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- New design delivers impressive performance and more usable space than ever
- Extra-large, 13,000-BTU sear zone creates a steakhouse sear for the whole family
- Rock-solid construction and upgraded warranty boost confidence in Weber’s quality
- Temperature evenness and flare-up management make grilling a breeze
- Compatible with Weber CRAFTED grillware for a range of versatile cooking styles
Weber approached the next generation of its GENESIS gas grills with a clean slate, spending hundreds of hours testing concepts and prototypes with over 2,500 consumers to pinpoint exactly what the market was missing. The result: upgraded features everywhere you look, more usable space than ever, and a vision for companion grillware that creates unrivaled cooking versatility. In short, the newly designed Weber GENESIS immediately vaulted to the top of the Practical grill class — so we simply couldn’t wait to get our hands on it.
Today’s review is focused on the Weber GENESIS E-325s freestanding gas grill, the base model among Weber’s new, expansive grill line. We let Chef Tony go wild in his usual quest to quantify quality, performance, and features through a series of data-based and real-world grilling tests. This Weber GENESIS E-325s review is based on his expert findings, giving you a clear picture of what to expect should the grill mysteriously find its way into your backyard (you know who to call to make that happen).
Quality:
Chef Tony got things started with an XRF analysis to determine the chemical composition of materials used in construction, along with a trusty pair of calipers to measure their thickness. The painted steel hood exterior came in at 15-gauge — fairly thick for Practical-class grills — with its interior lining logging a thinner 25-gauge. Further testing revealed a surprising amount of 304, commercial-grade stainless steel: the 18-gauge Weber Flavorizer Bars, along with the 22-gauge control panel and proprietary PureBlu burners.
The main cooking grates, meanwhile, proved to be cast iron with a protective porcelain enamel while measuring 6mm in thickness, which Chef Tony notes is “very heavy-duty for a Practical-class grill.” Finally, the redesigned grease tray registered as 19-gauge painted steel. “All things considered,” our grill expert says, “this Practical-class grill checks all the right boxes and comes in toward the top of its class.”
As a testament to that rock-solid quality, Weber offers a 12-year warranty on the cookbox and lid assembly of the GENESIS E-325s 3-burner gas grill; that’s 2 more years of coverage than what Weber previously provided for its Genesis II line. This Weber warranty also includes 10 years on the stainless steel burner tubes, cooking grates, Flavorizer Bars, and porcelain-enameled cast iron cooking grates, along with 5 years on all remaining parts. All told, it’s an unusually strong warranty for a Practical gas grill, completely in line with Weber’s reputation of great customer service.
Performance:
To quantify how evenly the Weber GENESIS E-325s gas grill spreads heat, Chef Tony placed thermocouples across the cooking surface and tracked their readings from a handful of tests. The preheat test saw all burners (including the extra-large, in-line sear zone) on high for 15 minutes, resulting in an average temperature 581°F at the cooking grates — “perfect for searing just about anything,” per Chef Tony. Without the sear burner involved, the same experiment produced an understandably lower grill-wide average of 512°F; you’ll notice this disparity repeated in subsequent tests.
Next came the low-temperature trial: all burners set to low for 30 minutes, yielding an average of 354°F with the sear zone on, and a 353°F average with it off. Chef Tony also measured maximum temperature variance by noting the probes whose readouts were furthest from the average. The rear-center thermocouple (95°F cooler) stood out with the sear burner involved, while the back-left probe (51°F cooler) registered the greatest variance when the sear burner was off. Says Chef Tony: “I’ll take that all day long.”
He ran the same series of tests with all burners on high for 30 minutes, leading to some interesting results. With the sear burner factored in, the average grate temperature was 567°F with the rear-center thermocouple once again clocking the largest variance (150°F cooler). Chef Tony admitted that was a bit more of a difference than he usually likes to see, but he was quick to note that he expected the sizzling sear zone to create such an effect. When our grill expert ran back the high-temperature trial with the sear station left off, he observed an average temperature of 515°F and a maximum variance of 109°F in the back-left corner. “This variance is more in line with what I was looking for,” Chef Tony says.
As for real-world grilling experiments, the Weber GENESIS E-325s gas grill received high marks across the board. Chef Tony started by covering the grilling surface with 80/20 burger patties, a quick method to see how well the grill handles flare-ups and how evenly it cooks with rendered fat added to the equation. Not only did every patty grill evenly with the aid of flame kisses, but there was also no sight of flare-ups or runaway grease fires. Our grill expert then tested the grill’s versatility by cooking quartered potatoes, beef kabobs, bell peppers, and halved red onions all at the same time. “It rocked steady throughout the cook,” Chef Tony says. “Everything grilled nicely without me having to shuffle everything around like musical chairs.” Of course, he had to push Weber’s extra-large and extra-hot sear zone to its limits, and it made short work of the challenge by perfectly searing a couple New York strips at once.
Features:
We’ll piggyback off the performance section straight into one of the Weber GENESIS E-325s’ most notable features: the extra-large, extra-hot sear zone. It’s rated for 13,000 BTUs — a massive step up in raw cooking power from the Genesis II sear burners — and, as Chef Tony demonstrated, has no trouble handling multiple cuts of meat at once. The 3 main burners total 39,000 BTUs, with Weber’s proprietary PureBlu flame providing an efficient burn and precise, repeatable temperature control. As the name implies, Chef Tony observed these flames to be almost completely blue, meaning they achieved complete combustion. Though you’ll need batteries to power the burners, our grill expert appreciates their constant-spark ignition that makes lighting the grill as easy as pushing a button and turning a knob.
Next-level burners are one thing, but Weber took great care to ensure a rewarding overall grilling experience, leaving Chef Tony just as impressed with the finer details. For starters, the grill includes a top cooking rack that folds out to create a spacious secondary grilling surface. There’s even more usable space on the extra-large prep and serve table, conveniently located on the right of the grill near the sear zone. But perhaps the most wow-worthy feature of the Weber GENESIS E-325s is its compatibility with the Weber CRAFTED Outdoor Kitchen Collection, a custom-made cookware series that takes the grill’s versatility to another stratosphere. Just be aware that the frame kit and grillware (a baking stone, wok & steamer, griddle, and much more) are sold separately for this model.
To keep the usual grilling accessories close at hand, Weber included 6 built-in tool hooks on the side tables; the 2 hooks on the lower right side of the cart are for storing the grill’s conventional grates when Weber CRAFTED grillware is in use. Weber’s long-standing grease tray even received a facelift, with the drip pan now integrated for seamless cleanup. Finally, the grill’s propane-tank scale readout has been helpfully extended to the exterior of the cart so you can quickly check fuel levels at a glance. In the end, it was clear from our Weber GENESIS E-325s gas grill review that this storied brand has once again reset the standard for what a Practical-class grill should be.
