Add its solid warranty and well-regarded customer service, and the Weber Kettle Premium Grill is the best value going. Weber makes charcoal grills for every budget, ranging from around $50 to over $2,000. The most popular weber genesis 2, the Original Kettle, can be found for between $100 and $450, with the differences coming in diameter, ash management, colors, and cooking grates. For more than 50 years, Weber charcoal grills have been one of the top sellers in the BBQ industry.
A water pan helps smooth out temperature swings while apple smoke wood adds extra flavor. A wax fire starter works well for this, but you can also use a few lit briquettes. The charcoal snake method is a very effective way to cook low and slow on your Weber Kettle. Place the probe clip right on the grill at food level, on the opposite side of the fire. And remember that the affordable backyard cooker has been around for decades, which means you can find plenty of useful aftermarket accessories for it.
There are a few models under the Q line, but prices generally only climb with higher power levels and for options that come with fold-out side tables. It adds another four inches of grill space, which means eight burgers instead of five. The Ranch kettle comes in one size weber charcoal grill and it’s absolutely enormous. Easily the largest of Weber’s kettle-shaped grills, the Ranch is overkill for all but Weber brand loyalists that need to make more than 40 burgers at a time. Weber grills aren’t the cheapest grills, but they’re also not super expensive.
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.
I also like to nestle a water pan at the center of the charcoal grate. It’ll serve as a heat reservoir and helps to smooth out temperature swings. The substances used, and the way they stand up to heavy usage and extreme heat will establish the caliber of a charcoal grill. Porcelain-coated portable bbq and chrome-plated will perform the job for less, but these thinner substances won’t always stand up to intensive usage over time. There is a lot to be said for the convenience and ease that gas and electric grills provide, but the authentic experience of charcoal is simply unmatched.
Cooking ribs low and slow on the Nexgrill required just 4 hours, 30 minutes. Its rack came out well too, though like the Napoleon, its bark was more pronounced than what the Weber produced. The difference between the two was largely in the crispiness of the skin, with the Weber producing the superior results.