Figured I'd post what I've learned so far, in case it might be of use to any
others.

Got my Weber Summit Silver B gas grill yesterday. Was a floor display
model, already assembled, for $699. Great price, as brand new is $899-$999.
Has a couple of dings and a few scratches, but no big deal.

As this is my first "serious" grill, not quite sure what to make of it all
just yet. I like the four burners and the side burned (useful for reducing
sauces or making bastes, etc), and the metal body of the grill itself seems
quite sturdy. Seems to have a good thermometer and I like the flip-up
shelves - they seem quite durable, useful, and have a reasonable look.

As far as nits to pick so far:

One thing that I don't like, and didn't find out until AFTER I got the
grill, was that this is a new model for Weber, and as such, they have few of
the neat accessories that will fit it. It comes with stainless steel
cooking grates, which I suppose is all good and well, but I want the enamel
coated cast iron. BUT, they don't make them for the Summit Silver. What I
found is that you can use the ones that fit the Genesis B and C line (which
also fit the Summit Gold, you just use three instead of two grates), but
with just two of the grates, it leaves you with a four inch gap in grilling
surface. I ordered a single grate from Weber and am going to cut a 4 inch
section to fill it in. I also don't like the warming rack, as it is too
damned small to fit anything other than a few hot dogs. I want to be able
to put a roast up there if I want. Looks like I'm going to have to modify
another company's rack, or get a welder and get to work. I have noticed
that the electric ignition on the side burner doesn't work, as the electrode
doesn't sit up high enough in its mounting for the spark to reach the gas.
I had to shim it out with a piece of wire. Not sure if this is a result of
assembly at the retailer, or a Weber design issue. I think the unit would
benefit from something like a spice rack in the front, or some similar rack
attachment. The shelves are neat, but I find a rack to be more useful for
beer, spices, etc, as they are less likely to get knocked over. Not sure
what I'm going to do with the cabinet on the bottom, as it's one big open
space behind the doors - perhaps a shelf or rack inside would have made
better use of the space? Additionally, I have found customer support to be
spotty so far. I got one guy on their grilling hot line that seemed to be
pretty savvy, but the two women I spoke to in customer service were not as
well informed as I might have expected. They were courteous to be sure, but
not all that useful in answering my questions.

I baked the grill out for about 20 minutes, to make sure I drove off any
film, gunk, coatings, etc, left from the manufacture. It did smoke a bit,
and reached about 575 deg F in about 15 minutes (which is the max temp the
customer service woman said it would reach). Seems like a decent
temperature maximum. I also turned off all but one burner and turned the
remaining one to lowest setting. This resulted in a steady 200 deg F
temperature, which is just what I was looking for, as I sometimes use the
grill for low temp cooking.

Overall, the grill seems ok. Have yet to cook anything on it yet, so I may
be much more pleased or much more disappointed with a few dinners tucked
under my belt. I saw a Vermont Castings grill today at Home Depot, and it
seemed to have EVERYTHING I wanted, and for less money ($599, assembled,
new). Looked like coated, cast iron grates, 4 burners, good cooking area,
decent sized warming rack, thick, sturdy metal construction, spice rack,
cabinet below. I went with the Weber in large part because of the
reputation, likely availability of replacement parts and accessories, and
the good price. Hope I don't find myself pining away for something else.

Will keep you posted.

Paul

"Paul Romesburg" > wrote in message
...
> Figured I'd post what I've learned so far, in case it might be of use to
any
> others.
<snippage>
> Got my Weber Summit Silver B gas grill yesterday. Was a floor display
> model, already assembled, for $699. Great price, as brand new is
$899-$999.
> Has a couple of dings and a few scratches, but no big deal.
>
>
> I baked the grill out for about 20 minutes, to make sure I drove off any
> film, gunk, coatings, etc, left from the manufacture. It did smoke a bit,
> and reached about 575 deg F in about 15 minutes (which is the max temp the
> customer service woman said it would reach). Seems like a decent
> temperature maximum. I also turned off all but one burner and turned the
> remaining one to lowest setting. This resulted in a steady 200 deg F
> temperature, which is just what I was looking for, as I sometimes use the
> grill for low temp cooking.
>

That temp seems low. My Genesis 900 hits over 700F in 10-15 minutes on
high. Really sears a steak with the cast iron grates.

