Michael Sullivan has been a staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter since 2016. Previously, he was an editor at the International Culinary Center in New York. He has worked in various facets of the food and restaurant industry for over a decade. We dismissed the many cheaper knockoffs of the Weber kettle, including models by Kingsford, Char-Broil, PizzaQue, and Grill Zone.
When you invert the assembly to screw it to the grill, the inner collar can slip down unnoticed and prevent the screws from attaching to the grill body. That happened to us twice before we figured out what was going on. If it had been full of hot ash, we would have had a real problem. Before the cooking tests, we spent a day assembling the three grills. Overall, the cooking tests were far more important to us; you typically only assemble a grill once.
Weber believes in the quality and craftsmanship of their grills, and offer the warranty to back it up. If you want a charcoal grill to last decades, then this is the brand for you. And with a lifetime warranty, you can worry less about rust or how it holds up to the elements. Gas-assisted charcoal grills are usually fueled by a small screw-on propane tank. “This allows you to fire up the charcoal with a quick twist of the knob as opposed to using a charcoal chimney or other lighting methods,” Lilly said.
I’ll continue to use my gas grill for weeknight dinners, but turn to the Weber when hosting things that I want to feel more like an event. In doing so, hopefully my kids will absorb the same Dad-imbued, charcoal-infused summertime impressions that waft through one’s memory for a lifetime. One thing that I noticed while putting the grill together was that the materials just seemed chintzier and more flimsy than those on the Weber Kettle Grill my dad owned.
“At this point, the Weber Kettle is more of a platform than a stand-alone product,” he says. Out of dozens of community-driven updates and upgrades, these are the best Weber Kettle add-ons money can buy. BBQGuys does more than test and sell grills — we show you how to use them, too. Our experts provide the recipes and skills you need to be a grill master. Our customer service reps are real people offering great service, backed by 8 weeks of hands-on training with all of our products.
But even if you have a gas grill or a pellet smoker , sometimes the charcoal option is simply superior. To clean the grates, build a fire, heat up the grill, and then take a bristle-free wire brush (metal bristles can fall out and end up in your food, and you don’t want that) and scrape. Every few cooks, I like to use a Shop-Vac to remove any greasy ashes stuck in the bottom of the grill.
As a kid, our family had a gas grill, while the neighbors had a Weber. Their food was always a little bit tastier, so I made the Weber Original my first grill when I got a home of my own. Essentially just a grate sitting between two pieces of metal atop a tripod, it’s hard to imagine a simpler cooker beyond just an open fire on the ground. McManus prefers charcoal grills with grates that are easy to lift up if you need to add more coals. “Our favorite Weber has little doors that open on both ends of the grate for this,” she said. The Everdure grill by Heston Blumenthal is a great tagalong for the beach, lake or picnic, Shoults explained.
Burgers for my kids—no cheese, please, and not too pink in the center or else Dad will have to bring them back to the grill for a little extra cooking. If you have questions related to barbecue or grilling, please post them to the comments section at the bottom of any page. Our talented team of paid moderators will be with you shortly.
Equipped with a hinged Gourmet BBQ System cooking grate, you’re also able to purchase additional inserts, like the wok or griddle, to cook smoky chili or breakfast outside on the grill. Equipped with a Tuck-Away™ lid holder for convenient lid placement, taller legs, and Char-Basket™ fuel holders. For the high-heat, whole-grate burger test, we lit a chimney’s worth of briquets—the equivalent of six quarts, or about 90 coals of a former runner-up from our extensive briquet tests. We then oiled the grates and distributed 10 to 12 six-ounce patties across the whole cooking surface .
Here are some tips to help properly assemble the grill. To make the most of your cookouts, you’ll need the best utensils at your fingertips. Get closer to achieving grilling perfection with weber charcoal grill our selection of Weber grilling tools and accessories. Shop our selection online or at your neighborhood store. Video – How to use the vents on a Weber kettle grill and Charcoal Amounts.