New To BBQ

[Sweaty Paul]

Salutations from Hays, Kansas!

[Dr J]

Welcome from Northern California coast

[Kingrex]

I have been using the new grill. I have 2 of the Saber grill plates. To use them effectively, I have 4 x 1/4" aluminum bar on top of the Weber flavorizer bars. The Saber grates sit on there. They like to be right on the heat. The Saber grills need less gas to get to the same temperature as the open Weber grill grates. All I have done is fish, burgers and vegetables.

The burgers were really hard to tell the difference between the Saber and Weber grates. No flavor difference that is. Appearance goes to Saber with clean even grill marks.

Fish is great on the Saber grates as I get them hot and drop the fish skin side down on them. Then I kill the heat under the Saber grates and turn up the heat on the open Weber grate side and make an oven of heat. The bottom turns our crunchy and the meat is cooked through.

Cedar plank Salmon is best on the Weber grate side alone.

Vegetables are confusing to me. It appears the heat on the Saber side is caught up in the grates themselves. That is why it get grill marks. What this seems to mean is, if a vegetable is not touching the grate directly, there is less heat passing by it and it takes a long while to cook. The plus side is the vegetables do not fall through into the fire so you can be sloppy on top of the grill with no worry. Do keep a shish kabob rod handy to get into the grates and pull up veggies that slip in between.

I have not tried to char a bell pepper, but my comment above would lead me to believe the Weber side would do a better job. The heat moves around a lot more. Not sure as I have not done it, but that is my assumption.

I did a low and slow ribs with just the Weber grates across the whole top. That worked great.

I have also taken the bottom plate to the Saber grills off the grill and laid the Saber grill grates themselves on the Weber top as grates are suppose to be. Not across the flavorizer bars. The Saber grates do use less gas to get to the same hamburger cooking temperature. I kind of like them this way. Its closer to mimicking those super thick square stock bars on other grills.

What did I get. I got some versatility. Is it worth it. I think so. I am still learning.

[STEbbq]

Congrats on the purchase! I will be interested to see how the Saber grates perform on the Weber, and it sounds like you are ready to experiment and come back and share the results!

[Kingrex]

Well I bought a grill. I bought the Weber Genesis II S 435. And I bought 2 of the Saber Grill grates. I went into my local grill store and I moved the saber grill tops from the saber onto the Weber. I have never seen a better fit. Its perfect. Andy they were only $90 each. I bought 2. They cover half the grill perfect. They are much like a Grill Grate but made of high quality SS. If I have some air movement issue, I can use just 1 and air will move all over. I will get it figured out. My stuff does not arrive for a couple weeks so I won't have feedback for a while.

[Santamarina]

Welcome from California! You’ve come to the right place for input on your next cooker. Just remember: cookers are not like a wife…you can have multiple cookers for multiple cooking styles and the other one won’t get mad!

[Attjack]

Gas with GrillGrates so you can toss wood chips in the valleys, or gas and a Weber kettle.

[jfmorris]

Kingrex I've got a Genesis II 4 burner (the E-410). It's got very even heat distribution across the cooking surface for a gas grill - I've owned Weber gas grills for 20 years and used them longer (my dad bought a Weber gasser back in 1984), and my general experience is that they have pretty even heat distribution compared to many gassers. And they are certainly more affordable than the Saber grills.

Since I have other smokers, I don't often do indirect on the Genesis II. But I have. I reverse sear steaks by turning on 1 or 2 burners and putting the steaks on the other end of the grill until they reach 120F. I then put them over the burner at the other end, which is on high, and sear them. I've also "baked" pizzas by turning on the end burners and cooking in the center indirect area. That works with the standard Weber stainless or porcelain coated cast iron grates, as well as with the aluminum grillgrates. Grillgrate brand grates have to have the panels detached if you want an indirect zone however due to the fact that they conduct heat if connected. I just remove a few panels and use my original Weber grates when doing indirect.

I see problems with trying to retrofit the Saber IR grates onto a Genesis II. The main issue being that you do need a certain amount of airflow for the grill to operate properly. Where the Weber grates are wide open, and Grillgrates have many fairly large holes in the valleys, the Saber grates I have seen are almost solid, with a some pretty small slots in them. And fact is, high odds you won't find them in the 18.8" depth you need for the Weber.

