2. Consistent, even heat across the cooking surface (i.e. no "hot spots" or "cool spots")
My past couple of grills failed at one or both of these, and I had resigned myself to the thought that in order to find a grill that met these two requirements, I would have to start looking in the $600+ price range. Luckily, a friend of mine bought this "Q" grill and let me play with it for a weekend. I was sold and bought one that week. I am extremely happy to report that the Weber Q easily satisfys both of my requirements for less than $300. The grill is surprisingly powerful...it's only 21,000 BTU's, but it is incredibly efficient and generates more heat than my last grill (which was 32,000 BTU's). The cooking surface grates are HEAVY cast iron, and absorb a lot of heat...this translates into great searing and grill marks on meat (by far the best of any grill I've owned). Two other great design features: the grate spacing is small enough so one can grill vegetables directly on the grill and not worry about them falling through (no basket needed--this is awesome). Also, the grates are designed to shield the burner tubes so no drippings actually hit the burners (practical for cleaning and prevents flare ups).
As far as the consistency of the heat...it can't be beat. I've tried cooking steaks all over the cooking surface...at the edges, corners, and right in the middle. The heat is amazingly even, and food cooks up great no matter where it is positioned on the cooking surface. I cannot tell you how much fun I am having with this grill...it is the best grill I've owned, and its ease of use has me looking forward to grilling dinner every single night.
On the down side, it lacks some if the bells and whistles of more expensive models (i.e. rotisserie, side burner, bread warming rack). This doesn't bother me however, because the grill makes up for it: (i) with the even heat, it is pretty easy to figure out when to throw bread directly on the grill in the last minute of grilling and have it come out perfectly toasted (ii) with the ability to cook with indirect, convective heat (very awesome, by the way, for ribs), one can cook a chicken perfectly without having to spin it on a spit. The only thing this grill can't repicate is the side burner, but I never used that feature of past grills anyway.
I could not be happier with this grill, I think it is a great value, and it has put the fun back into grilling for me! |
Lowest Price on Weber Q 300 at Amazon.com - Click Here To Buy Now |
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