Weber 1520 Propane Gas Go-Anywhere Grill

Review by T. K. Schonhoff for Weber 1520 Propane Gas Go-Anywhere Grill
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I bought one of these things ten years ago and despite twice replacing it with big, traditional-looking (and very expensive) grills I keep coming back to this one. In fact, when we bought our latest one at a local fireplace/grill store, the owner just couldn’t stop talking about this cheap little grill. He confided to me in a low voice that if I were to lift the lid of his own $2500 home gas barbecue, I’d find this little gem sitting inside because it’s all he uses too.Why? It’s not ease of cleaning or durability or any of that stuff (they rust out after a few years sitting on the porch). And you’d better buy a big propane bottle with an adapter hose if you don’t want to those little gas cylinders to suddenly empty out on you mid-meal while you’re cooking for guests… No, the reason I adore this is that it just plain grills better than anything else on the market – and we’ve tried a lot of them.My wife, the culinary school grad, thinks it’s the “flavorizer” that does it (the metal pan that replaces those awful lava rocks). When we grill salmon we just cover that metal pan with alderwood chips and let the smoke penetrate the fish while it grills with the lid on tight – flat out beating every restaurant or neighborbood grilled fish ever made. Friends of mine simply won’t cook salmon for us.Even though we virtually never clean the thing, it simply does the best job flavor-wise of all our grills. If you crank it up to high for 10 minutes, then grill with the top closed (never open) you get very consistent heat which is the secret to good grilling.Some cookbook author who writes barbecue books constantly repeats the phrase “Know Your Fire” like a mantra. This fire is 100% consistent, heats up in minutes (again, no lava rocks to soak up heat) and produces superb results for us. If you know your fire, this is the fire to know.

Review by Scott Mackie for Weber 1520 Propane Gas Go-Anywhere Grill
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I’ve owned a Weber Go-Anywhere for a couple of years now and it’s been a regular part of my outdoor cooking. Gets up to temperature quickly and is great for grilling simple stuff like salmon, chicken and sausages. The food doesn’t taste *quite* as good as my mesquite-fired kettle BBQ but the Go-Anywhere also doesn’t take 30 minutes to fire up.The piezzo lighter flaked out on my Weber a couple of months after I bought it but it’s pretty easy to light with a match. As another review mentioned, they do rust pretty quickly but they’re really sturdy and basic. It grills as well as it did when I first bought it.Strongly recommended for folks looking for a small, no-nonsense (or frills) gas BBQ.

Review by for Weber 1520 Propane Gas Go-Anywhere Grill
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I bought one of these compact units for my mother three years ago. She liked it so much and found it so easy to use that I got one for myself last summer. It is easy to clean and does a great job of cooking small quantities of food in a short time. It is easy to transport and easy on gas. It starts easily and stays lit even on windy days. I found that one end of the grill is cooler than the other which is nice for warming or holding food before serving.

Review by for Weber 1520 Propane Gas Go-Anywhere Grill
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I remember in college my roomie had this old gas hibachi purchased at WalMart for about $25. It was all we could use at the apartment, so it had to be small. It cooked unevenly, never got super hot, but got us through two years of school. Fast forward nine years later, where $50 doesn’t seem like a huge sum of cash anymore. Based on some reviews here, I ordered it up. I have cooked ten meals on it – pork, chicken, burgers, fish tonight. It cooks better than ANY grill I have used before, full-size or not.It gets pretty hot, for one. The drip pan over the pro-style burner tube vaporizes all of the fallen juices, smoking things up real good and giving food a great flavor. You just have to let it crank for 10 minutes on high to get up to temp, then adjust the temp to your liking. You can tell out of the box the difference Weber makes in grill making. It is heavier than you would think. The burner tube is a full length unit, covering the enetire cooking area. The regulator is even better than on the portable grills you find at K Mart. The drip pan replaces those terrible, smoky, greasy lava rocks. The ignitor is a nice touch.Some keys to good grilling though – always, always keep the lid on. Don’t poke your food – lets all the juices out!Only cons to this unit — the disposable propane tanks get expensive, and this grill goes through them pretty quickly (if you use the grill every day, of course). And lastly, the right side of the unit cooks ever so slightly cooler then the rest of the unit (good for veggies, etc). Best portable anywhere!

Review by Brian Rainey for Weber 1520 Propane Gas Go-Anywhere Grill
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As someone who doesnt like spending the weekends at home, I often travel and talegate before sporting events or camping out. I have had a few travel along grills in the past, and this will be the last grill I ever buy. The ease of use and cooking quality make this the best grill I have ever used. Its compact size makes this easy to travel with and pack, and cleaning is not that hard (even after a couple of beers . The flame heats up quickly and cooks meat evenly, so you can cook up to six hamburgers or two steaks at one time. The meat tastes great, and unlike charcoal grills cooks evenly.If you ever camp out or talegate (or ever bar b que at all), buy this grill. Remember to take along a couple of extra propaine tanks just in case it runs out. This will make any cooking occasion better than you have had before.