"Paul Romesburg" > wrote in message
...
> Figured I'd post what I've learned so far, in case it might be of use to
any
> others.
<snippage>
> Got my Weber Summit Silver B gas grill yesterday. Was a floor display
> model, already assembled, for $699. Great price, as brand new is
$899-$999.
> Has a couple of dings and a few scratches, but no big deal.
>
>
> I baked the grill out for about 20 minutes, to make sure I drove off any
> film, gunk, coatings, etc, left from the manufacture. It did smoke a bit,
> and reached about 575 deg F in about 15 minutes (which is the max temp the
> customer service woman said it would reach). Seems like a decent
> temperature maximum. I also turned off all but one burner and turned the
> remaining one to lowest setting. This resulted in a steady 200 deg F
> temperature, which is just what I was looking for, as I sometimes use the
> grill for low temp cooking.
>

That temp seems low. My Genesis 900 hits over 700F in 10-15 minutes on
high. Really sears a steak with the cast iron grates.

"CSS" > wrote in message
hlink.net...

> That temp seems low. My Genesis 900 hits over 700F in 10-15 minutes on
> high. Really sears a steak with the cast iron grates.


700F in the lid or at the grate?

-CAL

Yes, good question. I got 575 deg F from the hood mounted thermometer,
which takes the temperature in the headspace, not at the grill surface. I
sent an e-mail to Weber engineering this morning, asking what they
understand to be the maximum temp at both lid thermometer and at grill
surface. Interested to see what they say. When I baked out my grill for
the first time, with all four burners on high, I got a reading of 575 up in
the lid, after about 575.

Paul
"cl" > wrote in message
...
>
> "CSS" > wrote in message
> hlink.net...
>
> > That temp seems low. My Genesis 900 hits over 700F in 10-15 minutes on
> > high. Really sears a steak with the cast iron grates.
>
>
> 700F in the lid or at the grate?
>
> -CAL
>
>

Yes, good question. I got 575 deg F from the hood mounted thermometer,
which takes the temperature in the headspace, not at the grill surface. I
sent an e-mail to Weber engineering this morning, asking what they
understand to be the maximum temp at both lid thermometer and at grill
surface. Interested to see what they say. When I baked out my grill for
the first time, with all four burners on high, I got a reading of 575 up in
the lid, after about 575.

Paul
"cl" > wrote in message
...
>
> "CSS" > wrote in message
> hlink.net...
>
> > That temp seems low. My Genesis 900 hits over 700F in 10-15 minutes on
> > high. Really sears a steak with the cast iron grates.
>
>
> 700F in the lid or at the grate?
>
> -CAL
>
>

Both the lid and the grate, after about 12-15 minutes of heat-up.


"Paul" > wrote in message
...
> Yes, good question. I got 575 deg F from the hood mounted thermometer,
> which takes the temperature in the headspace, not at the grill surface. I
> sent an e-mail to Weber engineering this morning, asking what they
> understand to be the maximum temp at both lid thermometer and at grill
> surface. Interested to see what they say. When I baked out my grill for
> the first time, with all four burners on high, I got a reading of 575 up
in
> the lid, after about 575.
>
> Paul
> "cl" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "CSS" > wrote in message
> > hlink.net...
> >
> > > That temp seems low. My Genesis 900 hits over 700F in 10-15 minutes
on
> > > high. Really sears a steak with the cast iron grates.
> >
> >
> > 700F in the lid or at the grate?
> >
> > -CAL
> >
> >
>
>

"CSS" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Both the lid and the grate, after about 12-15 minutes of heat-up.

That is odd. I've measured 1000deg at the grate (thermocoupler was smoking
and I didn't want to burn up a 75$ probe) and maxed around 800 at the hood
thermometer with my modded JennAir. I had the same relative temperature
difference before mods. So you have no temperature difference between the
grate and hood on that weber?

-CAL

"CSS" > wrote in message
link.net...
> Both the lid and the grate, after about 12-15 minutes of heat-up.

That is odd. I've measured 1000deg at the grate (thermocoupler was smoking
and I didn't want to burn up a 75$ probe) and maxed around 800 at the hood
thermometer with my modded JennAir. I had the same relative temperature
difference before mods. So you have no temperature difference between the
grate and hood on that weber?

-CAL

"Paul" > wrote in message
...
> Yes, good question. I got 575 deg F from the hood mounted thermometer,
> which takes the temperature in the headspace, not at the grill surface. I
> sent an e-mail to Weber engineering this morning, asking what they
> understand to be the maximum temp at both lid thermometer and at grill
> surface. Interested to see what they say. When I baked out my grill for
> the first time, with all four burners on high, I got a reading of 575 up
in
> the lid, after about 575.

