Need some advice. Grill, or what for beef steaks?

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My son gave me a charcoal grill, but Ive never cooked with charcoal and sounds like a learning curve. How do you shut it off lol?

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You use Lump charcoal and shut the vents when you're finished cooking. The fire goes out and you can reuse the leftover charcoal for the next cook. You can pile your lump on one side of the grill and have a two zone fire.

While not a Weber I have a 30 YO gas grill that the mfg. has gone out of business. Yet I can still buy replacement parts and do so when needed. Buy some new grates, burners, and flavorizer bars etc. Then you're good for several years if your valves are good. Try these folks as a resource for parts.


One more suggestion I'd make is to buy at least one or two sections of GrillGrates from the following vendor if you like grill marks.


They also sell griddle plates that double as quick thaw plates.
 
Thanks folks.. My summit silver flavorizer bars center piece is busted in four places. The burner flame cross over tubes are practically rusted in half, and that's all I know since I never fired it up. Way to big for one steak too.

My son gave me a charcoal grill, but Ive never cooked with charcoal and sounds like a learning curve. How do you shut it off lol?

My X used to cook for the family, and my mom rip before that, so... Yeah.

Ive been eating all you can eat at the U of I dorm dining halls where I work because I live alone, and you cant beat my 50% discount.. But the dining halls serve frankenburgers, so Ive been eating their chicken breasts and fried eggs everyday, so I need some real beef steaks on the weekends. They have great fruits, vegetables, ice cream and cookies though.

I'm thinking a single propane burner and a frying pan is all I need.. Or maybe a George Foreman grill?

Thanks again..
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i just did a quick google and saw Lowes, had the charbroil Grill-to-go (x200) on sale for $119. Mine is over7 years old and still works like a charm. temps are hot and you need to keep the grate clean, but we also use it on the boat nd take it to campground when 4 wheeling. if you have any extra college money there's also the weber Q1000 i think) a lot of my boat buddies use them. anyway good luck. good high heat for steak is imperative.
Grill on!
 
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you probably already have done so, but don't forget about looking on craigslist type places or garage sales if there are ever any around your area. can maybe find a good used one cheap.
 
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Not too bad of shape for its age.
A good pressure washing to blast off all the gunk inside and out.
Then a set of new burner tubes and a regulator/hose assembly and she'll be good as new.
You really don't need new flavorizer bars just because the center support bar is gone.
Hopefully, the valves are still good because those are hard to come by and a real PITA to teardown and rebuild.


Also, you don't need to run both sides of the grill at the same time.

I fired up the summit silver today. The valves seem fine, nice and smooth and the regulator and hose look ok. But the igniter doesn't work, but I don't have a problem lighting the burner with a cheap long reach butane lighter, which I light with a bic lighter.. lol. Or my map gas torch that the ignitor works.

Anyway, I found weber #85661 burner kit at thebbqdepot for $80 but still need $20 more for free shipping.. Whats the best tool for cleaning the burners holes? And why did my cross over tubes rust if weber used stainless steel? Also, is there any long reach lighters that are good quality and last like my bernzomatic propane torch has?

Thanks Second hand smoker.
 
I fired up the summit silver today. The valves seem fine, nice and smooth and the regulator and hose look ok. But the igniter doesn't work, but I don't have a problem lighting the burner with a cheap long reach butane lighter, which I light with a bic lighter.. lol. Or my map gas torch that the ignitor works.

Anyway, I found weber #85661 burner kit at thebbqdepot for $80 but still need $20 more for free shipping.. Whats the best tool for cleaning the burners holes? And why did my cross over tubes rust if weber used stainless steel? Also, is there any long reach lighters that are good quality and last like my bernzomatic propane torch has?

Thanks Second hand smoker.
I'd either order a new igniter or just use your torch.

Ryan
 
I fired up the summit silver today. The valves seem fine, nice and smooth and the regulator and hose look ok. But the igniter doesn't work, but I don't have a problem lighting the burner with a cheap long reach butane lighter, which I light with a bic lighter.. lol. Or my map gas torch that the ignitor works.

Anyway, I found weber #85661 burner kit at thebbqdepot for $80 but still need $20 more for free shipping.. Whats the best tool for cleaning the burners holes? And why did my cross over tubes rust if weber used stainless steel? Also, is there any long reach lighters that are good quality and last like my bernzomatic propane torch has?

Thanks Second hand smoker.

