Weber grills and more specifically Summit outdoor grills are known for reliability and durability. This same Summit family of grills began a design change in 2007 on its mid-to-high priced outdoor grills that feature cast-iron and stainless-steel -rod cooking grates. Updates on these grills include adding an infrared searing station and rotisserie on the Weber Summit S-470.
From Amazon.com:
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Number of Reviews: 110 (as of March 23, 2017)
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From Home Depot:
Overall Rating: 4.8/5
Number of Reviews: 93* (as of March 23, 2017)
* = Combined reviews of propane and natural gas versions.
Read the reviews
The stainless-steel version of the Summit 470 series, similar to other Weber Summit models, offers two versions that include a Liquid Propane (LP) gas model 7170001, and a Natural Gas (NG) model 7270001.
Both of these grills, the NG and LP versions, have 637 inches of total cooking are, broken down between 507 square inches of primary cooking area and an additional 130 square inches for the warming rack. The Weber Summit S-470 is the Stainless-Steel version of the black enamel Summit E-470 outdoor grill.
Weber Summit S-470 Reviews
Getting great reviews, the Weber Summit S-470 is popular with new users and experienced grilling experts. The “tuck-away” rotisserie motor and stainless steel cart with stainless-steel doors and cast-aluminum handles make the Weber Summit S-470 an appealing attraction for any backyard party. The four 48,800 BTU main burners, combine with a 12,000 BTU side burner, and 10,600 BTU rear mounted rotisserie and sear burner to offer you a variety of cooking methods and flavors.
An additional 8,000 BTU smoker burner and stainless-steel smoker box allows you even more variety while cooking outdoors. As with other grills in the Summit family, the LP version does not come with the tank of propane gas, and the NG version is available with a 10-foot connection hose.
Among reviews of the S-470, Amazon offers three reviews that average 3.7 on a five star scale. While two of these reviews awarded five stars to the Summit grill, one consumer gave only one star in the review of their experience with the grill. The single one-star rating was blamed on a common complaint that a cover was required, but only offered by Weber at an addition cost. It is known that Weber sells the most gas grills in America and probably throughout the world. The S-470 offers many burners within the cooking area. If you were to turn on all four main burners, the sear burner, rotisserie, and smoker burners that would come to about 70,000 total BTU on the single unit. You could get the temperature of this grill over 800 degrees on a summer day.
Specific comments directed to the rotisserie burner on the Summit S-470 (and the comparable E-470), consumers admitted that they had not been in search of this feature when researching gas grills, but once the Summit 470 models provided the feature, they don’t want to cook without it. Claims are that the rotisserie attribute makes a juicy and delicious chicken that is typically done in less than one hour. Many consider the Tuck-away rotisserie burner to be the best feature on the S-470 from Weber.
Tuck Away Summit s470 sear station
Experienced grill masters recommend that gas grilling novices first decide on natural gas or liquid propane. They say that propane is easier to start, but depending on usage can become expensive over a period of time. These experienced users also recommend keeping an extra propane tank available at all times. Natural gas may be more readily available if you have a gas stub coming from your house to make the connection. If you do not have, or do not know if you have that connection to your house, be sure to get a professional installation so you do not risk blowing yourself up.
Other than the rare consumer that leaves their gas grill uncovered even in bad weather, most users of the Weber Summit S-470 gas grill consider it to be the best grill available. The grill comes highly recommended for anyone looking for options to their outdoor grilling experiences. (On a side-note, some consumers bought the Summit 470 models in the natural gas version and claim a significant difference from liquid propane grills.
According to reviews, the natural gas grill gets hotter and reaches the desired cooking temperature faster. These consumers recommend going natural, if possible, for best grilling results. Additional reviews agree that the heavy-duty grates are important in combination with the flavorizer bars, unique to the Weber Company. These features work together to minimize flare-ups throughout the cooking process.
The Summit 470 Grill Series features the following:
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Get gas grill performance with wood-smoked flavor by using the built-in wood smoker box.
Available in an enamel exterior (E-470) or stainless steel (S-470).
- Side burner
- 4 Stainless steel burners
- 48,800 BTU-per-hour input
- 10,600 BTU-per-hour input sear burner
- 12,000 BTU-per-hour input flush-mounted side burner
- 6,800 BTU-per-hour input smoker burner and stainless steel smoker box
- 10,600 BTU-per-hour input infrared rear-mounted rotisserie burner
- 1 Grill Out® handle light
- 6 Tool hooks
- Limited warranty
- Tuck-Away™ rotisserie system with flip-up motor and separate spit and fork storage in the enclosed cart
- Snap-Jet™ individual burner ignition system
- 3/8 inch or 9mm diameter stainless steel rod cooking grates
- Stainless steel Flavorizer® bars
- Total cooking area = 580 sq in
- Primary cooking area = 468 sq in
- Warming rack area = 112 sq in
