# Weber Summit FS38 E Gas Grill

- Category: Gas Barbecue Grills
- Ranking appearance: Also considered (not ranked)
- Updated: 2026-08-02
- Canonical HTML route: /products/weber-summit-fs38-e/
- Ranking context: [Return to the full ranking](/rankings/best-gas-barbecue-grills/2026-05.md)

The Summit FS38 E is a substantial five-burner propane grill for cooks who will genuinely use its infrared broiler, rotisserie, smoker box, and side burner rather than merely wanting a larger basic grill.

## Verdict

Choose it when the infrared broiler, rotisserie, smoker box, and expansive grate will all earn regular use; otherwise, a simpler grill will deliver better value and easier ownership.

## Review

Weber's flagship layout gives the FS38 E a broader cooking range than most freestanding gas grills. The five main burners cover a large primary grate, while the side burner, top-down infrared broiler, rotisserie, and smoker box support sauces, high-heat finishing, rotating roasts, and smoke flavor without separate appliances. Serious Eats' exact-model testing adds useful substance: the grill heated evenly and produced convincing marks and browning rather than merely looking impressive on a specification sheet.

That range comes with meaningful costs. The grill is exceptionally heavy, occupies a wide permanent footprint, and asks buyers to pay for several systems that casual cooks may rarely use. The same independent test needed multiple attempts to light the infrared broiler, a small but relevant friction point on one of the headline features. This is a compelling luxury workstation for committed hosts, not the default answer for a household that mainly wants reliable weeknight grilling.

## Why we considered it

Weber combines a large five-burner cooking area with a top-down infrared broiler, rotisserie, smoker box, and side burner in one unusually complete outdoor-cooking package.

## Why it missed the ranked list

Its very high cost, 247-pound weight, and feature-heavy layout make it a narrower recommendation than the simpler grills that earned places in the main ranking.

The FS38 E sits just outside the ranked ten because its cooking performance and breadth are strong, but its ultra-premium positioning and ownership demands give it a much narrower audience than the leading all-purpose choices.

## What stands out

- Top-down infrared broiler and rotisserie are included
- Large cooking area with five independently controlled main burners
- Independent testing found even heat and strong browning

## Tradeoffs

- Premium cost and a permanent 247-pound footprint
- More components to learn, clean, and maintain
- Broiler ignition was finicky in one independent test

## Best for

- Dedicated outdoor cooks who entertain often
- Households replacing several outdoor appliances with one station

## Not for

- Value-focused buyers
- Small patios or households that move the grill frequently

## Key product facts

- **The US liquid-propane Summit FS38 E has five main burners, 1,053 square inches of total cooking space, a 12,000-BTU side burner, and a 16,000-BTU top-down infrared broiler.** Weber's exact US part-number page supplies the fuel type, burner layout, cooking areas, and stated heat outputs, while the official manual hub anchors the support path for this model.
- **Independent testing found even heating and strong browning from the main grill, while also noting that the infrared broiler took a few attempts to ignite during the test.** Serious Eats tested the exact FS38 E, recorded temperature performance and food results, and disclosed the broiler-lighting difficulty rather than relying on manufacturer specifications.

## Sources

- [Summit FS38 E Gas Grill, Liquid Propane, part 1500029](https://www.weber.com/US/en/gas/summit/summit-fs38-e-gas-grill-%28liquid-propane%29/1500029.html) — Weber; accessed 2026-08-02. Current exact-model US page confirming liquid-propane identity, dimensions, weight, five-burner layout, cooking areas, heat outputs, included cooking systems, warranty summary, and official image provenance.
- [Weber Grills Owner's Manuals](https://www.weber.com/US/en/help/manuals/) — Weber; accessed 2026-08-02. Official model and serial lookup hub linked by Weber for current owner manuals and support documentation, including Summit-series products.
- [The Best Gas Grills, According to Our Tests](https://www.seriouseats.com/best-gas-grills-5186603) — Serious Eats; accessed 2026-08-02. Independent exact-model test reporting even temperature behavior, defined grill marks and browning, use of the top-down broiler, repeat ignition attempts for that broiler, and the grill's exceptionally high cost.

## Buying links and data limits

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