And though stainless steel grates are more rust-resistant than cast-iron ones, it’s still a good idea to follow this cleaning advice to keep them in tip-top shape. If you have limited outdoor space or don’t want to commit to a larger grill, the Weber Spirit char broil performance II E-210 is a smaller, two-burner version of our pick, and it’s a great choice. The Spirit II E-210’s smaller grate (measuring 360 square inches, compared with the Spirit II E-310’s 424 square inches) might make grilling for a crowd a challenging endeavor.
That makes it much easier to install a new tank and unhook an old one, because you’re not scrabbling around a small, dark enclosure to find the hoses and brackets. This design also allowed Weber to put a sturdy shelf under the grill—a handy place to store pans, bags of wood chips, a small cooler, and other stuff you may need while grilling. Plus, one of the side tables folds down, making the grill more compact for storage char broil performance when it’s not in use (it’s 43 inches wide with the table down). For our 2022 update, we relied mainly on market research and meta-analysis. Most new grills worth considering are still produced by the same companies whose products we’ve tested in previous years. And with each new version of the models we’re familiar with, the most important characteristics—such as quality of materials and construction—are the same.
One of them, the Spirit S-315, is similar to the Spirit II E-310 (our pick) with regard to the specs, and with a few cosmetic differences—and higher price tag. The S-315 has a slightly higher Btu output than our pick (32,000 Btu versus 30,000 Btu, respectively). But other than those minor variations, it looks like the S-315 would perform about the same as our pick—and wouldn’t be worth the higher price. Next time you cook, brush the cold, soot-covered grills clean, wipe them with a wet paper towel or rag, and then proceed. That goes against the common advice to clean the grates while they’re hot. Salvaggio has found that cleaning hot grates more easily damages the porcelain coating on cast iron, allowing rust to form.
We think a three-burner grill is large enough for most needs, with plenty of space to cook for a family dinner or a backyard BBQ. Grills with more burners are usually overkill, and two-burner grills can feel cramped. Gas grills run on either liquid propane (most common) or natural gas—both fossil fuels. Though both are relatively clean-burning fuels, propane emits fewer greenhouse pollutants than natural gas—though the difference is negligible. However, propane is more efficient because it burns hotter than natural gas.
The small grease tray slides out from the front and disposable foil liners are available. Simply scrape any accumulated grease and gunk from the funnel walls into the tray now and then. For the most part, Spirit’s GS4 Grilling System is similar to the previous Spirit line.