Scott, I just just logged on and saw your post. We have been so crazy busy with clean-up, the kids, and just daily life that I haven't checked back in. This story has a HAPPY ending! Or, at least, not a bad one. :) Our insurance deductible is $2,000. The claim was just over $4,000 in damages per the adjuster. He gave us a couple of hundred for debris removal, $2,000 for the fence repair, a little bit for the attic leak which just requires some water seal, and around $2000 for the depreciated value of the play set and grill. Nothing for the large tree or fruit trees, as they did not hit any structures. So we have $2,000 for repairs. The city of Jenks hauled away all of our small limbs free of charge. I listed the play set for parts on CL (swings, slide, rock climbing wall, ladder. etc) for $80. A very nice man came and bought the parts, then insisted he haul away the scrap wood too. He has 20 acres somewhere and said he would rather burn it, so we didn't have to pay to get it hauled off! He is a carpenter, and said that now he can build his grandchildren a play set for minimal cost. Win-win for both of us. I helped him load it, and I thought I was gonna die. Some of the items were huge and heavy (the roof, the tunnel)...He brought a pickup truck and a 16 foot trailer, and they were both piled high when he drove off. My neighbors' landscapers asked if they could have the grill for scrap metal, so I gave it to them. Dave fixed most of the damaged fence with a few new rails, some leftover stain, and some quickcrete. That cost under $50. So now, we actually have around $2,000 to replace the play set and grill (which is about what they will cost). We pretty much broke even :) The big tree is mostly gone, and many of my small fruit trees were undamaged. One was on its side, and we replanted and staked it. A couple are snapped off. They may regrow. I do still have a large stump and a few feet of the base of my tree laying in the garden, Dave has been hacking away at it. But Scott, if you are ever in the area and the offer still stands, I'd love to take you up on it. Don't make a special trip, and I'd insist on paying you something for your time and effort. I'm not sure how long you are going away for, but I don't think Dave is going to get this thing chopped up any time soon. :) Jo

Hi Casey, Sorry to disappoint you, but whoever told you about the origins of the Spirit and Genesis are mistaken - both the Spirit and the Genesis barbecues are being manufactured in China. The difference only being the Genesis barbecues are being assembled in the US. Chinese parts, American assembly line. The only Weber models that continue to be manufactured and assembled in the US are the Weber Summit series of grills (though I would imagine that economics will be changing this in short order as well).

This just goes to show that there is always something to be said for simply blowing off the directions and pretending that your new gizmo is a giant, expensive, jigsaw puzzle. I am glad to hear that you were able to finally get things sorted out. I marvel that there is a woman out there so devoted to her hubby that she would endure hours of help-line torture to put a grill together. My wife, assuming that she would ever voluntarily undertake anything of the kind, which she decidedly wouldn't, would give it the old college 10-minute try and then retire to the patio with a rum and coke until I got home to sew things up. I am very glad that Weber was finally able to determine that the wrong instructions were enclosed, but it is too bad it took so long. Oh well, you probably shortened the talk time for some unfortunate down the road as there is no doubt your call-center helper will never again neglect to ask the customer which model the instructions are really printed for. Oh, I think you will find the grill quite nice. I have the E-320, the only difference being that it includes a separate hob so you can do up a sauce or veggie while the main grill is otherwise occupied. For the record, I have only used the small hob a time or two. Most of the time it is about all I can manage just cooking steaks and drinking beer. Who needs to complicate things with additional chores, anyway? Not having that extra side burner means that somebody else is going to have to steam the broccoli, which is probably in the broccoli's best interest anyway. Enjoy!

I see you created two threads for this. I'll repost what I wrote in the other thread for continuity. ------ I have the Weber Performer. It's an awesome grill. I used a Weber kettle for years with great success, but in a moment of weakness I retired it for a Weber Genesis gas grill. Gas grilling is convenient, but it's not the same. Last year I purchased the Weber Performer to get the convenience of gas starting, but the cooking flavor/performance of charcoal. First, the propane assist is just a charcoal starter. I stack the charcoal in a compact pile over the starter and ignite it. Of course the bottom vents are wide open and the lid is off at this point. After about 3 or 4 minutes, I can hear the charcoal snapping, popping, and smoking to indicate it's "lit." I turn off the propane and let the charcoal burn down until nearly all sides are covered with fine layer of ash. Then, I knock the pile down and spread it evenly across the bottom grate for cooking. Now, I put the top grate and the lid on and open the top vent wide open. I watch the temperature climb to >400 degrees, then open the lid and brush the top grate to clean it. Close the lid and use the upper and lower vents to control the airflow and thus the temperature. After some experience, I know just about how much to close them down to hit a temperature range I'm after. This assumes you're using good quality charcoal and not using too much of it. I prefer the hardwood "lump" charcoal. The old standard Kingsford briquets don't seem as high quality as they once were. If, for instance, I'm cooking hamburgers, I'll have just enough charcoal to cover the bottom grate with the chunks spaced 1/2" to 1" apart. Hamburgers cook pretty quickly. Don't use the little half-round trays Weber includes to hold the charcoal for normal grilling. Those are for special circumstances when you want indirect heat. When I'm done cooking, I close all the upper and lower vent to extinguish the charcoal. I use the leftover charcoal from the previous grilling as the base of for the next cooking and add a little more from the bag to make the pile I want. One more tip, use the lower vent control lever in a back-and-forth motion BEFORE you begin to sweep the ashes into the built-in collection can. Clearing out any build up debris in the bottom of the kettle helps the airflow. Return the lower vent to full open position before lighting the new charcoal. If you aren't getting to the temperature you want, you may have crappy charcoal, inadequate airflow, or impatience. ------ After reading the additional information you posted in this thread, I'd want to reemphasize the need to mound the charcoal tightly on top of the propane igniter for the initial lighting and burn down. Turn the propane ALL THE WAY ON and leave it that way for the 3-5 mins it takes to light the charcoal well. It should sound like a weak torch with a touch of whistle to the outlet flame. Let the charcoal burn down in its mound before spreading it. Lid off and bottom vent fully open for the initial burn down. The propane igniter works great.