OIther than the faster heatup and the ability to not worry about having the
lid up after preheating, I have not found any advantage to the much higher
temps that I'm getting( a similar size grill but with 60Kbtus of input.)
600 at the cast iron grate / 525 in the lid and the Jenn Air cooked steaks
as well if not better than it did with 1000 grate/800 lid. I do like the
faster preheat of 5-7min though.

-CAL

"Paul" > wrote in message
...
> Yes, good question. I got 575 deg F from the hood mounted thermometer,
> which takes the temperature in the headspace, not at the grill surface. I
> sent an e-mail to Weber engineering this morning, asking what they
> understand to be the maximum temp at both lid thermometer and at grill
> surface. Interested to see what they say. When I baked out my grill for
> the first time, with all four burners on high, I got a reading of 575 up
in
> the lid, after about 575.

OIther than the faster heatup and the ability to not worry about having the
lid up after preheating, I have not found any advantage to the much higher
temps that I'm getting( a similar size grill but with 60Kbtus of input.)
600 at the cast iron grate / 525 in the lid and the Jenn Air cooked steaks
as well if not better than it did with 1000 grate/800 lid. I do like the
faster preheat of 5-7min though.

-CAL

"Paul" > wrote in message
...
> Yes, good question. I got 575 deg F from the hood mounted thermometer,
> which takes the temperature in the headspace, not at the grill surface. I
> sent an e-mail to Weber engineering this morning, asking what they
> understand to be the maximum temp at both lid thermometer and at grill
> surface. Interested to see what they say. When I baked out my grill for
> the first time, with all four burners on high, I got a reading of 575 up
in
> the lid, after about 575.
>
> Paul
> "cl" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "CSS" > wrote in message
> > hlink.net...
> >
> > > That temp seems low. My Genesis 900 hits over 700F in 10-15 minutes
on
> > > high. Really sears a steak with the cast iron grates.
> >
> >
> > 700F in the lid or at the grate?
> >
> > -CAL
> >


I have a Summit Silver and have no problem maxing out the thermometer@ 750!!
Bill T

what are the mods?
"cl" > wrote in message
...
>
> "CSS" > wrote in message
> link.net...
> > Both the lid and the grate, after about 12-15 minutes of heat-up.
>
> That is odd. I've measured 1000deg at the grate (thermocoupler was smoking
> and I didn't want to burn up a 75$ probe) and maxed around 800 at the hood
> thermometer with my modded JennAir. I had the same relative temperature
> difference before mods. So you have no temperature difference between the
> grate and hood on that weber?
>
> -CAL
>
>
>

what are the mods?
"cl" > wrote in message
...
>
> "CSS" > wrote in message
> link.net...
> > Both the lid and the grate, after about 12-15 minutes of heat-up.
>
> That is odd. I've measured 1000deg at the grate (thermocoupler was smoking
> and I didn't want to burn up a 75$ probe) and maxed around 800 at the hood
> thermometer with my modded JennAir. I had the same relative temperature
> difference before mods. So you have no temperature difference between the
> grate and hood on that weber?
>
> -CAL
>
>
>

"Steven T King" > wrote in message
...
> what are the mods?


It is a JA461P with Damper added and rejetted to 60KBTU.

-CAL

Bill/All,

Neat on the 750 deg F, Bill. Have you modded your grill at all to achieve
this temperature?

I've baked out my grill ONCE so far (only had the grill less than a week),
so I haven't collected much data yet. Also, I emailed Weber customer
service and they wrote back that the Summit Silver is designed to achieve
550 deg F at the hood thermometer, and claimed they had not measured the
temperature at the grill (wich I find VERY hard to believe. I know some
engineers and I don't see how they would pass up such a parameter). They
also noted in their message, as well as in the owner's manual, that you will
initially get higher temperatures because of the reflective surface on the
inside of the hood. This decreases over time (they claim) as it gets coated
with "stuff".

Maybe 550 deg F in the hood will be all I ever need, but it would be nice to
know how to go higher if I think I need to. Any experience on how to
achieve this?

