Weber 3741001 Genesis E-310 Propane Gas Grill, Black

I assembled the Genesis yesterday and can offer a few tips.

It's heavy! It was challenging to move the 160 pound shipping container, and it took two people to wrestle the firebox into place.

It took about an hour to put together, and I'm sure I saved some time by using a 7/16 socket wrench along with a 7/16 nut driver. The little stamped wrench included with the barbeque is a knuckle buster.

The instructions were better than most but certainly not in the same league as Heathkit. As far as I know, I only made one mistake: The unit comes with steel washers and rubber washers. The instructions show light and dark washers, but I didn't get that at first and I had to do some re-work.

My unit came with clevis pins pre-mounted on the lid hinge, and there were also some in the hardware bag, so I ended up having some extra parts.

I bought this grill this summer (2008) to replace my Weber charcoal grill, which I didn't like because it's so hard to control the heat. This one is WAY better; just turn on the heat and ready to go! Too hot? Just turn it back down. Forget about charcoal man! I can still put a tray of wood chips on the burners if I want smoke flavoring!

I did a lot of research; I could have bought a grill for 1/3 the price, but I wanted something heavy-duty, functional, good-looking (I don't like the all-stainless steel look, or trying to keep them clean-looking), and durable.

I bought this in the box and assembled it myself. It wasn't very hard, but it did take a few hours. A lot easier to assemble with a millimeter socket wrench.

One note on the grates: This grill is advertised by Weber as having porcelain-coated cast-iron grates. I looked at this grill in several stores, shopping around for the best price, and every one I saw, including the one I bought, has straight cast-iron grates. The plain cast-iron grates are actually the best in my opinion. Cast-iron holds the heat better than steel, and there's no worry about scratches, as with porcelain-coated. I haven't seen a choice of grates offered anywhere. One nice feature is that the grates are reversible for grilling smaller items. The much more expensive copper-colored model does have stainless steel grates, but there's no advantage.

This grill is very solid and heavy duty and it does a great job grilling. Have fun!

I had a bottom of the line Weber that I used for 15 years. I tried a similarly priced grill, a Char something, I bought locally that is rusted and unable to regulate the heat properly after just three years. The temperature control is much more precise on the Weber and it is much easier to clean.

Okay, it took a little while longer than expected to put together, and some of the illustrations on the directions could be larger, but this grill rocks. I used to have a Viking, and this Weber is built far better. The tolerances between parts is amazing, everything fits and works, all pieces are solid metal, and it worked the first time I pressed start. This is one of the best made products I have every purchased and, believe it or not, I think it's even made in America. Highly recommended.

This is my third Weber. I have a Weber Bullett Smoker and a 22" Charcoal Kettle Grill. The Weber Genesis 310 is an excellent product, well constucted of quality components. The control over the temperature is excellent.