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A quality tailgating experience basically comes down to the grill. We all have high hopes of being that top chef who can provide that five star barbecue feast for our fellow tailgaters. But this is not possible if you don’t have the right equipment. That’s probably why you are checking out Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill reviews to determine whether this is the grill that will make you the king of the pre-game festivities.
Well, at Simply Tailgating, we do the homework so you don’t have to. If you want to know the good, the bad and outright ugly about this grill, we have it all here in this Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill review. Unfortunately, not everything in this review is positive. So before you reach for your wallet, you may want to read this review carefully.
About Weber Grills:
Company Highlights
- Company Name: Weber-Stephen Products LLC
- URL: Weber.com
- Address: Palatine, Illinois
- Founder: George A. Stephen
American manufacturer of charcoal, gas and electric grills, Weber-Stephen Products, LLC was founded by George A. Stephen in 1893. Their premier product was an improvement of the family’s homemade brazier nicknamed “Sputnik”. The company’s first commercial grill was the “George’s Barbecue Kettle” for which there was considerable demand in and around the company’s Illinois headquarters. They went on to become one of America’s most popular grill makers and the rest, as they say, is history.
Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill Features:
Feature Highlights
- Fuel Source: 20lb propane tank
- Cooking Capacity: 424 sq. in primary; 105 sq. in warming rack
- Burners: 3 stainless steel, combined 30,000 BTUs
- Construction: porcelain enameled lid, cast iron grates, cookbox, metal frame
- Elevation: Stand-up
- Size & Weight: 44.5″H X 52″W X 27″D; 114lbs
- Assembly: Required
Shopping for a grill sometimes requires more time and patience than parenthood. But an equipment’s outstanding features should narrow down your options. So, here’s what the Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill is made of:
Porcelain-Enameled Cast Iron Cooking Grates – Cast iron grates are known to withhold and distribute heat effectively. With this model, you get a reversible grate with thin stripes on one half and flat ones on the other. The thin side is best for delicate foods, like salmon and other fish, while the flat side sears your meat superbly with attractive grill marks.
Open Cart Design – The grill’s open-cart design lays bare everything you need for convenient grilling, with easy access to the grill’s cooking space, tools, accessories and controls at an arm’s reach.
Folding side table with integrated hooks – The grill has side tables on either side giving you more serving space, while the left side table folds down for extra room when transporting. There are also three hooks on either side for your grilling tools.
GS4 Grilling System – This is a special from Weber. The power behind the grill incorporates an infinity ignition system, 3 stainless steel burners, flavorizer bars and grease management system beneath the cookbox, making up the GS4 Grilling System.
Other Notable Features:
- Built-in lid thermometer
- Porcelain enameled lid
- Fuel gauge
- Panel frame
- iGrill 3 Compatible digital thermometer (sold separately)
Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill Cleaning & Maintenance:
It’s sinful not to do right by your grill, as failing to properly maintain it is a sure way of shedding some years off its use. The Weber Spirit II may be a little hard to clean given the grill’s overall design, but the GS4 Grilling system eases things up a little bit. With that in mind, here’s how you clean the Weber Spirit II:
Exterior Cleaning – The lid is porcelain enameled so warm soapy water and a scrub should restore the shine. You can use a grill brush and warm water to clean the cookbox and legs. The drip pan is stainless steel, so a stainless steel cleaner should clean it after you empty the pan. Same case for the side tables.
Interior Cleaning – Here’s where things get tricky. The interior is all mashed up with parts that disassemble including the grates, warming rack, burners and grease management system. You’ll want to clean the porcelain-enameled cast iron grates in warm, soapy water, then season with vegetable oil before setting it for storage.
The cookbox area is designed to lead food debris and grease into the removable catch pan beneath it so you can scrape everything down to the removable drip tray, then empty the tray. The flavorizer bars are also cast iron, so seasoning them after cleaning with warm soapy water would be necessary to keep off rust. You can occasionally wipe the burners with a damp cloth concluding the grill’s overall cleaning regime.
Storage – Always store outdoor propane grills somewhere outdoors. That said, once you’re done cleaning the grill and it’s completely dried off, tuck it under its grill cover until your next use. If you don’t have this model’s cover, you can get it on Amazon for a little under $60.
Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill Portability:
You can’t shop for a tailgating grill without considering how portable it is. You don’t want something bulky with a gawkish transportation feel, but at the same time light grills tend to be fragile. So, it’s all about finding common ground. The Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill weighs 114 pounds, but the wheels should ease up the muscle strength required to move it around.
With that said, the grill is quite large compared to the likes of the Weber Smokey Joe and Q2200. It measures 44.5 inches high and 52 inches wide so you’ll need tons of trunk space to transport it without tearing it apart. Perhaps collapsible legs would have made things easier but unfortunately that’s not the case with the Spirit E-310. Ultimately, it’s up to you to find the balance, as you decide whether this grill is tailgate-worthy with regard to portability.
Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill Warranty:
A grill’s warranty options should tell you how confident the manufacturer is with the grill’s versatility and durability. With the Weber Spirit II E-310, you get a generous 10 years excluding normal wear and tear. But that’s of course subject to additional terms and conditions in the warranty.
That’s why it’s always good to do your shopping where you’re confident that you’ll get good customer service and easy returns in case you run into problems. So I would recommend you buy this grill on Amazon where you’re guaranteed quality products backed by efficient customer service and hassle free returns.
Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill Accessories:
If you don’t consider your accessory options while shopping for grills, you waive your right to have fun while exploring your equipment’s full potential. With the Weber Spirit II E-310 Grill, you can accessorize with the following additions.
Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill Replacement Parts:
You do yourself an injustice if you get a grill with no replaceable parts. What happens if something breaks or simply succumbs to wear and tear? Well, with the Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill, here’s what you can replace:
- Igniter kit
- Burner tube set
- Flavorizer bars
- iGrill 3 thermometer
- Drip pan
- Grates
Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill Cost:
Getting the right grill for the right price can seem like a gamble as you can never be too sure that you’re getting the best deal. The Weber Spirit 300 Series will set you back a little under $500. But if we’re comparing prices for the Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill, Amazon.com would be the best choice. You even get deals and offers like free shipping with the 1-3 Day Delivery for Prime members.
What Do We Like?
If you’ve been following our grills reviews then you know we love us some Weber. Well, the Spirit II E-310 doesn’t fall short as a favorite, with a couple of pretty interesting positives including:
Amazing grilling power – Besides getting some 10,000 BTUs an hour from each burner, you have a grate that can conveniently roast salmon and sear steaks at the same time, flavorizer bars that double up as flame tamers to avoid flare ups and a thermometer for accurate cooking.
Innovative design – The Spirit 300 Series is a work of art, with Weber taking a pretty good shot at making a truly innovative product. It doesn’t score great in terms of portability, but you can’t take away the fact that you get a functional, superbly designed grill.
The Infinity Ignition, 30,000 BTU burners, flavorizer bars, and grease management system making up their “GS4 Grilling System” is simply great. These components are designed to ensure that every aspect of your grilling experience is easy and reliable, while contributing to the general maintenance and longevity of the grill.
Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill Complaints:
We promised at the beginning of this review to tell you everything you need to know about the Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill, including the bad and ugly. So read the following complaints and decide for yourself whether this grill is worth your money:
Assembly is a nightmare – The assembly of this grill is a painful 50-step process that takes you through heavy lifting, plenty of bolting and screwing, back and forth with customer service in case you can’t figure out how to put it together and left-over parts (that some customers couldn’t figure out where they fit in). In the end, this is not a grill you can assemble on your own if you’re doing it for the first time.
Some components rust easily – The cookbox, warming rack and flame tamers (flavoring bars) may rust if you don’t regularly season them. Also, it seems in the end the grill will rust if you live in a humid area. So you may want to ensure you get the grill cover to protect it.
Quality Control Issues – A good number of customers were concerned about the quality of some parts of the grill. In some cases, the igniter and electric components fail requiring replacement, while the knobs feel shaky and weak wearing down only after a couple of months of use.
Other Tailgating Grills You May Like:
It’s hard to look past Weber for a truly reliable grill. All the same, here are a couple of Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill alternatives you may like:
- Weber Q1000 – Lightweight, portable, tabletop alternative
- Broil King Steel Keg – Great grilling power, no assembly required
- Weber Go Anywhere Gas Grill – Portable, stand-up grill
- Char-Broil Grill2Go – Cheaper, durable great grilling power
Should You Buy The Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill?
The Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill might just be the secret weapon you need to take your grilling game to a whole new level. While you may have to rethink your transport options to get this beast to the game, it shouldn’t be hard getting restaurant quality meals once you’re all set up.
Gas grills are great for searing, but they tend to flare up, which can be a bummer. So they added flame tamers to avoid burning your food. Again, it can be pretty hard to accurately cook with 30,000 BTUs but with Weber’s iGrill 3 thermometer you shouldn’t have a problem locking in the juices of your meat.
It may feel bittersweet to restore the grill’s shine and it seems they knew that, and probably why they developed the GS4 Grilling System. On the flip side, some customers had trouble assembling the grill, while others felt the quality should be better, but the positives obviously outweigh the negatives so you may want to take the complaints with a grain of salt.
Overall, the Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill is a great tailgating grill with ignorable shortfalls. If you’re considering buying it, you can get it on Amazon.com where you get deals, discounts and offers like the FREE Guaranteed 1-3 Day Amazon Delivery if you’re a Prime member.
What’s Hot
- Great grilling power
- Amazing overall design
What’s Not
- Some parts rust easily
- Complicated assembly process
- Questionable quality control
Well, that’s my opinion about the Weber Spirit II E-310 Gas Grill. What’s yours? Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments section below. If you have more questions about the grill, you may find answers in the FAQs section in the product’s Amazon page.
Chris