Weber Summit 24-Inch Kamado S6 Charcoal Grill Center - 18501101

i joke that when i first saw the S6, it was in a stream of sunlight penetrating the roof of the ace much like Jake Blues at the church. it's one of the best products weber has ever put out. i wish the charcoal start worked in both zones. truly a gift from the creator, kinda like butter, chicken skin and ribeye

Fantastic grill overall. One manufacturers defect. One design flaw. One missing feature. See explanations below. Fantastic grill: If you've been using a 22" Kettle or similar or less, the Summit Kamado S6 is a huge improvement and may, as in my case, check almost every box for a "perfect" multi-purpose grill. For starters, the steel double wall grill has superior heat retention compared to single wall steel grills and requires less charcoal for the same heat over the same period of time. So much so, I've had to adjust how I grill and use less charcoal than my 22" Kettle when grilling steaks to keep the fire from being extremely hot and grey-banding the meat during direct fire cooking. That's a good thing. Next, the S6 has a 24" cooking surface. Does 2" matter? Not for a couple of steaks, burgers, or other bits and bobs of meats. But if you're smoking a brisket, ribs, or similar, that extra 2" provides that space you've longed for when doing the same cooking activities on a 22" Kettle. Moving on, one of my favorite features is the propane fire starter. While Weber advertises it being used to light charcoal when the charcoal grate is set on the bottom position and filled with charcoal, I use it to start charcoal in a chimney starter. Fill the chimney starter with charcoal, set it on the charcoal grate immediately above the end of the fire tube, turn on and ignite the propane and let run for < 2 minutes and your chimney starter will do it it's job. Previously I used a mapp gas torch to ignite the coals at the bottom of the chimney starter so I no longer need to do that. Speaking of charcoal grates, the S6 has two positions for the charcoal grate. In the upper position, it sits 4.5" below the cooking grate, and at the lower position it sits 9.5" below the cooking grate. When grilling, place the charcoal grate in the upper position. When smoking, place the charcoal grate in the lower position. For comparison, my 22" Kettle charcoal grate sites 5.5 inches below the cooking grate and only has one position. I recommend purchasing a second charcoal grate and leaving the bottom charcoal grate in place. Install the second charcoal grate in the upper position when needed. Lastly, the cart. The key difference between the E6 and the S6 is the cart, and the propane starter since its integral to the cart on the new versions of the grills. The cart is easy to assemble (it arrives mostly assembled), relatively well built, sturdy, and easy to maneuver. The stainless steel table is extremely nice to have to set grill probe equipment on, pans, utensils, etc. Using a 22" Kettle for so long and not having a side table, this now seems like a must have. The wire-basket style storage drawer is handy but it needs a bottom in it. What good is a drawer if it can't store small items? If you're wondering, or looking for, what come's next after a 22" Kettle, the double steel wall 24" Summit Kamado is the answer. Manufacturing defect: The grill lid has a large very nice chromed handled on the front, as you can see in the website pictures. The handle is secured to the grill lid using two stainless machine screws inserted from the inside of the lid and threaded into tapped end-caps in the ends of the handle. The grill I received was leaking smoke where the right side of the handle attaches to the grill lid. Upon further inspection, I found the machine screw was not fully tightened and would not even tighten further. After removing the screws and the handle, I discovered that the machine screw on the right side was cross-threaded into the handle. I had to chase the threads on the machine screw and in the handle with a tap and die to fix them. After reassembly, smoke no longer leaked out of the handle connection. This should have been caught during Weber's QA/QC process prior to packaging and shipping. Design flaw: The vent port on top is effectively two stainless plates, each with four holes in them, fastened together with a rivet. The stop plate twists, and the bottom plate is stationary. Twist the top plate using the handle to align the holes and smoke/heat will be vented out of the grill. The top plate effectively has a "weight" on one side of it due to the handle. When the grill is new, and there's no grease built up between the plates, the top vent plate twists quite freely. Meaning, there's no tension binding the top and bottom plates together. Why is that an issue? Every time you raise the grill lid the weight of the handle on the top vent plate coupled with how freely it can twist causes it to in fact twist and lose the position you placed it in. You then need to reset it (re-align the port holes) after re-closing the lid. While not a deal breaker, it's definitely a nuisance. The solution? Drill out the rivet and replace it with a 1/4"-20 x 3/4" bolt, washers, compression spring, and nut. Tighten the nut to compress the spring which will bind the plates together and provide just enough tension between the two plates so the top vent plate doesn't twist when the grill lid is opened. While the S6's stock vent port overall design is a superior upgrade to the standard Weber Kettle style vent port, this one modification makes it much less frustrating when frequently use or on long cooks. Missing feature: Weber had the foresight to equip the grill with an approx. 3/4" hole, with knockout plug, on the bottom half of the grill for the purpose of the owner (you) installing a grill fan. Fantastic! BUT, Weber didn't have the foresight to also equip the grill with a grill probe port. That means the wires from your meat and ambient temp probes have to be sandwiched under the lid gasket or routed through the vent port on top. Sandwiched under the lid gasket is the logical method, but it disrupts the seal and smoke will leak where the wires cross the lid gasket. Weber, if you create version 3 to this grill, add a probe port to the bottom half of the grill, between the table and the rim. Yes, the hole will have to be in the outer and inner shell.

