Do Gas Grills Get Hot Enough to Properly Brown Meat?

[cav-gJCNK6mV]

I have Weber Genesis II 210, about 3 years old, average use 2/3 times a month. I have l always found that it seems to barely get hot enough to brown the meat on the outside without over-cooking the middle. I've included a picture of steak right after I took it off of the grill. It's perfectly medium rare on the inside, but a little less brown on the outside than would seem ideal. What say you experts? Are gas grills just compromised this way? Do I not want it any browner? Something I'm doing wrong? I'm turning the meat relatively often, say every 90 seconds; I've found it cooks a lot more evenly that way, like it says here.

Separately, it does seem subjectively that it doesn't get as hot as it did when I first got it either. I've checked the ports and screens. Because I don't use it a ton, it's pretty clean inside. The flames look the same AFAICT. Anything else to check? What's the best way to measure temp?

Thanks!!

-Steve

[Bruce B]

This was done on a silly little Magma Newport grill that we take camping. It actually does a nice job. Sorry I can’t suggest why your grill isn’t happy. The only faults I have ever encountered with gas grills were spiders inside of tubes blocking gas flow and a faulty regulator once...

[RonB]

First, I think you would enjoy it more if it was browner. Since the grill is not getting the steak browned, heat up a CI pan and brown in that.

Second, call Weber customer service @ 800-446-1071 and ask them what you should do. Weber has great customer service.

[JimLinebarger]

How long do you let it warm up before cooking? Do you have an ambient probe thermometer to see what the temp is? Might try to find out what the max temp that you can get it to. Careful not to go over max temp of the probe.

If you don't have GrillGrates, and you have cast iron anything, could try that reverse sear.

My Blaze gasser gets really hot. Especially if I use GrillGrates. But with the standard grates it still sears well with the sear burner or with the standard. With the GrillGrates, I can get it up over 800F easily.

[Troutman]

Yea get some Grill Grates that should get you up to 500-600*, more than enough to get the sear you want.

But let me also ask, how are you cooking your steak? Are you cooking it two zone or trying to cook it by only directly searing it? Is that steak at least 1-1/2” thick? A thinner piece of meat is going to get done internally before a good sear can be established.

[SmokeyGator]

Mine does. I went with a Napoleon prestige pro with the side IR burner. That thing gets to over 1000 degrees.

[scottranda]

Nice!

[pkadare]

I have the same one and that IR side burner is outstanding!

[radshop]

Mine does. I went with a Napoleon prestige pro with the side IR burner. That thing gets to over 1000 degrees.

Nice!

cav-gJCNK6mV I'm not sure about the differences between my Genesis and yours, but I've got the 4 burner model (regular 3 plus the sear burner) and after 5 years it still gets plenty hot enough. Not sure what to say - sorry to hear, and from the looks of that steak I agree you should be able to do better.

[Dr. Pepper]

radshop I agree with you regarding the Sear Station on the Weber. If I turn that on plus the burners on each side of the sear station central burner, close the lid, and wait 10 minutes, I get a great place to finish my reverse seared steaks. I can get a great crust within 2-4 minutes, turning very 15 secs.

[SmokeyGator]

Try getting a flat iron griddle or even a skillet, removing the grates, and putting the cast iron directly on the whatever Weber calls the V shaped things that sit over the burners (flavorizer, anti-flare up, everyone calls them something different).

If that isn’t enough try changing the gas regulator. It’s simple to do. My old gasser had one replaced, with all burners on each one was really low, and I could only get true full blast it only one or maybe two were lit. Needless to say, this GREATLY effected the heat output.

Before replacement, try to reset the regulator. There are you tube videos showing how this is done.

[DiverDriver]

My pal bought a new grill. had same issue he had propane orifices running on natural gas. I bored them out and now his grill gets super hot.

[Razor]

That's a really good point. Make sure you have the right 'plumbing' for the fuel used. Not sure of the purchase history but I imagine getting the wrong version either through ignorance on the buyer or seller, especially if it came from a big box store. (Not being mean, I didn't know there was a difference until recently myself.)

[bkellyusa]

I hope there is a fix for your situation and I am sure there is. I have no expereince with them but from what others say the GrillGrates seems like the best thing to try next once you call Weber and see what they have to say.

I would have liked to buy one of the 200 series Weber Grills for its size convenience (we only use our grill for two people most times) but I was worried that it may really need the additional "sear" burner so I bought the Weber Genesis ii E335. I could have bought the Weber Spirit E335 which is the same layout as the Genesis ii but doesn't have the current burners so I spent the additional money to get those and some other small upgrades.

Anhow, i think your first move should be to call Weber. Good luck with getting this working like you want.

[Murdy]

Some like something isn't right. I have a Huntington (a.k.a., BroilKing) gasser that gets at least 800 degrees.

[jfmorris]

I have the 4 burner Genesis II, without sear burners, and if I preheat for 15 minutes, it will be 600-700 degrees by the time I put the food on. I cannot directly address your sear issues, as I only buy thick steaks, and always go with a reverse sear, using a 2 zone setup. On my gas grill, that means I just turn on 2 of the burners on my grill, leave them on high, and let the meat slowly come to about 120F on the indirect end of the grill. THEN I put them on blazing hot Grillgrates (the flat side) and get a nice brown crust, turning about once per minute. You can get the same result by putting a cast iron skillet on your grill, and letting it heat up.

I've got an older 2 burner Genesis (circa 2002), also outfitted with Grillgrates, and those made a huge difference in the ability to sear and get a nice crust on meats.

I would suggest as a test putting a cast iron skillet on your Genesis II 2 burner, letting it heat up, and try searing the steaks in it. If you want to cook at lower temp, do a front sear, to get a nice crust, THEN lower the temperature and move the steaks to the regular grate if you want.

[Willy]

The correct first step is to call Weber as others have stated.

[glitchy]

I bought a Weber Spirit 200 - to replace a 20 year old Silver A - on a MCS binge during Wal-Mart's end of season clearance a couple years ago. I even already had GrillGrates the right depth and just had to order a gap piece to get full coverage after I used it a few times without. I was still very unimpressed with the lack of good temps I could achieve, so I sold it. Sadly, I had sold the Silver A as soon as I brought the Spirit home.

I missed having a gasser for quick meals, so after some research I recently bought a Spirit e-330 with 3 burners plus sear burner and side burner (I believe a model they are discontinuing, but still have some stock of). That thing will easily bury the lid Thermometer without GrillGrates and the sear burner on (700+). I've been cooking very well seared/browned 8oz ribeyes in 5-6 mins. It maxed out the thermometer with just the 3 regular burners on too.

I know that doesn't help with your current grill, all I can suggest is make sure it's well protected from the wind and try the things others suggested (GrillGrates, cast iron, calling Weber, etc.). The two burner Webers just seem a little under-powered for getting to and holding higher temps especially if there's any wind working through it.