This Weber Summit 670 is what I’ve been using for 13 years and quite happy with it (more specifically, this is a stock photo of a slightly tweaked version of what it was then - they revised the design a bit for 2009–> models).
The burners just started getting gas bleed-through in a few spots last year, so replaced them, but I normally use this 2-3 times a week. For the last 13 years. Grating is still in perfect condition.
It has six burners, side stove, smoker burner, and rotisserie/burner. Some pro/con notes:
First thing is a lot of grilling surface. With 6 of us and often cooking for 8-10, having a huge cooking surface was a plus. It uses propane (I did not want to run a gas nipple out, plus I like to be able to move it around out there on the deck depending on wind/rain conditions) and so I just got a couple of the bigger propane tanks so I can swap out anytime one runs out.
Other “Pros” -
Very high domed lid - very useful if you’re cooking or smoking a big bird. Edit - what I mean is, if you have the food elevated off the grill surface, as in the wire grate example below, the lid when closed still won’t hit the food.
Unless you’re in high wind, the cabinet is pretty good at maintaining a constant temp. This is really necessary if you’re doing ribs or something where you want to keep the temp constant at, e.g. 135°C or so for hours on end.
Burners run front to back, not side-to-side. Smoker compartment on right. This has a dedicated burner and does a great job of keeping a pretty even level of smoke whenever you want it. (Aside, if you’ve never smoked using pear wood, try it. Sweeter even than apple and no hint of bitter.) Because the burners run front to back, smoking is really easy. I have an old rectangular wire grate (came from a new microwave - who ever microwaves on two levels??) and two bricks. When I want to smoke, I put the wire grate on the small elevated warming tray and stack the bricks to support the front of the grate. I put this near the middle of the grill. Then I can run the far left burner, far right burner, and the smoker burner to smoke whatever meat I want without having any flame under or too close to the meat.
Once the cabinet is warm I can easily keep it at 135°C/275°F (or whatever temp I need) with the left/right on low-medium low. I also slide a foil lined cookie sheet underneath to catch drippings. Same thing with rotisserie.
The grill grates are stainless, solid, cylindrical bars almost as thick as a Sharpie pen. In 13 years of use there’s still no pitting or breakdown. Love them.
For searing, you can get the grill grates screaming hot then turn down the flame to sear steaks or burgers or whatever, and rarely get flare ups (unless super fatty meat) because of the shields between the flame and grates. Yeah, lots of grills have these but I’ve had 4 grills and this one seems to do a better job.
Rotisserie - I only got this because where I bought, the same grill without was only minimally cheaper. I thought I’d hardly use it. I was wrong. It’s great for chicken, cornish game hens, big pork loin roasts, I even did a prime rib roast and it turned out great (except for the aesthetic-wrecking square hole down the middle of each piece cut).
Side burner: Meh, only a “pro” because my wife is sensitive to certain smells. So if I’m making lamb stock or lobster stock, I do it outside using this side burner. I’ve (rarely) also used it to sauté onions or mushrooms, but my deck where the grill sits is on the 2nd floor adjacent my kitchen anyway. So I think for most people the side burner is probably not of too much use. Now if I had the grill at ground level down on the patio and had to run up/down stairs to tend something I was trying to sauté, I might use the side burner a lot more.
Cons - price. Edit2: This one lists at $2800. Oh My Goodness - I just checked online and now it’s $3650! But note that is Weber’s list price . At the time I bought mine I believe it was very similar, around $2700, but I got it from some warehouse outfit out of Maine or CT (can’t remember) for $1800, and that included the shipping. I can’t think of another “con” to list.
Of course, if you don’t need so much cooking surface, look at the smaller/cheaper Summits.
But my primary likes are: burners run depth direction not left/right, big fat cylindrical bar grates, rotisserie, and a smoker bin with dedicated burner.
I know purists don’t cotton to the notion that you might get great results smoking on a propane grill. My old boss and several of my colleagues in the Texas HQ of my former company sure laughed at me when I claimed I made good brisket on a propane grill. Then one week they visited my location and I brought in some smoked brisket and smoked lamb chops (the ones that look like mini porterhouse steaks). They didn’t laugh after that.
P.S. I’ve cooked and baked in my fireplace hearth. Mostly my wife saw it as a stunt, but I thought it was kind of fun. But the dogs were always such a pain about it, trying to get to the food (and sometimes eating the ashes if there were any drippings) that I gave up on it.
