The gas ignition makes lighting coal as easy as pushing a button. With a push of a button, the coals are lit, and the essence of BBQ fills the air. The Performer® Deluxe charcoal grill performs from beginning to end. Light coals with the Touch-N-Go gas ignition, prep food on the large work table, and know that cleanup will be easy with the One-Touch™ cleaning system. Clean the cooking grate as you would any other grate — use a good grill cleaning tool to remove food debris (when it’s still warm), but don’t use anything metal.
Lidless charcoal grills may be good for simple grilling, like cooking burgers and shrimp over direct heat, but you need a lid to successfully roast turkeys and smoke ribs. The premium version of the original kettle measures 22 inches wide and comes in three colors. The premium version also includes Weber’s One-Touch cleaning system, meaning that it comes with a large enclosed ash pan for easy cleanup, and it also boasts a built-in thermometer and lid hook.
Reviewers say the quality of this product is great and that the grill will undoubtedly serve you well for years to come. Consumer Reports described this grill from Char-Broil as “a modestly priced kettle grill with some nice features,” rating it “Very Good”. This kettle grill has a 360-square-inch cooking space, hinged lid, ashtray and what Consumer Reports calls a “large” damper.
After weeks of research, reporting, and discussion, we settled on three charcoal grills to test. Based on our conversations with Joe Salvaggio of Big Apple BBQ and the many manufacturers at the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo, we eliminated kamados and pellet griller-smokers for this guide. Those designs offer attractive versatility, but they’re also expensive—$350 at minimum, and the most popular and best-regarded styles run twice that or more. And Salvaggio noted that wood pellets simply don’t produce the searing heat you need to make perfect burgers or steaks.
Toast to the authenticity of charcoal grilling, classic design, and taste loved around the world—the Original Kettle. Its ultra-durable, porcelain-enameled lid and bowl retain heat, while the dampers can be easily adjusted for precise temperature control. Grilling purists will tell you that charcoal cooking is the only way to go, and seasoned grillers I’ve spoken to maintain that a Weber kettle is the best charcoal grill you can buy. It’s hard to argue with the first part because propane simply won’t give you the same smoky flavor you get from charcoal.
The oval shape of the grill made it easy to cook multiple types of food, from skewers to roasted corn. After she was done testing, cleanup was a breeze, whether using a grill brush or removing the grate to clean in the kitchen sink. A couple of downsides discovered during testing were that the lid can detach while cooking and the lack of a built-in thermometer means you’ll need to have your own. There’s a built-in lid thermometer and dampers on the lid that allow you to monitor and adjust the inner temperature. Gas grills are mainly for convenient, quick cooks — they work “hot and fast,” says Horsman, great for firing up hot dogs and burgers after work.
The resulting chicken was tasty, and the grill features really well-made cast-iron grates across its 365 square inches of cooking area. The lid houses a temperature gauge and a handy hinge that makes it easy to add charcoal. This grill can hold up to nine burgers on its plated steel cooking grate, and it features an enameled porcelain lid and bowl, lid hook, and easy-to-adjust weber q dampers. It has durable wheels for easy transport, and you can clean up quickly using the one-touch cleaning system, which sweeps ash and debris into the rust-resistant ash catcher. In our testing, the Weber Premium was hands down the easiest grill to control temperature on, with the flames inside the kettle responding expertly to any tap of the vents.
First, you’ll find ample space on the steel cooking great for a whole lotta food. You could readily cook half-a-dozen steaks at once or enough burgers to feed a baseball team, including the relief pitchers. The Weber 22-Inch Original Kettle charcoal grill is, as the name explains, a charcoal-fired grill. It’s a basic grill, as most charcoal barbecues are — no side burners, shelves, infrared, glowing temperature knobs, etc.
A vent on the lid controls airflow and a well-designed ash tray beneath the Weber grill facilitates easy cleanup. Its construction is simple and solid, and the materials—rust-proof aluminum legs, porcelain-coated steel for the body, and a nickel-plated steel grill—are designed to last. And while the basic design has barely changed since 1952, Weber has added helpful new details over the years—this latest iteration has convenient tool hooks on the side handles, for example.