Weber Summit Gold D6 Stainless Steel Natural Gas Grill Review
I have owned my Weber Summit Gold A6 Natural Gas model since last November, and I could not be happier with it. A little about me first. I am a former chef, having trained in France and worked in some of the finest steak houses in Southern California for several years. Although I now work in a different job, my wife is a personal chef, and I often help her with jobs, usually cooking on the Weber.
We formerly owned a Weber Genesis, and while it performed alright, I never felt it got hot enough for my liking. Not so the Summit Gold. Mine has always lit easily, rises to the 700 degree range within minutes, and has sufficient sensitivity to be turned down to under 300 degrees for cooking lighter items such as shrimp. But let's face it, steaks are what are best on a grill, and I enjoy the fact that this grill heats to an appropriate temperature to quickly sear the outside while leaving the inside tender and juicy. We have also grilled a variety of styles of chicken, fish (salmon, trout, catfish, swordfish, etc.), and vegetables, all with great results. On Thanksgiving, we used the indirect method (i.e., side burners on, middle burners off) to cook two turkeys (the most popular being the one with garlic and chili powder rubbed outside and stuffed with chopped tamales inside), and both came out tender and juicy in under 4 hours.
Two things to be mindful of. First, if you buy a propane model, know that propane burns hotter than natural gas, so you may have some adjustments in cooking times, etc. And second, if you cook a lot on the grill like we do (2-4 times a week), you need to keep the grill clean. This means every few weeks, emptying the grease catch, scraping down the flavorizer bars, removing the ash build up in the bottom, and cleaning the grease from the sides and lid. Any barbeque will require this kind of cleaning for optimum performance, but the effort is definitely worth it.
This grill has well exceeded our expectations, and with its 25 year warranty, we expect to be using it for years to come.
Technical Details
- 902 sq. in. cooking area; 57,600 BTU per hour input
- 62-1/2Hx68Wx34-1/2D”
- Includes smoker box, rotisserie, 3 work surfaces, cookbook, tool holder and 10’ flexible hose
- Natural gas powered
- Stainlesssteel doors and hood, enamel painted steel and crackproof all-weather wheels
Product Description
Summit Gold gas grills feature 4 and 6 stainless steel burners, infinitely adjustable burner valve, heavy-duty stainless steel Flavorizer bars, welded stainless steel cooking grates, a double-walled stainless steel hood adds a layer of insulation to trap heat and protect the stainless steel hood from discoloring, two thermoset swing-up work surfaces with stainless steel inserts, removable thermoset work surface with stainless steel insert, locking casters and crackproof all-weather wheels, electronic Crossover ignition system, and an enclosed storage area with stainless steel doors. A total of 10 fasteners are all that is required to join the cooking module and frame assembly. All models feature a limited lifetime warranty. Natural gas models come with a 12 foot quick disconnect hose. The Summit Gold D6 features 6 stainless steel burners, 57,600 BTU-per-hour input, 902 sq. inches of total cooking area, 12,000 BTU-per-hour input side burner, stainless steel rotisserie spit powered by a heavy duty 110-volt electric motor, 9,600 BTU-per-hour rear-mounted infrared rotisserie burner, smoker box, and a dedicated 8,000 BTU-per-hour stainless steel smoker burner.
Weber Summit Gold D6 Stainless Steel Natural Gas Grill More Features
With its impressive roster of features and durable stainless steel construction, the Summit Gold line represents the peak of gas-grill performance. For the serious outdoor chef who wants to cook it all on one grill, the Summit Gold D6 has a full 57,600-BTU main burner, a commercial-grade side burner, a smoker box with dedicated smoker burner, and a rotisserie attachment.
Six rust-resistant stainless steel burners run the length of the cookbox for even heating without hot or cold spots. Infinitely-adjustable, individually-controlled burner valves let you cook with direct or indirect heat. A spacious 902-square-inch cooking area provides enough room to cook for large groups, plus includes a convenient warming rack and warm-up basket. A 12,000-BTU side burner cooks side dishes and sauces while meat grills, while a dedicated smoker burner heats a stainless steel box designed to hold wood chips for authentic "low-and-slow" barbecue-style cooking. An infrared rotisserie burner radiates even heat to meats placed on the stainless steel rotisserie attachment--powered by a heavy-duty 110-volt motor. The electronic Crossover ignition system lights all burners in succession with the push of a button. A stainless steel hood features double-wall construction, adding a layer of insulation to trap heat and protect against discoloration. Rugged, weather-resistant wheels are crack-proof in the most extreme temperatures and allow easy transport, while locking casters prevent the grill from rolling while you cook. Burners even have screens to keep spiders from spinning combustible webs inside.
