Weber vs Char-Broil (2021): Which Gas Grill Brand Is Better?

If you love grilling burgers, steaks, and sausages but hate how expensive and hard it is to clean up charcoal, you can always turn to gas grills. Gas fuel tends to be much cheaper than charcoal and there’s also way less clean-up required after each grilling session. If the idea of a gas grill sounds good to you, two great brands you can look into are Weber and Char-Broil. That said, it’s not exactly easy to choose between them because they each have their own pros and cons when it comes to design, performance, price, and warranty. To make the decision process a much easier one for you, here’s an in-depth comparison of Weber and Char-Broil. We’re comparing two of their entry-level grillers, namely the Weber Spirit II E-210 and Char-Broil Performance 300, to make things as fair as possible. 

Weber vs Char-Broil Comparison Chart

Design

Weber has a larger cooking space and is also much heavier than Char-Broil.

While the design of a gas griller doesn’t really affect its cooking performance, it does contribute greatly to convenience and ease of use and so it’s still important to take it into consideration.

The Weber Spirit II E-210 has an open cart design which means you have easy access to all of your grilling essentials while you’re cooking. Everything is within arm’s reach (no need to open up any cabinet doors) and so you can expect your grilling experience to be an efficient and smooth-sailing one. As for the Char-Broil Performance 300, it has a close cabinet cart design which means it won’t be as easy to get a hold of your cooking tools. That said, having a cabinet will make it so much easier to organize your things and you know that they’re going to remain clean and secure in there. The Char-Broil Performance 300 actually has an open cart version and so it’s up to you to choose which one you like more.

Another deciding factor you need to look into is total cooking space. If you have a big family with a big appetite, you obviously need a griller that can fit in a lot of food at a time.

It’s quite hard to beat Weber when it comes to cooking space as they like to make their grillers pretty spacious. Even their entry-level Spirit II E-210 comes with plenty of room, its cooking space measuring in at 450 square inches (360 square inches for cooking and 90 square inches for warming). As for the Char-Broil Performance 300, it has a significantly smaller cooking space which measures in at 400 square inches (300 square inches for cooking and 100 square inches for warming). It’s important to note though that it comes with a slightly bigger warming area which some users may find more useful than a larger cooking space.

As for weight, these two models are quite compact and so you’d think that they’re both lightweight. There is, however, quite a significant difference between them that can’t be ignored.

The Weber Spirit II E-210 is the much heavier option of the two, weighing in at 103 lbs while the Char-Broil is only around 66 pounds. While this could mean that the Weber Spirit II E-210 is less portable, the extra weight isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it could be a sign of better quality and that the brand uses more durable materials. Also, while the Weber Spirit II E-210 is much heavier, it’s equipped with a pair of all-weather wheels which are able to glide through rough surfaces, allowing you to move it with ease. It also has heavy-duty leg stands that make sure the unit stays stable while you’re grilling on it. 

Performance

Char-Broil has a slight upper hand over Weber when it comes to heat output.

Because the Weber Spirit II E-210 has a larger cooking space, it also needs to produce more heat. That said, it has two powerful burners that each produce 13,250 BTU/hour, bringing its combined heat output to 26,500 BTU/hour. Considering that it’s an entry-level griller, this kind of power is not bad at all. As for the Char-Broil Performance 300, it also has two burners but they only offer up 12,000 BTU/hour which adds up to a combined heat output of 24,000 BTU/hour. The 2,500 difference in BTU is quite significant although their respective heat outputs seem to be fitting for the sizes of their cooking spaces. 

The real test of a griller’s performance, however, is actually not its combined heat output but rather its BTU per square inch because this determines how well your food will cook. If you do the math real quick, the Weber Spirit II E-210’s primary cooking area gives out 73.6 BTU per square inch while that of the Char-Broil Performance 300 is able to produce 80 BTU per square inch. So if you were to look at these numbers, it looks like Char-Broil actually has a slight upper hand when it comes to performance even though Weber has a higher heat output in total. 

Price and Warranty 

Char-Broil is more affordable but Weber has a much longer warranty period.

With Weber, you can count on their grillers to be of the best quality, made with extra durable materials. Not only that but they also give you more cooking space as well as powerful heat output. That said, these amazing features definitely come with a price as Weber grillers are far from being cheap. The Weber Spirit II E-210, despite being an entry-level griller, is at the $300 range already so you can only imagine how much more their higher-end grillers cost. However, you can consider Weber’s prices to be great value-for-money because not only are their grillers the industry standard, but they also come with a 10-year warranty. This way, you can have peace of mind knowing that you can use your Weber griller for many, many years to come. 

If you don’t want to shock your wallet too much, Char-Broil is the more affordable option you’re looking for. Their Performance 300 model is only at the $200 range, meaning it’s around $150 cheaper than its Weber counterpart. This is pretty good considering that it beats out Weber when it comes to heat output per square inch. While Char-Broil is the less expensive brand of the two, this comes with a drawback as their warranty period is so much shorter as well. Their grillers only come with a 1-year warranty and so you’d have to be extra careful while you’re using them. This is fairly common among griller brands though and so far, no one has gotten close to beating Weber’s warranty period. 

Verdict

Weber wins when it comes to quality but Char-Broil wins when it comes to affordability. 

You can’t go wrong with Weber. It’s the best brand in the industry and it backs up its popularity with quality. This is obvious when you look at the Weber Spirit II E-210 with its heavy-duty design, large cooking space, powerful heat output, and impressively long 10-year warranty. If you’re sticking to a budget, however, Weber might not be too suitable for you as their grillers do come with hefty price tags. So if you want affordability, it’s best to turn to Char-Broil. While they are the cheaper alternative, their heat output is actually pretty powerful as seen on the Char-Broil Performance 300. You do, however, have to note that their warranty period isn’t as extensive and so you’d have to put extra effort into caring for your griller. 

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