That's good news about the valves.
I've used a steel brush before to clean the burner tube holes.
Just don't get too hard and aggressive with the brush.
Salt, moisture, grease, heat, and chemicals will cause stainless steel to eventually rust.
Personally, I would just replace them with a new set and be done with it since Weber considers the burners to be expendable.
It's your call if you want to replace the igniter module or just use a long reach lighter. But look at it this way, if you replace the burner tubes, you'll already have access to replace the igniter module etc.
 
Cadt iron pan on a propane burner works.

Get a decent turkey fryer setup.

If it has a timer, you can always bypass it.

You can use the burner for heating your cast iron, as well as using the fryer pot for sweet corn, salt potatoes....
 
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That's good news about the valves.
I've used a steel brush before to clean the burner tube holes.
Just don't get too hard and aggressive with the brush.
Salt, moisture, grease, heat, and chemicals will cause stainless steel to eventually rust.
Personally, I would just replace them with a new set and be done with it since Weber considers the burners to be expendable.
It's your call if you want to replace the igniter module or just use a long reach lighter. But look at it this way, if you replace the burner tubes, you'll already have access to replace the igniter module etc.
I spent the afternoon cleaning it, and now I understand why many say buy a cheap grill and throw it away when it starts acting up. I might be half done.

What I found, was that the burners look ok, and only the cross over tubes have fallen apart. So my plan is to find some threaded plugs to plug the cross over tube holes in the burners since I'm lighting it with a torch anyway. Would brass npt plugs be ok? I didn't realize the igniter needs a battery, so maybe they will operate and then I could relocate one igniter at the second burner since most of the time I'm alone and only need half of the grill. Any tips on removing the igniter? It's in there pretty good.

So yes, I am a master cobbler and I might be grilling a t-bone here pretty soon with zero dollars invested in the weber.

Thanks for giving me the motivation to do this second hand smoker. It felt good sweating away instead of researching all the bad news lately.

Long pair of tongs or needle nose pliers holding a match will also work to light it if you don't want to replace the igniter.
I used to light the grill I had before the weber with my propane torch, so Ive got that covered. That grill was a freebee as well, but the pedestal finally rusted through and broke off after twenty more years.
Cast iron pan on a propane burner works.

Get a decent turkey fryer setup.

If it has a timer, you can always bypass it.

You can use the burner for heating your cast iron, as well as using the fryer pot for sweet corn, salt potatoes....
I was looking for a burner on legs with no luck, but I'll have this grill up and running here soon hopefully. Id like to find a burner on stainless legs. I found a few double burners, but they all had steel legs.

Thanks everyone!
 
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S spaz Nothing like a little sweat equity to save $.
Sounds like you're making good progress.
To remove the igniters, bend down the top tab on the sheet metal gas catcher and bend the white wire up. Push the igniter thru the firebox. Take a good look at the gas catchers. If they're corroded/rotted out, then you guessed it...new igniter assemblies!
Using a torch to light the grill now sounds like the less costly option especially if you plug the cross over tube holes in the burners. Keep in mind that you may need to adjust the air shutters on each burner tube for proper flame height etc.

That is my old Silver B in my avatar. Looking back, I can kick myself for letting that grill go.

Keep us posted on the progress.
 
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S spaz Nothing like a little sweat equity to save $.
That is my old Silver B in my avatar. Looking back, I can kick myself for letting that grill go.

Yeah, but when I look back on all my projects intended to save money, I was probably making like five bucks an hour, or less.. Plus I have a painful lump in the ring finger of my right hand this morning..

But they don't make um like they used to. What's different about the new silver B's?
 
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Glad to see you've dove into the 'project'. No doubt you've discovered a fair amount is replaceable if you want to spend both the money and time. Not a fan of the idea plugging up where the cross overs fell apart. Personally, that one to me is a must replace situation.
 
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If you want to learn outdoor cooking I believe a Weber kettle grill is what anyone should buy first. Flavor of charcoal is vastly superior to gas in my opinion. You will learn solid heat management via airflow and can do anything from grill steaks and burgers to smoke a butt or brisket.
 
What's different about the new silver B's?
If I recall correctly, Weber discontinued this particular Genesis design in the early 2000's, so no new ones.
The newer redesigned Genesis lines have the burner tubes running up and down instead of left to right, different ignition systems, and they changed how all grills were designated. Instead of A,B,C Weber changed over to number designations such as E-330 for instance.
Honestly, I do not care much for the newer designs. Don't get me wrong, they are great for grilling, but, not so much for low and slow since the increased air flow (safety reasons) really screwed up the perfect front to back air draw on the older models where the burners ran left to right. I never really could get the results I was looking for from the EP-330.
I finally migrated back to charcoal after sawhorseray sawhorseray kept twisting my arm until I cried uncle. 😂🤣😂
I will fire up the EP-330 for cooks once in a blue moon just to blow the cobwebs out (metaphorically speaking).
 