The Summit Gold D6 also comes loaded with extras including: a fixed commercial-grade thermometer, three sturdy tool holders and a roomy enclosed storage area with stainless steel doors and a heavy-gauge steel bottom shelf. One removable and two swing-up work surfaces offer plenty of space to spread out sauces, marinades, utensils and other prep essentials. They're made from granite-look Thermoset with stainless steel inserts for maximum durability, heat and weather resistance, and ease of cleaning. The Summit series also features a heavy-duty stainless steel version of Weber’s patented Flavorizer bars, which eliminate flare-ups caused by lava rocks and ceramic briquets--fats and juices hit the angled bars and sizzle away, adding delicious, smoky barbecue flavor instead of flames. Best of all, ten fasteners are all that's needed to put this grill together, meaning you'll go from box to barbecue in less than 40 minutes. A slide-out bottom tray funnels grease into a removable catch pan for quick and painless clean-up. The Summit Gold D6 measures 62-1/2 inches tall, 68 inches wide, and 34-1/2 inches deep. It comes with a 12-foot-long quick-disconnect hose that attaches to a natural gas source. This item is covered by a limited lifetime warranty, and is made in the USA.--Mary Park
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Customer Reviews
Quality that lasts - Willing to spend if it's worth it - Midwest, USA
My old (Still useable) Weber grill is a charcoal grill that I bought before my 17 year old was born. Just under 3 Years ago I got a "name brand" gas grill that was on sale for 9.00 + Tax from a discount retialer. I knew it wasn't the quality of the weber but it was so much cheaper. Well it didn't take long to see that I had wasted almost 0.00. I spent more time fixing and cleaning this thing so that it would work and the results were uniformly poor. This year I just couldn't go through the time and expense of more rebuilds. After doing an insane amount of research the Weber Summit Gold D6 is what I came home with. Luxury grill? Well thats as close as I can get to describing the feeling I get when using this. No Problems. No complaints. No grill at this price point offers as much quality, capacity or convenience. I'm really glad I got this one.
Weber used to mean quality, now just another generic grill with high price - James L. Zhang - Chicago, IL
I bought this grill about two weeks ago from a local store. For close to 00, I thought it would work like a dream.
Because it used natural gas, I had to hire a plumber to run a gas line to my patio. After that was done, he tested the side burner and everything seemed to be working fine. I hosted a large family cookout that weekend with the new grill.
The first thing I did was reading the manual. The instruction said to run all burners on high for 15 minutes before use. I did that, and the temperature rose to 600 some degrees. After 15 minutes, I put two chickens on rotisserie, and turned the knobs to low. I came back to the grill 5 minutes later, and smelled gas. All six burners had gone out, even though there was very little wind. I let the gas dissipate, and lit the burners again. This time I put the settings to medium. About 5 minutes later, the fire had gone out again. This happened about 10 times in a row. If I put everything on high, it stays lit; any settings medium or lower cause all the burners to go out.
I called Weber support after that. It turned out Weber headquarter was located in the next town to me. The first lady I spoke to claimed that my plumber must have hooked up the grill wrong. She insisted the connector was 3/8" for the grill, even though the manual and the label on the connector clearly stated 1/2". I asked to speak to some one more experienced, and was promptly hung up. I called back again, and the next rep. I spoke to had no record of my previous hung up conversation. I gave my information to register the product, and told her the problem again. She asked me to wait for the grill to cool down, and clean all the internal parts per manufacturer instruction. She also wanted me to take out the burners, and clean them with a stainless steel brush. I asked her why I needed to do that when the grill is brand new. She said something about shipping wax could have gotten into the grill internals. She also said my gas pressure may not be high enough. I call the plumber at home, and asked him to come back here to check the pressure. The plumber told me that he had checked the pressure after installation, and it must have been a problem with the grill. He then agreed to come over, but will charge me for traveling time if it was not a gas line problem. He lived about 1 hour away, and it was on Sunday.
My whole family waited with table full of raw meat, while the plumber checked the gas pressure. Sure enough the pressure was fine, even a bit higher than normal. Embarrassed, I paid him for 2 hours of time, and extra for traveling.
I called Weber support again, and spoke to a different support person. While giving my information, I was hung up again. I called back again, and this time was transferred to voicemail. Finally, I tried again, and spoke to another rep. I told her that their previous suggestions did not work, and I paid close to 00 for a grill that did not work. She told me that I needed to heat the grill up to 700 degree, instead of just 600, even it took over 15 minutes. I tried that solute, and let grill run for over 20 minutes. Finally, the temperature rose to about 680, but would not go up again. I then hear the grill cover metal making popping sound, the temperature started going down. I opened up the grill, and noticed the thing metal line inside started to buckle and warp, and started to peel off the rivets. I called Weber support again, and told them that solution did not work either. This time the support person scheduled for a service call. However, I would not be contacted until a week later to be scheduled, and it would take another week or two for the actual repair to take place. I was so frustrated with the experience, and called the local store to take the whole grill back.
So far I have wasted over 0 paying for the plumber, messed up a weekend cookout (we ended up microwave all the food), and wasted over 4 hours on the phone with Weber support. I bought Weber because of all the great reviews and reputation, but it was a big disappointment. The overall construction of this grill felt light and cheap, and it did not even work right out of the box. My old Vermont Castings grill only cost 0, and it worked for over 5 years without any problem, on the same gas line. Weber support had tried everything they can to not send any repairperson to fix the problem. I was not impressed with the quality at all, especially with the high rate of disconnects (2 out of 6). In the old days, Weber made durable quality products. It is not the case today. At least with the high price Summit Gold D6 I bought. I will not buy any products from Weber again.
Came back to Weber - M. Lockman -
After ten (10) years of enjoying a Weber Genesis grill, I decided I wanted something larger and fancier. I bought a Vermont Castings grill and gave the Genesis to one of my employees. After a year of fighting flame ups, un-even cooking and overall spotty performance I decided to buy a Weber Summit Gold D. I am enjoying grilling again. The cooking is even, the flame ups are gone, and I can actually repeat a formula for perfect grill food. Weber may not be the most impressive looking, but for my money it delivers the joy of grilling again.
*** Product Information: Mar 13, 2010 13:10:05
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