Food with Passion is gearing up for the Al Fresco dining season.Our Sunshine Legend gas barbecue has stood us in good stead for the last 10 years, but the problem with cast iron burners is that they rust and decay over time and ours had decayed to a point of no return.
We have also been experimenting with food smoking using a small starter smoker (Brinkmann) and been having fun with that (some articles to follow), but the problem with the little Brinkmann smoker is that you need to babysit it and keep adding charcoal, so we wanted something that required a bit less attention.
A little bit of research revealed that the Weber S450 receives rave reviews.. This is not a cheap barbecue but it ticked all of our boxes and some more
With guarantees on the parts for up to 25 years, Weber is placing a lot of faith in the S450.
The Weber Summit 450 was a new addition to their barbecue range in 2007 and came with a Recommended Retail Price tag of £1499, but we found the Weber Summit 450 for a bargain £1349.99 including Free Delivery back in 2007.
Sadly, the exchange rates have not been kind and the RRP for the Weber has increased to a massive £2299, however there are still good discounts to be found (see price comparison below).
If you are serious about barbecues, then this is one serious barbecue. Food with Passion has now owned our barbecue for 3 years (2007-10) and you can see our review below
Weber Summit S450 – build and use impressions
Our old Sunshine Legend barbeque grill was disintegrating to a pile of rust, especially the burners which were of cast iron construction.
It was time to look for a new grill that offered much greater flexibility and durability than our outgoing one.
Many hours poring through forums and reviews left the author convinced that the right barbecue for him was the Weber Summit S450.
Why this Grill?
- The convenience and control that Gas offers
- Flavorizer TM bars to produce extra flavour
- The inclusion of a food-smoking basket
- a seperate side burner
- an Infra-red rotisserie
- a double skinned hood to allow for serious roasting without hood warping
- solid durable construction
- Stainless Steel burner assemblies
- it is effectively self-cleaning
- Weber 25 year guarantee (different parts have different warranted lifetimes)
All these points convinced me that this was the right family of grill to select. It is rightly named the Summit range
, for it truly reflects a peak. It does have a larger brother in the S650, but for a family of 4, the S450 is plenty big enough. Unless you have many large barbeque parties, in which case you may wish to consider the Summit 650, then don’t spend extra cash onthe S450′sbig brother.
So what does it look like delivered? Yes ….. we really did spend our hard-earned cash on this. This is no review freebie.
The carton/pallet weighs a stonking 120kg, so make sure that your delivery driver places it roughly where you want it, allowing enough space to lift the S450 from the plastic pallet it sits on and onto the ground alongside.
The quick start manual does say that it needs 3 people to unpack, and I have to heartily agree. Whilst two people grab opposite ends of the grill and LIFT……grunt!!, the third person has the relatively easy task of dislodging the plastic pallet that also contains the heavy grill bars and pulling that to one side, allowing two exhausted grill carriers to lower it down to the ground again and enjoy a well-earned beer.
However, once the packing case is removed, you immediately start to appreciate the craftmanship and durability of the Weber S450.
The Grill is delivered pretty well constructed already, with only minimal DIY build required. Apart from slotting in bars and grills, the only parts that you will need to build are:
- Fit the two side panels/tables
- Fit the rotisserie bracket
- Fit the drip collection tray mount
- connect the side-burner gas connection to the main grill gas feed – a simple plugin
- Fit the tank hanging assembly to the tank (and hang on the grill)
Overall, the construction took around one hour and was unremarkable. The grill was used as its own packing crate with the majority of the components neatly stowed inside ready for the happy customer.
So… here we are after one hour of construction, the grill is pretty much ready for action. However before jumping in with the steaks and sausages, it is important to carry out some vital safety checks.
Although the S450 (and any other gas grill) will have been tested at the factory to ensure that there are no gas leaks, it is still quite possible that there will have been some slackening of nuts and bolts etc.. in transit.
Therefore, following the easy instructions provided by Weber (in text and graphic form), it was necessary to remove the front switch panel to expose the gas manifold (in laymans terms, where the burners connect to the switched panel).
With the switches off, there should be no gas escape … dabbing the inlets and outlets with soapy water would show up any gas escapes as bubbles that enlarged and popped.
As I expected, I found no problems and it was a simple matter of refitting the switch panel and getting ready to rumble.
This close-up pic gives you a great view of the quality of the stainless steel grill bars.
And here is a close in on the side burner which could take a generous sized skillet or pan in its stride.
But at the end of the day, it is all about the cooking and I have to say that I am delighted with my new grill – the Weber S450. With it, barbecuing takes on a whole new meaning and is not tied to the seasons. You can cook with all these variety of methods:
- Traditional Grilling
- Hot or Cold smoking
- Rotisserie
- Baking
- Roasting
and none of these depend upon a dry summers day to cook with the design of the Weber Summit 450 (S450).
A couple of chickens roasting on the rotisserie (electrically, rather than battery powered) on its first outing for us.
There is no denying that the barbeque grill is expensive at £1349, but is it good value? I certainly think it is. Remember that the parts carry an extensive warranty (far in excess of any kitchen appliances). If you (somewhat pessimistically) only managed half the 25 years use from it, then it will still only have cost you around £2 per week of ownership. That is great value to me considering the enormous flexibility that it offers.
3 years on and or barbecue exterior looks just as fine as the day it was delivered and it enjoys extensive use.
