Weber Summit S-470 4-Burner Liquid Propane Grill, Stainless Steel 580-Square Inch

About two years ago, my dad asked me to help him find a replacement for the 10 year old Char Broil that at that point was rusting on their back porch.I did my research, and found this guy. Weber has a reputation for making some good stuff, and this top-of-the-line Summit model really delivers.--Construction--It is far and away one of the most substantial home grills I've seen and used. Its a big boy, and everything feels pretty heavy duty. Maybe not "cast iron pot" heavy duty. More like Ford pickup heavy duty. You know if you kicked it hard enough you could probably dent it, but any thing short of that is unlikely to hurt it. All of the structural hardware is nice and thick. The side shelves have ample workspace, and are extremely stable. I get the impression they can hold a pretty good amount of weight.The grates inside are super heavy duty, and retain heat extremely well.I really appreciate all of the storage space inside. Its nice not having to find somewhere to put the rotisserie and other accessories. The hind away motor unit is neat, too.The propane sensor is a great feature, as are the lighted controls. I'm a big fan of the automatic LED grill light, too.We've never had issues getting the burners lid. The onboard ignition always works flawlessly.They always keep it covered when they aren't using it, and two years down the line it looks just about as good as it did when we first bought it.Its not totally perfect, though. One of the burner controls isn't mounted straight It works as it should, but it still bugs me to look at. And the magnetic latches on the cabinet doors are pretty much garbage. But I swapped them out with something stronger, and its worked out fine.All-in-all, minor details.--Grill Performance--I'll tell you what. You get spoiled using this thing. There's just so much so much heat on tap. I have never needed to worry about putting too much food on the grill at once. As long as there's an open space, it will grill it all just the same.No matter how cold outside it gets, I can still grill burgers with the lid open (as you're supposed to) with zero problems and perfect results.The searing station is a really nice feature. I didn't think I'd ever use it, but it comes in really handy in getting a nice crust on steaks and burgers.Let me put it this way: any time I need to grill at someone elses house, it always feels like a huge step down. You really get used to the Weber.--The Smoker--I'm torn about this one. While its one of my favorite features on the grill, its not without its issues.First off, should you get a grill with a smoker box, or should you get a regular grill and a separate, dedicated smoker?That really depends on what you want to do. If you're planning on doing a lot of heavy duty smoking, for big groups, every weekend, definitely get a separate unit. They sell good, propane powered ones here on Amazon for under $200 that would be just as easy to use as an onboard unit, would let you smoke a whole lot more, and probably do a better job of it.BUT- if that doesn't sound like you, if you're only interested in occasionally smoking stuff for your family and maybe a few friends, the built-in might be the better solution. A separate unit means a second, big (and ugly) cooker than needs a place to sit, needs to be maintained, and needs its own gas. The onboard unit saves you that hassle.First off, it really does work pretty well. On my first try using it, I smoked literally the most delicious salmon I've ever tasted. On my first EVER attempt at smoking ribs, the results were beyond perfect.Its not just a gimmick. It is in fact a functional smoker. BUT smoking involves indirect heat, and often involves big cuts of meat. To get the power you need means turning on extra burners in addition to those in the smoker. When I was cooking the 6 racks of ribs, I found my self turning different burners on and off to maintain the temperature inside without allowing the heat to become to localized.Another issue is the location of the smoker. Its situation on the far right side of the grill. What this means is that some of the smoke just pours out of the gap between the hood and the grill without passing by the meat. I've seen people online use different types of gaskets to keep the smoke in with varying rates of success.Personally, I would have preferred some sort of provision for a big, removable tray situated between the burners and the grate on which to place the wood, rather than the little, always-there box on the side. But that's just me.An interesting feature of the smoker/grill combo is the ability to hybrid smoke/grill food. In other words, grill food while also infusing a bit of smoking flavor as opposed to the tradition method. This aspect of the grill really shines, and gives some neat results.--Conclusion--You get what you pay for. This is a fabulous grill. Are there better grills than a Weber? Sure, just like there are better cars than a Mercedes. You'd just need to pay twice as much to get there, but where you are is good enough that you don't really feel like you need to.

Where do I start. Grill arrived extremely well packed and all parts were stowed tight. As I was assembling myself it took a few minutes to figure out how to get it off the pallet, but using the packing material I was able to leverage the grill to one side then the other. The assembly was straight forward (I am a handyman) and they provided the wrenches for tightening some nuts. All in all it took around 1.5 hours, but I was very methodical and careful to follow directions. Even if you are not handy, just go slow and take your time.The gas hose is a monster. It is really large but fits the large pipeline I had installed to my deck. It comes with a quick connect so all you have to do is find the right sort of fittings to put to your gas installation line. The Weber quick connect was perfect and I did not have any issues with the soap test.The first time I used the grill it heated up to750 degrees. Probably the large gas capacity, maybe the regulator set higher and clean surface made it hot. But after turning down the two outside burners, the grill was perfect for my test burgers. They cooked evenly and fairly fast. Since then I have grilled fish as well with excellent results. The grill has so many options it will take time to learn them all. I have not used the extra hot burner feature yet or rotisserie but am looking forward to it.If there is one complaint it is not the grill but the delivery company. The sales company shipped the grill from New Jersey to Maryland in two days, but it took the local company two weeks to bring it from their warehouse to Virginia. This was frustrating but in the end the sales company arranged for the delivery people to bring the grill up one flight of stairs to the deck so I did not have to struggle with it.All in all no matter what recipe I have or what I want to grill, this baby will do it. The grill is expensive (mine replaced a Thermador that I left in my old home) but with Weber I will always have parts and support. Highly recommended.

It’s big. It’s powerful. Its versatile. It’s the grill a my dreamsThe grill arrived on time with no hassle. The driver called my cell when he was 15 minutes out and 20 minutes later it was in my garage.It came on a plastic pallet and protected by heavy cardboard. The only hassle I had was getting it off the pallet with only the help of my wife (not recommended - the instructions clealy show 3 people). After a little cussing and trial and error we got it done though. Nobody hurt and no damage to the grill. I emptied all the hardware to make it easier to get it through the door to my rear patio.I took only a few minutes to complete the assembly of the grill. My gas feed was ready but required a couple mods to make the connection. (The grill comes with 1/2” quick connect fittings)Once connected to gas I checked for leaks with soapy water. When everything checked out, I fired her up. Wow! The grill has as much turn up or turn down as you could want.My first run was 1.5” strip steaks. The sear station worked perfectly. I was able to get a nice quick sear on both sides without over cooking. I then turned off the sear burner and turned down the burners on either side to finish the steaks. Perfect first time out. Nice char outside, juicy medium rare inside.The next day I tried a full rack of pork ribs. I loaded the ribs on the warming rack so they would get good smoke. I put presoaked chips and chunks of hickory in the smoke box. I found that by adjusting the dedicated smoker burner I could pretty much dail in as much or little smoke as I wanted. And by leaving one or two regular burners on low I could dail up or dial down the heat to whatever level I wanted. At last, a gas grill that can smoke without a lot of hassle!The Weber Summit is the best grill I have ever had. Given the high quality that Weber uses to manufacture it, I imagine it will be around a long time.