We then oiled the grates and distributed 10 to 12 six-ounce patties across the whole cooking surface . While the burgers cooked we kept an eye out for undesirable flare-ups, which can char the meat and create acrid smoke, and examined the evenness of cooking on the different areas of the grates. After about 10 minutes of cooking , we compared how well each grill had seared the burgers, looking for any patties that were charred or unacceptably raw, and took a taste. There’s nothing quite like the combo of enjoying the great outdoors while smelling the delectable aroma of fresh-grilled foods. A Weber charcoal grill makes the perfect addition to tailgate parties, camping adventures and backyard entertaining. When purchasing a new charcoal grill or smoker, understanding the different styles of Weber charcoal grills and what each type can do is important.
Charcoal briquettes and lump charcoal are easier to ignite and keep lit than ordinary firewood. And if you plan to cook low and slow we suggest adding a few chunks of hardwood to your charcoal weber charcoal grill pile. This brings about more smoke flavor in barbecue meat like pork ribs, pork butt and beef brisket. Next, we light each grill’s snake at one end of the chain with five lit briquettes .
Just like a lot of modern charcoal grills, it has an ashtray to help speed up cleaning. It’s big enough to take on quite a lot, so you shouldn’t have to empty it too frequently. What really sets the Kettle apart from the rest through is its vents. Also called dampers, these vents sit both at the bottom and the top of the grill chamber.
The Weber Kettle does have a built-in thermometer, but I always recommend just getting your own to ensure maximum accuracy and reliability for temperature reading. Shop your favorite products and we’ll find the best deal with a single click. Ribs cooked on the Napoleon grill came out tasty, though with weber genesis 2 bark that was a little dry. If the ash catcher is even slightly warm, the ash inside is still a fire hazard. Indirect grilling can produce a great roasted chicken—the Weber’s is a textbook example. Authentically grilled food shows no boundaries with the all-new Lumin electric grill from Weber.
While this grill does come with an included cart, which added to setup time, we also found the instructions hard to follow, and the amount of hardware included felt a bit overwhelming. If you’re going to purchase this grill, then we’d advise looking into having your local hardware store build and deliver it to you. The 22-inch Weber Original Premium Kettle Grill lives up to Weber’s storied history. The Weber charcoal grill has been around for nearly 70 years and, while the design of the kettle has barely changed, it’s easy to see why. It has an inbuilt temperature gauge, although I do always recommend getting your own grill thermometer for the best and most accurate results. In any case, the gauge helps you monitor internal temperatures without having to lift the lid and disrupt the cooking temperatures in your grill chamber.
For the same reason, don’t let your charcoal grill sit out in the rain, as the resulting lye will quickly corrode any metal it touches. Instead, bring your grill into a garage, put it under an awning, or tent it with a grill cover . We backed this reporting up with comprehensive research—the in-depth, professional reviews at AmazingRibs.com being a standout source—and hands-on weber q time with grills at the big hardware chains. Email updates from our community of barbecue masters, food enthusiasts, and lovers of outdoor cooking. Not to beat a dead burger, but the aforementioned thermometer really did help me manage my fire better. The Weber also features a hook on the inside of the lid, which you can use to hang the lid off the side of the grill.
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. Over the course of two days, we put three charcoal grills through a battery of tests designed to demonstrate their qualities and highlight their differences. We cooked burgers on high heat to see how well the grills seared meat and how even and intense a heat they could generate across the whole grate surface.