Wow, what a long day. Finally got it back together after disassembling and cleaning everything. I used 1/8" brass npt plugs in the old cross over holes after tapping the burners. Nice and tight no gas leakage or flame there.

Its tooling along at 475 with valves about half open. Im going to call it a day and fine tune the burners later, but the flame looked ok after I poked each hole out with a paper clip.

Thanks everyone.
 
Wow, what a long day. Finally got it back together after disassembling and cleaning everything. I used 1/8" brass npt plugs in the old cross over holes after tapping the burners. Nice and tight no gas leakage or flame there.

Its tooling along at 475 with valves about half open. Im going to call it a day and fine tune the burners later, but the flame looked ok after I poked each hole out with a paper clip.

Thanks everyone.

Take your time.
Thanks for the update.
 
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A new Weber Summit is over $2000. There is no way I'm ever going to have one. It's like a V-12 Mercedes to me. But if I get one like you did, of the Vintage you did, wow would I be proud to fix it up and get it running! Not everyone thinks that way but we're all different.

Igniters only seem to last 3-5 years. I never bother replacing them when Walmart sells those long-snout lighters for $1. And if you need to replace the burner assembly every 25 years for $80-100, well, parts for an old Mercedes aren't cheap either. But it sounds like you got this running with the pocketbook shut...good on you.

I'd have suggested a couple small pieces of steel roofing flashing, that I'd have formed over a screw driver shank to make a patch to roll over those two bad spots in your cross-bars and then use a half-inch dia small band clamp to seal them over the holes. I'm not sure I understand how you fixed it so would love some updated pics.

I've enjoyed reading your posts. Please hang around our forum.
 
A new Weber Summit is over $2000. There is no way I'm ever going to have one. It's like a V-12 Mercedes to me. But if I get one like you did, of the Vintage you did, wow would I be proud to fix it up and get it running! Not everyone thinks that way but we're all different.

Igniters only seem to last 3-5 years. I never bother replacing them when Walmart sells those long-snout lighters for $1. And if you need to replace the burner assembly every 25 years for $80-100, well, parts for an old Mercedes aren't cheap either. But it sounds like you got this running with the pocketbook shut...good on you.

I'd have suggested a couple small pieces of steel roofing flashing, that I'd have formed over a screw driver shank to make a patch to roll over those two bad spots in your cross-bars and then use a half-inch dia small band clamp to seal them over the holes. I'm not sure I understand how you fixed it so would love some updated pics.

I've enjoyed reading your posts. Please hang around our forum.
Thanks Bill1.

I had no idea the summit cost that much, so I just ran outside and wheeled it between my house and the neighbors since I have a corner lot. I need to ask my buddy to help me get it up on my deck so nobody gets any ideas. Good neighborhood though. I am proud, but the work took about 17 hours in the last two days and my back is only now starting to feel better.

A little back story on who gave it to me.. Ive known her since about 1979 and she inherited over a million when she was in high school after her mom passed back in the eighties. She basically squandered it all away and now works for subway . I'm guessing she just didn't want to clean and repair it and wanted it off her deck. I jumped at the chance to take it when she offered it.

I bought four 1/8 npt plugs which cost about 10 bucks.

I'll take some pictures this week to show you kind folks what I did, and the damage it still has.

Mike
 
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Busy week with all the students moving into the dorms. I do maintenance.

Today was slower considering I'm responsible for 1000 rooms, so my feet didn't hurt as much. So I took some Wenol polish to the SS top after work and chow at the dining hall. Brushed stainless is hard to get clean compared to chrome, but here it is.. I'm still not done, but I wonder why I'm so proud of this grill. But its no regular grill, its a weber, so you guys are rubbing off on me.

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Busy week with all the students moving into the dorms. I do maintenance.

Today was slower considering I'm responsible for 1000 rooms, so my feet didn't hurt as much. So I took some Wenol polish to the SS top after work and chow at the dining hall. Brushed stainless is hard to get clean compared to chrome, but here it is.. I'm still not done, but I wonder why I'm so proud of this grill. But its no regular grill, its a weber, so you guys are rubbing off on me.

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Mike,
She sure cleaned up nicely. Looks like a million bucks!
Nice job.

Stu
 
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