Our experiments ran the gamut from grilling burgers to smoking . All of our tests were designed and run by Wirecutter senior writer Lesley Stockton, who has over a decade of experience in professional kitchens, many of them spent on the grill station. Lesley weber q conducted the testing with senior staff writer Tim Heffernan, who wrote this guide, and Michael Sullivan, a senior writer on the kitchen team. Sam Sifton, assistant managing editor at The New York Times, also joined in and added his extensive knowledge.
The main barrel features a 474-square-inch grilling grate and loads of room for charcoal. A lid-mounted warming rack adds an extra cooking surface for roasting vegetables or toasting buns. Keep serving platters and tools handy on the side-mounted weber genesis 2 platform and hooks. Coated metal and easy-access doors make this grill easy to cook with, clean, and maintain. The adjustable charcoal tray can be raised or lowered to put the right amount of air between your food and the hot coals.
If you’re looking for the best affordable charcoal grill under $100 that will cook your meat to a perfect temperature, then this Weber is for you. We were underwhelmed with the performance of the Napoleon 22-inch grill, which is most likely a result of the grill needing more briquettes to really work well. The kettle on this model is pretty deep and you can adjust the cooking grate to two different levels. We wouldn’t advise cooking with the grate at the highest level if you’re looking for a nice sear since it’s too far off the heat.
The grill grate on a Napoleon is made of a thicker and flatter cast iron, which is an upgrade from the usual lightweight, stainless steel grates you see on most charcoal grills. However, it takes longer to heat up and is a different cooking experience from traditional charcoal grills. During our tests, we were only able to get our hamburgers to cook to rare, and our chicken did not sear and crisp up as well as it did on all the other grills. Because of this, the Napoleon is definitely not a grill for charcoal beginners. Grillmasters with high-end taste and a tight budget will love this option from Royal Gourmet.
From its modest roots Weber grew to be an internationally recognized name in the grilling world. The company grew from a small band of devotees to a massive business, pushing the edge of food technology at a time when backyard cooking was a rapidly growing fad. In the 1950s, George Stephen, Sr. worked in sales at Weber Brothers Metal Works, which his father ran at the time.
However, unless you’re closely watching the grill at all times, your food can easily burn or overcook. According to McManus, you absolutely want a charcoal grill that comes with a lid as you greatly limit what you can make without one. Also look portable bbq for ones that leave plenty of room underneath for cooking taller foods when closed, like a 14-pound turkey. Ceramic cookers offer some of the best insulation on the market and result in rock steady temperature control, according to Lilly.
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. (Weber grills are still assembled in America, but with some imported components.) The metal in the legs seems to bend pretty easily. The most significant difference that stood out to me was that all the handles on the new models have plastic instead of wood.