For example, a kettle-style charcoal grill left in the July sun all day will run a lot hotter than it will in the cooler spring months. In cooking performance, the Weber was the best and most hassle-free grill in our tests. But once you factor in price, performance, and design, the Weber is the heavy hitter in the arena of charcoal grills. A high-end ceramic kamado grill, while a superior cooker thanks to its insulation, will run you $800 minimum.
Without getting too bogged down in the science of this, the shape allows near perfect heat distribution while also reducing flare-ups. An impressive smoker-grill hybrid that bridges the gap with barbecue perfectly. The perfect place to start for charcoal newbies and seasoned pros alike. Lesley Stockton is a portable bbq senior staff writer reporting on all things cooking and entertaining for Wirecutter. Her expertise builds on a lifelong career in the culinary world—from a restaurant cook and caterer to a food editor at Martha Stewart. She is perfectly happy to leave all that behind to be a full-time kitchen-gear nerd.
One other trick to note during assembly is that you will have to apply a little bit of tension to the legs when installing the wheels. I found that just pushing the leg in a little and then tapping the wheel covers on with a hammer (ball-peen, claw, or even a rubber mallet) worked. We independently research, test, review, and recommend the best products—learn more about our process. If you buy something through our links, we may earn a commission. 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.
The most-premium of the kettles adds Gourmet BBQ System grates , a warming rack and char-baskets. Built to Last- Charcoal Weber Grills feature a tried and true design and solid engineering. Weber believes in the quality and craftsmanship of their grills, and offer the warranty to back it up.
A heat shield just beneath the heat-resistant glass-reinforced nylon lid handle prevents you from burning yourself. The enclosed ash catcher below the grill body is a major upgrade in this version and makes cleanup much easier . Pellet grill lovers will love the SmokeFire, which has a temperature weber q range between 200 and 600 degrees. Its porcelain-enamel finish helps with heat retention, while also preventing future rust and cracks. The SmokeFire has flavorizer bars like the Spirit grills, and there’s a SmokeBoost option to infuse an extra dose of smokey flavor at the beginning of a cook.
If you prefer meat that’s more well done, you can extend the cooking time, or sear and finish cooking in an oven. They’re bulkier, the assembly is more involved and you’ll likely need more fuel to keep the larger space at a high temperature. Our results, however, were almost as good as with the kettle-style Weber, so if you’re interested in a cart-style charcoal BBQ, this is your best bet.
In our research, most proved to be cheap knockoffs that weren’t worth the minor savings. We resolved instead to find a kettle that could compete with the Weber on performance, price, and value. But we also opened our search to include charcoal grills of different designs. The fact that the kettle shape dominates the charcoal-grilling field doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the ideal. But what really sets the Premium version apart from the standard 22-inch kettleis the enclosed ash catcher, which makes cleanup easy and eliminates concerns about stray embers. Assembly is dead simple, and the construction and materials are sturdy.
They go the extra mile to ensure that every purchaser of a Weber charcoal grill finds a solution to any problem they encounter, and always feels satisfied with their grill. These systems are especially useful if you’d like to limit the headaches of low and slow barbecue babysitting. Even with fancy hardware, if you add too much lit fuel at once, your pit temperature will run away from you.
The Weber Original Premium Grill took 15 minutes to assemble, while the Weber Original Grill took only 10 minutes. The Weber grills were the only grills that didn’t come with a hardware pack. You can easily set up either Weber grill by yourself and it only requires you to use a hammer or screwdriver for attaching the handle and wheels. The rest ranged in setup time from 27 minutes to over an hour, with varying levels of difficulty and number of persons needed to complete the task.