This is a great grill. One complaint/ suggestion for improvement: the wire slide out basket is poorly designed. It's flimsy and does not slide out/in easily.

This grill is my 2nd. I bought it for my vacation home. My first is going strong after several years use. Like so many things this one is more cheaply made and more expensive. The basic grill is the same just the cage and wheels are cheaper. The smoker insert is different. It is thinner metal so I don't expect it to last as long as my first grill. Since basic grill is the same I am getting the same great grilling performance.

Grill is great and I love it. Holds temps and easy to adjust if needed. Only downside and why 4 stars is the genius who thought stainless steel a good idea. Sure looks shiny but anything and everything you put on it will leave a scratch. Would have been better either like butcher block on top or plastic like the Performer which I previously owned. You can use a good stainless steel cleaner but scratches will still be visible. For 2k don't really like looking at scratches. That being said, I would buy again.

I have been a longtime Weber customer owning over 8 of their grills over the past 20 years and like many, have been disappointed in the decline in quality especially in the residential gas side. This Christmas I purchased the Kamado Grill center and it has been my best Weber purchase in a long time. The grill itself is well constructed and has a durable and solid feel in every aspect of it like a kettle on steroids. Whether it be smoking, hot fire or charcoal cooking, this grill has great temp and airflow control and the auto ignition is a great feature(interested to see how long it holds up given other reviews). I love the damper on top that allows high airflow if needed and the different height options for the racks and defuser plate is well done too. The cart is a nice addition but I can see where people feel its a little cheaper built with plastic wheels(my one complaint is the drawer is not great and takes some effort to open and close). Overall 6 months in I love this grill and I hope Weber puts some of the quality and effort they put into this grill on some of their higher end gas grills.

The grill cooks well, holds temps well, and it comes with nice features. The ignition starter is a nice addition. Assembly was actually quite simple and it only took myself to do it. I like this more than other kamados due to the sturdy nature of the grill. It loses a point due to the cart feeling a bit cheap. The plastic rear wheels could be nicer and the basket just does not slide in and out smoothly. Overall its a nice kamado grill that I think will last for many cooks to come.

2 users found this review helpful

Undeniably the best charcoal grill offered by Weber. Quality of construction is excellent, and smoker and grill functionality make this grill capable of anything. Versatile and easy to use. Love the size and the effectiveness cooking with this grill.

2 users found this review helpful

I like it because of ease of use. Previous editions had issues which are resolved with the Summit Kamado S6 Charcoal grill.

This is the second Summit Kamado S6 Charcoal Grill Center we have purchased. That says it all! We like the added feature of smoking with the new model but we miss the charcoal bin and solid metal bottom shelf of the old model. Overall for someone who enjoys true BBQ charcoal flavor, this grill is exceptional.