Paul


"Bill T" > wrote in message
news
>
> "Paul" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Yes, good question. I got 575 deg F from the hood mounted thermometer,
> > which takes the temperature in the headspace, not at the grill surface.
I
> > sent an e-mail to Weber engineering this morning, asking what they
> > understand to be the maximum temp at both lid thermometer and at grill
> > surface. Interested to see what they say. When I baked out my grill
for
> > the first time, with all four burners on high, I got a reading of 575 up
> in
> > the lid, after about 575.
> >
> > Paul
> > "cl" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > >
> > > "CSS" > wrote in message
> > > hlink.net...
> > >
> > > > That temp seems low. My Genesis 900 hits over 700F in 10-15 minutes
> on
> > > > high. Really sears a steak with the cast iron grates.
> > >
> > >
> > > 700F in the lid or at the grate?
> > >
> > > -CAL
> > >
>
>
> I have a Summit Silver and have no problem maxing out the thermometer@
750!!
> Bill T
>
>

"Paul" > wrote in message
...
> Bill/All,
>
> Neat on the 750 deg F, Bill. Have you modded your grill at all to achieve
> this temperature?
>
> I've baked out my grill ONCE so far (only had the grill less than a week),
> so I haven't collected much data yet. Also, I emailed Weber customer
> service and they wrote back that the Summit Silver is designed to achieve
> 550 deg F at the hood thermometer, and claimed they had not measured the
> temperature at the grill (wich I find VERY hard to believe. I know some
> engineers and I don't see how they would pass up such a parameter). They
> also noted in their message, as well as in the owner's manual, that you
will
> initially get higher temperatures because of the reflective surface on the
> inside of the hood. This decreases over time (they claim) as it gets
coated
> with "stuff".
>
> Maybe 550 deg F in the hood will be all I ever need, but it would be nice
to
> know how to go higher if I think I need to. Any experience on how to
> achieve this?
>
> Paul
>
>
> "Bill T" > wrote in message
> news
> >
> > "Paul" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Yes, good question. I got 575 deg F from the hood mounted
thermometer,
> > > which takes the temperature in the headspace, not at the grill
surface.
> I
> > > sent an e-mail to Weber engineering this morning, asking what they
> > > understand to be the maximum temp at both lid thermometer and at grill
> > > surface. Interested to see what they say. When I baked out my grill
> for
> > > the first time, with all four burners on high, I got a reading of 575
up
> > in
> > > the lid, after about 575.
> > >
> > > Paul
> > > "cl" > wrote in message
> > > ...
> > > >
> > > > "CSS" > wrote in message
> > > > hlink.net...
> > > >
> > > > > That temp seems low. My Genesis 900 hits over 700F in 10-15
minutes
> > on
> > > > > high. Really sears a steak with the cast iron grates.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > 700F in the lid or at the grate?
> > > >
> > > > -CAL
> > > >
> >
> >
> > I have a Summit Silver and have no problem maxing out the thermometer@
> 750!!
> > Bill T
> >
> >
>
>
No mods, I've only had mine about 5 weeks. Had to replace my 16 year old
Weber Genesis 1000. It finally got too old. Maybe mine has the wrong jets in
it! If you want higher temps, just drill out the jets!!
Good luck.
Bill T

I have a significant temperature delta between the lid (about halfway up the
lid, actually) and the grate level when heating up my grill. The difference
diminishes after the grill is heated up. Here's what I posted on this
earlier:

I added a second thermometer to my six year old Weber Genesis 900 LP grill
(Home Depot 1000 with cast iron grates). I'm doing rotisserie coffee
roasting in it, and I wanted to compare temps in the center zone where the
roasting drum sits versus at the grill (which is where the stock thermometer
reads). I drilled a small hole with my Unibit (bought for the WSM temp mod)
in the center of the lid, about three and one-half inches down from the top.
The second thermometer also goes up to 700 F, where my Weber thermometer
pegs at 550.

I then ran a test of the difference in readings. During heat-up (all burners
on high) the grill runs about 125 F hotter than the center zone. However,
once the unit is fully heated (15-20 minutes) the temp difference is
negligible-- maybe 10 degrees. This is true at 250, 350, and 525 degrees.

Since running this test, I've replaced the grate thermometer with a Tel-tru
Weber replacement that goes up to 750 F and repeated the test. Same result,
with the grill and lid reaching 700F max after about 15 minutes.




"Steven T King" > wrote in message
...
> what are the mods?
> "cl" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "CSS" > wrote in message
> > link.net...
> > > Both the lid and the grate, after about 12-15 minutes of heat-up.
> >
> > That is odd. I've measured 1000deg at the grate (thermocoupler was
smoking
> > and I didn't want to burn up a 75$ probe) and maxed around 800 at the
hood
> > thermometer with my modded JennAir. I had the same relative temperature
> > difference before mods. So you have no temperature difference between
the
> > grate and hood on that weber?
> >
> > -CAL
> >
> >
> >
>
>