Instead of launching a brand new portable grill, Weber made the curious decision of re-styling an existing product; thus the Q100 became the Weber 50060001 Q1000 Liquid Propane Grill. It was actually a very intelligent move because the Q100 was a great product that had amazing potential and could have been perfect if not some easily fixable flaws. I decided to find out whether Weber fixed those problems and made the Q100 into the phenomenon it always should have been, or whether they missed an opportunity.
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Pros:
- Larger grip handle and knobs
- Assembly is much simplified
- Huge 189 square inch surface to cook on
- Easy to clean, on account of the porcelain coating
- Cooks food quickly (8500 BTU)
- Excellent drip-tray for escaping grease
Cons:
- Propane sold separately. Some grills come with a small supply
- One burner
Weber Q1000 Liquid Propane Grill Review (Official Site):
Size/Design:
Weber is famous for their beautiful, expensive looking, expertly constructed product designs and the Q1000 is no exception to this. At a height of 16.32 inches, a width of 16.16 inches and with a depth of 28.41 inches, it’s a little bigger than the Q100, and that’s one of the big improvements, as it now accommodates larger handles and knobs making it easier to operate. The weight is 28.5 pounds so it will not be hard to move around compared to some portable grills which are prohibitive in their weight. As with all Weber models, the Q1000 is modern, sleek, and well-made.
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Performance:
I was relieved to find Weber had kept the electronic ignition they had on the Q100 because most customers these days prefer not to use matches both for convenience and safety reasons. Although, Weber certainly investigated this area of the design because the ignition button is less stiff and lights the burner up much quicker, so this was a good improvement on the Q100.
My first test was on the evenness of heating. An efficient grill will, upon ignition, begin to heat it’s entire cooking surface evenly, rather than one part is hotter than another. Using a handy tool called a thermocouple I set the grill to it’s highest possible heat and measured the exact temperature achieved at all four corners and in the center. The Q1000 performed extremely well with all indicators being identical. Next, I did the same thing on the lowest possible heat, and the result was the same. This is an efficient grill that will heat up food evenly so you won’t experience one part done, while another is raw.
The 189 square foot cooking surface is more than enough. I decided to invite a few people over for dinner and didn’t run out of room despite needing to cook 6 steaks. There’s only one burner, but people aren’t going to be cooking banquets on this; it’ll appeal to buyers for the same reason the Q100 appealed to buyers, in that it cooks meat quickly and perfectly so is great for tailgating and barbecues. It doesn’t take up much space so you can place it in the kitchen also, as a superior replacement for the old frying pan.
There’s some assembly but it really is a very simple operation, and even those who have never owned something like this will find it easy to put together. As I’ve mentioned previously, it’s far superior to the Q100 in terms of operational ease. The Q100 always cooked food to the highest standard, in very little time and was the standout product in a crowded market place, but it had small knobs, a difficult to read temperature gauge, and a tiny handle. The Q1000 maintains the Q100’s cooking quality but adds larger knobs, easier handles, and the temperature gauge is in greater visibility.
Conclusion:
It’s $150-$170, but this is Weber, so customers are getting a highly durable model, in this case, made of aluminum coated with porcelain for ease of cleaning. Some people will see it has only one burner as a problem, but I don’t. When I go out tailgating or hold cookouts, I like a grill I can just ignite and slap some meat on, rather than setting up a barbecue, and with the Weber 50060001 Q1000 Liquid Propane Grill, I can have a second helping in the kitchen later. In other words, it is a great portable gas grill. It has an easy assembly, a great drip-tray, and grills to an astonishing level of quality.