If you want searing performance on the Weber gas grills, you have a few options. First - get one with a sear burner, that will boost the heat at that end of the grill. I don't have that on mine, and use the flat side of Grillgrates, which is the second option to increase searing performance. And third - just put a cast iron griddle down on top of the grates, or some other griddle. Nothing beats the searing performance of screaming hot cast iron.

For indirect performance - my son and father both have a 3 burner Weber Spirit grill, and smoke ribs quite successfully by turning on one burner, and putting the ribs at the other end, and using wood chips in a foil packet over the lit burner. In my book though, it wastes a lot of propane to smoke ribs for 5-6 hours on a gas grill, and I'll do that task on a charcoal grill. I have roasted hams and other type items on the gasser indirectly just fine though. Temperature control was not that difficult.

The Webers will work great with or without Grillgrates, so don't get too hung up on those. Where I think they help is as a flat griddle surface (the flat side), and for reducing flareups if you want to cook a grill really loaded down with lots of high fat food. I grilled on my first Weber for 15 years without them, just fine. I ordered them after a July 4th cookout where the old 2002 Genesis Silver A 2 burner grill experienced a grease fire cooking a bunch of 80/20 burgers - to be fair I hadn't cleaned the grill in a while either... so that could happen to any grill.

Before I had off to bed, one last thing. You are trying to avoid aluminum for personal reasons, but many if not most gas grills use a cast aluminum firebox for the main body, even if they use stainless elsewhere. I saw your comment elsewhere about the PK charcoal grill with that concern. Even the high end $2500 Weber Summit gas grills use a cast aluminum firebox. I think the idea of heat causing aluminum molecules to leave the anodized inner surface of the grill and migrate to your food by riding the heat is pretty much scientifically impossible, and is not something I would be worrying about. The anodizing pretty much seals the surface at the molecular level.

[Kingrex]

So here is a crazy idea. I can get a Genesis II, and in it will fit Saber SS grill grates. The saber is somewhat like grill grates, but made of SS. I am thinking of going this way. I can have a very stable temp grill across the top to cook on. I can also do the slower indirect cook.

[STEbbq]

If your budget allows, maybe MAK. A 1-star is 2.2k

https://makgrills.com/

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/pellet-cookers/mak-grills/1010300-glitchy-s-mak-2-star-first-cooking-impressions

[Kingrex]

I would not say Saber is lacking. As in you should get better. Its very good quality and will do a certain few tricks very well. I am personally looking for a little more versatility.

[STEbbq]

I don’t know very much about Saber, but for 2k I’d be expecting a lot better than what you outlined for sure.

[STEbbq]

Well the OG Grilla’s design allows for very even heat distribution and a $16 stainless steel BBQ tray will hold ya veggies.

[Kingrex]

So I went and looked at a Saber grill today. Have any of you used it. The basis for these is individual encased burner enclosures with infrared grills on top. What does that mean. It means these grills have amazing heat distribution right on top of the grill. But there is 0 air circulation below the grill as the 3 or 4 burners are in a sealed compartment. And there is little heat that builds up in the closed cover. It does not act as an oven. Its just a surface to cook on. Because of this, I don't see any way to indirect cook.

Unless I got the entry Select series. This has open burners in one large chamber. This model also has shields over the burners so you could remove the tight fitting infrared plates and just use the grill grates. But, the unit is not really designed to have that space open and drips will be more an issue to clean and manage.

So, is there a grill like a Genesis II that maybe has better heat distribution for indirect cooking. One that can also do a low and slow temperature. But also a quick ramp time to do something like a reverse sear. I don't know I want aluminum Grill Grates. If they were steel I would be much more interested at this time.

What the Saber does have going for it is the grill top will do vegetables very well. They wont fall through the grates. They cant. It will do any meat that wants quick heat like chicken and steak. I just cant see it doing Ribs well. Its totally limited in that respect. A weber will do both, but the surface is not as even a heat and vegetable take more finesse to handle and not loose into the inferno.

[N227GB]

+2

I highly recommend GrilGrates! See the link in the sidebar on the left for a review.