Weber Summit Kamado E6 Charcoal Grill

I bought this in early March from Amazon with the hope and belief that I would be receiving the revised version of this grill with the sturdier, revised stand instead of the wobbly stand I heard about online previously. Unfortunately, the grill I received shipped with the older stand and, to add to my (short-lived) woes, I wasn’t even able to assemble it due to an issue with a ratchet nut in one of the legs (this part was also back-ordered!). I was concerned I wouldn’t have use of the grill for many weeks until Weber was able to ramp up their production with their new stand design.

Despite some miscues with their customer support organization, a VP reached out to me a day or two after I received my grill. He overnighted me the kit with the new stand design (FedEx Saturday delivery). I was able to get it assembled without any significant issues. It replaces the entire lower assembly (stand, wheels, support ring, etc), meaning it obviated the need to replace the leg for the original design and it addressed the wobbliness of the prior design. I suspect this is basically the design they had on the prior generation, minus the propane igniter.

Long story short, my experience leads me to believe (1) Weber *still* stands behind their products like few other companies today (the test of an organization is how they respond to difficulties….) and (2) this new support stand is very robust, plenty stable, and is at least as good as competing products. Don’t let this issue hold you back. Since I have some “experience” with both, I can say it’s clearly a completely different design than the original. Whereas the original E6 stand design felt hokey and somewhat flimsy this feels sturdy and straightforward (btw this was clearly primarily a design/engineering issue, not a manufacturing problem as I’ve seen some suggest online!).

****

I previously owned a ceramic kamado grill, a “large” (18 inch) Big Green Egg, for about 10 years. Even setting aside the E6’s larger size (24 vs 18), I think this is a better product and it should last a lot longer than basically any ceramic grill on the market under real-world conditions. Ceramic will never rust, but ceramic in these other grills is inherently heavy and fragile. I gave my BGE away a few years ago since it was showing some structural damage after several long moves and I really wanted something larger that could work effectively for two zone cooking. It’s nice knowing I can actually carry this single-handedly or move it around my yard without any significant risk of breakage. I wouldn’t want to try that with any decent-sized ceramic grill.

For better and for worse, this grill behaves like a ceramic kamado for most intents and purposes. If you’re familiar with Kamodos this will be second nature to you, but, for example, if you overshoot your target temperature it will take a *long* time to come down. I don’t own a ceramic grill to do a side-by-side comparison anymore, but it feels *very* similar in its capacity to get heat soaked and retain heat. I’ve heard some people suggest it responds more quickly, but I’m actually pretty skeptical of that now. It just feels too similar in that dimension.

On the other hand, thanks to its larger size (diameter) and other design features (e.g., adjustable height charcoal grate) you can truly use it like a traditional kettle grill for searing and doing two-zone cooking (both work great btw), just be aware that if once you get it hot it’ll take a lot longer to come down than a traditional single-walled kettle with thin sheet metal. Once you get a feel for it, it’s pretty much the best of both worlds for most applications, setting aside the steeper price when compared to kettle grills. Besides the obvious difference in behavior, this also feels much more substantial than Weber’s kettle grills. It shares some design elements with Weber’s nicer kettles, like the ash cleanout and lower vent (not a bad thing!), but it also feels like the pricey grill it is with its solid design (the metal is obviously much thicker), slick hinged hood, double-wall insulation, etc.

Incidentally, I also like that this has a built-in fan port for an automatic temperature controller. It’s much slicker than the adapter plates used to fit fans over the bottom damper/vent on most other kamodos. You don’t need it, strictly speaking, once you know how to set the vents and get up to temp, but it makes life easier when you want more of a pellet grill-like experience (as in, being able to leave it alone for many hours without having to fiddle with vents or anything else at all). With the Fireboard 2 Drive I picked up recently, it can run standard 12V blowers (pit viper in my case) off its own battery for as many hours as you’re likely to need it over a long cook (e.g., brisket). When I invested in this tech 10+ years ago it was much cruder and it required running an extension cord to power the controller+fan. The hassle kept me from using it before, but I have no doubt i’ll be using it regularly now (already fired it up a bunch).

I own a pellet grill already and I plan on keeping it for awhile. However, this combination works well enough for smoking and general oven-like cooking behavior that I’m not sure I’d see the need to invest in a new one……Yeah, the pellet grill comparison is somewhat apples and oranges, but not as much as you might think, plus it can actually get much hotter and sear, unlike basically all pellet grills on the market… something to chew on if you’re actually cross-shopping these.

****

I’m also pretty happy I purchased this over the larger cart model with side table (S6 or the original summit charcoal grilling center). One small concern I had previously is this tripod stand design would feel relatively tippy (3 legs vs 4 plus a smaller footprint), but it feels plenty substantial and secure to me. Having the side table might be nice, however, this has a smaller and (imo) sleaker footprint on my already somewhat cluttered patio. I rarely use the gas ignition on my performer, so I don’t imagine I would miss that feature much here either. For me, it came down to paying 700-1000 more for the side table, plus giving up some patio space. If you have nowhere to put things when you’re pulling food off or on the grill it may still be “worth it”, but I’m particularly (unusually) happy with this purchase despite the somewhat rocky start.

Amazing design, You can smoke for 15 hours without touching or adjusting the charcoal. Great temperature control. You can get professional results with this smoker by following simple instructions

I feel that this is the best, most flexible grill on the market. I’ve been a gas user for decades, generally thinking charcoal wasn’t worth the hassle, despite keeping a cheap charcoal grill around and using it occasionally, often with frustration.

But the Summit Kamado has opened up a world of grilled food with a level of quality I’d figured I’d need an offset smoker to achieve. I’ve done everything from whole brisket to whole chickens to burgers, artichokes, you name it, and it all just tastes better with that real fire flavor. I’m making a huge pot of chicken stock in it today.

I initially kept my gas grill around thinking it would be convenient for quick meals, but this grill makes charcoal cooking and indirect smoking so simple, with very little fuel usage and total temperature stability, that I’ve dumped the gas for good.

This thing will run all day smoking a sizable piece of meat on very few coals, and still have enough poop left over at dinnertime to open up the vents and sear some vegetables to go with your main course. The insulation makes all the difference.

On that note, double-wall steel is a much better way to get there, in my opinion…I can effortlessly move this grill around my patio and driveway, and never have to worry about cracking it, finish crazing, etc.

The only small complaint I have about the Summit Kamado is the lack of accessories, particularly a rotisserie. I wish Weber would put a little more effort into accessorizing the best grill they make. A few add-ons, a price more like $999, and some marketing effort would make this grill an absolute legend. Still, no regrets whatsoever about buying mine at this steep price, because I’ve probably put 100-200 hours on it in a couple of months!