The Best Charcoal Grill to Buy in 2022: Tested and Reviewed

Versatile and increasingly popular, a Weber pellet grill can reach temperatures high enough to grill, sear, smoke and even bake to give you more cooking options. Fueled by wood pellets, infuse whatever you’re cooking with delicious woody flavor, from BBQ ribs to pulled pork and more. When deciding what size weber q grill you want, think about how many people you expect to be serving on a regular basis and how much cooking space you’ll need. Also, keep in mind that smaller grills are more portable—whether you’re moving your grill across the yard or to the park—while larger grills are heavier and harder to transport.

weber charcoal grill

During our testing, hamburgers cooked to medium, while it took the chicken about 32 minutes to come up to temperature. There’s a built-in lid thermometer and dampers on the lid that allow you to monitor and adjust the inner temperature. While not an amazing grill by any means, it’s easy to use and offers a better grilling experience than what you’d get with a cheap portable grill . With a price tag well below $100, this is also the kind of grill you could have shipped to a vacation destination and wouldn’t have to feel bad leaving behind. This grill is made from cast aluminum for superior heat conduction, and its unique shape and four-point venting system make it ideal for both grilling and smoking foods.

You’ll need to purchase a bag of briquettes, and either lighter fluid or a handy charcoal starter. We filled it up to the top with briquettes and then put newspaper underneath, which we lit on fire and then allowed the coals to heat up for exactly 15 minutes. Once your briquettes are fired up and ready to go, you then dump them into the base of the kettle grill. After you pop the cooking grate over the red-hot briquettes, you’re ready to start cooking. For instance, the grill is equipped with cast iron cooking grates, as well as a convenient side drawer for adding charcoal.

Grilling cooks food quickly using high heat, while smoking uses indirect heat and lower temperatures to cook food slowly. If you like to switch up your cooking style once in a while, you’ll love The Original PK Grill & Smoker. This model delivers the best of both worlds, and it’s perfect for both casual grillers and professional chefs. When you’re done cooking, the Weber grill has a one-touch cleaning system that lets you sweep ash and debris into the removable ash catcher for disposal.

Shop small, portable options for tailgating or camping, or browse a full range of sizes for expert grilling in your backyard. Certain models double as smokers or have integrated thermometers. Others have side tables or are designed to be especially easy to clean. weber charcoal grill It’s your grill and your food, so decide what’s most important to you. We tested six kettle-style charcoal grills because when it comes to grilling, simpler is just better. After a handful of cookouts over the last few weeks, there were two clear winners.

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.

Cooking a variety of meats allowed us to observe grill marks, crispiness, and doneness. After the grills had fully cooled, we cleaned each, following the manufacturer’s instructions as closely as we could. We assembled each grill according to the manufacturer’s instructions. I timed each build and noted any confusing directions or hard-to-finagle parts. Assembling each grill also allowed us to assess the quality of the materials.