The Q1200 is a great portable gas grill from Weber that is highly reliable, fun to use and has a small footprint. I have been grilling on my Q1200 for a while now and really love it.

While I am extremely happy with this grill it does have a few problems so it is not the ideal choice for everyone.

In fact, Weber came out with a new type of grill in 2021, the Traveler, that is probably a better choice for most people.

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Q1200 Specifications and Dimensions

To get a better idea of this grill’s identity, let’s take a look at some numbers.

Grilling Area: 189 inches of primary cooking area
Grates: Porcelain-enameled, cast-iron cooking grates
Burners: One stainless steel burner
Heating Power: (8500 BTU/hour) / (189 square inches) = 45 BTU per hour per square inch
Dimensions (with the lid ajar and tables out): 24.6”H x 40.9” W x 20.5”D—15.5”H with the lid closed
Color Availability: Fuchsia, Black, Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Titanium, and Florida State University Maroon
Warranty: 5 years cook box, lid assembly, burner tubes, grates, and plastic components, and 2 years on all other parts including paint

So what do all of these numbers mean?

It means that the Q1200 will:

Fit Nicely on a Patio Table
Last a Long Time
Be Highly Reliable
Cook All the Steaks and Burgers You Want

Let’s take a look at what other grill owners have to say.

Weber Q1200 Reviews From Customers

I grabbed the customer reviews for the Q1200 from the Home Depot website and plotted them below.

The Q1200 has a 95% customer satisfaction rate which is among the highest ratings I have seen for any Weber grill.

People love that, while the grill is compact and doesn’t take up much space, it still gets hot enough to sear steaks and has room to cook for four. Other benefits people mentioned were how even the grill cooks and how easy it is to clean.

The few negative comments about the grill is that the lid does not lock which makes it less of a portable grill and the need to buy an adapter hose to use a 20 pound propane tank.

What Makes the Q1200 Great

This grill has quite a bit of grilling space for a tabletop grill. With 189 square inches of space, you can cook for the whole family at one time, making this grill great for camping, traveling, or use on a small balcony or patio.

I routinely grill on the Q1200 for my family of four and have never felt cramped on space. To give you an idea about capacity, here is a picture of a cook I did a while back. There was plenty of room for a five pack of Johnsonville five bratwursts and six chicken wings cut into sections.

The Q1200 features porcelain-enameled cast iron cooking grates. These grates are extremely heavy and take about 15 minutes to really heat up but once they get hot they stay hot and let you do serious grilling on a little grill.

The grates are specifically engineered to provide even heating in combination with the single circular burner that runs around the circumference of the grill.

The grill is a blast to cook on. I have no idea why using this little grill is so much fun but I tell you, it puts a smile on my face every time I fire it up! Here is a fun cook I did with the Q1200 when I grilled up some pork steaks.

Here is another fun cook I did when I made up a bunch of Beer Brats on the Q1200. Seriously..this grill is a BLAST to use!

Materials of Construction

If you live near the coast or want to put a grill by your pool then buying a Weber Q is a no brainer.

All of the Q series grills have a cast aluminum body and a heavy duty plastic frame. The salt and chlorine from the ocean or your pool will corrode grills made of steel but will not harm the aluminum and plastic on the Q Series.

What I Don’t Like About the Weber Q1200

The biggest issues for me come down to upgrades, portability and grease management.

Required Upgrades:

The Q1200 is designed to run on disposable 1 pound propane cylinders and I hate using them.

A one pound bottle of propane holds 21,600 BTUs. The burner on the Q1200 is rated at 8,500 BTU/Hr. This means you will get between 2-3 hours of grilling time per bottle of propane. It sucks when that little bottle runs out of gas in the middle of a cook!

As a result I believe an essential upgrade is the adapter regulator and hose that allow you to connect the Q1200 to a 20 pound propane tank. This will set you back around $40.

Another upgrade that I had to get was the cart that the grill is mounted on. The Q1200 does not come with a cart so if you don’t already have a place to put it then you will need to buy the cart. I like the cart just fine but it will cost you around $80.

Portability:

On the portability front the reality is that this grill isn’t very portable. Sure, you can pick it up and carry it but it wasn’t really designed with that in mind. There is no lid lock or lid handle. This means that you have to use two hands and carry the thing in front of you. And to be honest, given the weight of the heavy cast iron grates, you are not going to want to carry this grill very far.

If all you need this grill for is for use as a tabletop grill for your patio then the portability issue is not a problem. If you are looking for a grill to haul down to the park on a regular basis then do yourself a favor, head down to the store and try carrying one around for a minute or two.

Grease Management:

There are no flavorizer bars to protect the burner tube on the Q1200 from dripping grease or other grill crud. I suspect this is the reason the warranty on the burner tube is only 5 years instead of the 10 years that is standard on Spirit and Genesis grills.

My biggest issue with the grease management system is that it becomes easy for the ports on the burner tubes to get clogged. As a result, after a year of heavy use, you will need to spend about an hour one afternoon and use a needle to open all the ports back up. It isn’t hard to unclog the burner tubes but you are going to get your hands dirty 🙂

Capacity

In 2020 there were just the four of us at my house and the Q1200 met all of our needs.

In 2021 we started having friends come over (Yay!) and all of a sudden my cute little grill was too small.

This grill is the perfect size for feeding 2-4 people. If you are going to have more than four people over then you are going to want to have a larger grill.

Versus the Q1000

As far as cooking is concerned, the Q1000 and Q1200 are identical. Although the Q1200 features an electronic ignition, where the Q1000 has a push-button ignition, they have the same heating power and same cooking space.

The Q1200 is an upgrade with the folding side tables to give you more prep space in a small area at a campsite or on an already full table. Both grills have removable porcelain-enameled cooking crates and removable catch pans for easy cleanup. On both grills, these standard items are also dishwasher safe.

The small price difference in the 1200 versus the 1000 is simply due to the addition and convenience of the folding tables. The choice of which one will work best for you is personal preference, although I tend to lean toward paying the additional money for the electronic ignition and side tables.