Review by Griller for Ducane 31731101 Affinity 3100 Propane Grill, Black
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This is the nicest grill I have ever owned and I can’t believe it really is only about $100 more than the last grill I had which was a total piece of junk. It is really nice, quality made. It heats evenly and quickly and is really much larger cooking area than I thought. Its perfect.

I put the entire thing together on my own and I’m a pretty petite woman. It was nowhere near as complicated to assemble as I thought. However I could not locate the knobs for the grill (dials) or the handle for the door. I re-checked every box, maybe it was there and the kids conveniently “relocated” it or it was missing in the first place (which I believe). I called Ducane, a few questions later they shipped out what was supposed to be 3 knobs and 1 handle, only got 1 knob. Tried again, only one knob. 3rd time is the charm and the woman I talked to the last two times said she would have the error corrected to reflect the proper part. Really their service was amazing and I’m thrilled with the grill. I splurged on a nice Ducane cover, I’m glad I did but this baby will get a parking space in the garage come winter, I’m in love with it!

Review by AustinScott for Ducane 31731101 Affinity 3100 Propane Grill, Black
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Last weekend I helped a friend put together a Charbroil grill. Altogether a very frustrating experience since it came FULLY disassembled and the instructions were difficult to decipher. So, I looked forward to this grill’s arrival with a little trepidation. When it came (by the way, it’s shipping weight is 158 lbs and not the 20 lbs in the description), the delivery person very nicely helped me bring it up to my second floor, despite his only needing to drop it off at my front door.

The difference between assembling this grill and the Charbroil is like night and day. The parts on the Ducane are quality parts. The gas controls are refined and made of brass. The instructions are easy to follow and, most importantly, the actual grill itself is already assembled (burners, top/bottom) so all you need to do is assemble the frame which holds the grill.

It took me about an hour to assemble it and I was working very slowly. The only thing I wish they had included was a tool to drive some bolts. I didn’t have a socket set with me and it was a pain to use pliers. After it was put together I fired it up and the flame looks great. I can’t wait to grill with it. It is a perfect size for the space I have.

Also, the Ducane cover is also high quality – heavy gauge and soft lining in inside.

Review by Brian for Ducane 31731101 Affinity 3100 Propane Grill, Black
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Ducane Affinity 3100 propane version arrived today.

All parts were in one box .. three major parts were dented or chipped.

Assembly instructions are good, it all went together in less than an hour even with a bunch of interruptions.

Alas, the only resemblance this has to my 15+ year old Ducane is the name. While I cannot tell yet about the quality of the burners or valves, it is clear that Weber seriously downgraded the quality of the cabinet and surfaces one expected from Ducane.

Overall fit was not terrific, and there were chips in the paint around the firebox – the area subjected to the most abuse and most likely to rust over time.

Three nice features of the old grill: one set of large wheels which allowed movement on bricks or grass, phenolic handles on the left and right of the lid which never got hot and a side work surface with a removeable cutting board which easily went into the dishwasher or allowed one to assemble in the kitchen and move to the grill.

The new grill has small wheels which cannot go onto grass and are rough on brick. The now common front bar to lift the lid gets rather warm, and requires you to put your arm right over the hot grill and subject your arm to the escaping/rising heat. The work tables of the 3100 got uncomfortably warm and are permanently attached to the grill requiring outside cleanup.

The fact that it is made (mostly? entirely?) in China is sad – Ducane was mostly US made in the past, and I liked knowing people were earning a real living here in the US.

I will be interested to see how this grill holds up – I doubt I’ll get 15 years from it.

Review by Pauline and Mark for Ducane 31731101 Affinity 3100 Propane Grill, Black
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Bought this grill to replace an ancient one that cooked food by burning it. This grill does a great job. It cooks evenly and has plenty of room. The ordering process was very easy. No problems with delivery, they even called the night before to schedule a time and the delivery person was exactly on time. The grill was easy to assemble and all parts were there. The only thing we wonder is where to buy the replacement grease pans.

Kudos to Ducane for a well made, inexpensive grill and to Amazon for the great service. Can’t wait till summoer to have a burger with fresh tomatos and vidalia onion slices.

Review by David S. Cunningham for Ducane 31731101 Affinity 3100 Propane Grill, Black
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I did a lot of research and chose the Ducane 3-burner because it’s well-made (in the Weber family), not expensive, looks slick and is compact. I don’t need a big, pricey unit with all the bells and whistles. The BBQ experience can be tightly controlled via temp gauge and burner knobs. I took my time assembling, and it went together easily. A wire lead to one of the 3 electric igniters was crimped on delivery and wouldn’t light, but I fixed that in about 60 seconds by splicing out the crimp. I highly reccomend buying the cover for this BBQ to keep it clean.