Weber Q1000 vs Q1200: Key Differences in 2022

The Weber Q1000 and Q1200 are high quality portable gas grills but choosing the best one is not always obvious.

My parents bought the Q1000 several years ago and they really love it.  I used their grill a few times and found that I really wanted two of the upgrades that come with the Q1200.

I ended up buying the Q1200 and am delighted with the grill.

Let’s take a closer look at what is different about these grills along with some real life user reviews.

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What the Q1000 and Q1200 Have in Common

The Q1000 and Q1200 are identical in terms of grate size, heating capacity and quality of construction.

• Burner: Single burner rated for 8,500 BTU/hr that traverses the outside edge of the grill grate.
• Cooking Grate: Two piece grate made of heavy porcelain enameled cast iron.
• Cooking Area: 189 square inches
• Grill Body: Rust resistant cast aluminum
• Warranty: 5 years for cook box, lid, burner tube and grates.
• Fuel: Disposable 1 pound propane bottles (not included)

The names of these grills have changed over time.  The Q1000 has also been called the Baby Q and at one time had the model number Q 100.  The Q1200 used to have the model number Q 120.

Both of these grills are for use on a table top although carts are available if you want to have the grill mounted.

What is Different Between the Q1000 and Q1200

There are five differences between these two grill models.

I like the side tables on the Q 1200 since it seems like I never have enough working area when I grill.  It might seem like you would have plenty of work space since the grill is usually sitting on a table top but I like to use the side tables as a place to rest grease covered spatulas and other stuff that would get the table dirty.

The lid thermometer is not very accurate but it is an excellent way of seeing if you still have gas in your little propane bottle.  The little bottles can go empty in the middle of a cook and if you are grilling with the lid down you wouldn’t notice it.

If you are looking to add some style and a splash of color to your deck then the Q1200 has a lot of great options to choose from.  The current color options are shown below.

The taller dome of the Q 1200 makes it easier to cook larger roasts but this is not a big selling point for me as I prefer to do larger cuts like pork butts, etc on my kettle grill.

I am also pretty neutral on the difference in ignition systems between these grills.  The push spark ignition on the Q1000 is highly reliable and I never saw an advantage to the electric battery powered ignition system.

For the small  price difference between these two grills going with the upgraded Q 1200 is an easy choice and is the one that I ended up buying.

User Reviews

‘The Q series has been around a long time and plenty of user reviews have been generated.  Here is a side by side look at the reviews for these two grills from Weber’s website.

Here is a look at the raw data (May, 2021)

Some Quick Stats:

• 92% of the reviews for both the Q1000 and Q1200 reviews are 5 or 4 stars.
• There are 4X as many reviews for the Q1200 than the Q1000 reflecting the increased popularity of the Q1200 model.

My Experience with the Q1200

My Q1200 is about 12 years old and the only part I have ever had to replace is the ignition system.  My grill has the original burner tubes and cooking grates and I have zero complaints.

The paint is a little worn/chipped and everything on the grill looks a bit faded but it still grills like a beast.

It is extremely reasonable to expect that your Weber Q will last about 10 years with a little bit of maintenance.  Spread the initial cost of this grill over a ten year timeframe and you will realize that the Q1200 is a great bargain.

I can easily get the grill to over 500F with about 15 minutes of preheating so searing steaks is easy.

There is enough room on the Q1200 to easily cook for a family of four.

You can even cook a whole chicken on the grill as long as you spatchcock it first.  This is a super fun way to grill a yardbird! Pro Tip: Inject that chicken with Tony’s Creole Butter marinade and you will be amazed out how awesome the chicken turns out!

If you plan on grilling for more than four people then I suggest you make the upgrade to the pretty amazing Weber Traveler.

My biggest complaint about my Q1200 is that it is designed to run off of disposable 1 pound propane bottles and I hate using them.

If you run the Q1200 on high then the grill will burn through a bottle of propane in 2.5 hours.  In reality you are going to get three, maybe four, grilling session per one pound tank.

I went ahead and bought the adapter hose that allows you to operate the Q1200 off of a 20 pound propane tank.  I consider the adapter hose a mandatory upgrade for this grill.