Re: Weber vs Generic Kettle BBQ?
I've had 3 kettle type BBQ's and suffice to say I had a bit of trouble with one of them...
First was the Weber. It cooks really well but I did get fed up with having to wait for the heat beads to get going before cooking. Good for weekends maybe but not when you're in a hurry. Also not being able to use it during a fire ban day was an issue for me since that's when I wanted to use it most.
I still have the Weber but rarely use it now.
After the Weber came the square gas kettle-type BBQ. It wasn't a Weber, can't remember the actual brand name. But anyway, it was the single worst purchase I have ever made.
To cut a long story short, it would catch fire and incinerate the food on a regular basis.
It came with what a gas shop told me later was a non-Standards Approved hose (which explains why it blew apart).
And then the whole thing fell apart (during use) at the age of 6 due to rust. This resulted in volcanic rocks and hamburgers going everywhere, set the ground on fire and ended with a gas explosion.
But I'll give credit where it's due. That BBQ was exciting. Lots of Frank Spencer moments cooking food back then. Fires, gas leaks, explosions... Not to mention how many times the wind blew the gas out.
Now I mainly use an electric kettle BBQ. It cooks better than you might be expecting. It doesn't do roasts like the Weber does (though it does them OK) but it's way better than the gas one was. It's not as big as the others (roughly same length as the Weber but only about 60% as wide - it's oval shaped) but it's fine for my day to day use and I still have the larger Weber if we're going to invite lots of people around for a BBQ.