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.
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. For a lower price point and a little less grilling space, check out the Weber Original Kettle 18-Inch Charcoal Grill. Charcoal grills are a staple for home chefs because charcoal is a relatively inexpensive fuel source that gives your food a beautiful, smokey flavor, from hot dogs and hamburgers to pizza and pulled pork.
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. 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.
Another option is to use an electric charcoal lighter, which you put on the grill along with charcoal to bring the coals up to temperature. LaTonya Michelle Darrisaw has over a decade of experience fact-checking, writing, and editing food-related content, as well as sourcing and recommending the best products for the home and in entertainment. Introduce big, bold flavor to your BBQ and grilling creations thanks to the Meathead’s Amazing line of pork, red meat, and poultry rubs as well as a KC-style BBQ sauce. 3) Tell us everything we need to know to help such as the type of cooker and thermometer. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50°F so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can’t help you with time and temp questions. Our most important source of sustenance is people who join our Pitmaster Club.
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.
The grill has two convenient folding side shelves and utensil hooks. In addition our Pitmaster Club is a huge thriving community of cooks who love to share. All text, recipes, photos, and computer code are owned by Meathead’s AmazingRibs.com and protected by US copyright law unless otherwise noted. It is a US federal crime to publish or distribute anything on this website without permission. The most exciting thing about this grill, however, is the crank handle that raises and lowers the charcoal tray.
All you do is place crumpled newspaper in the bottom of the tool with charcoal on top, and after you light the bottom, your charcoal will be ready to add to the grill in around 10 minutes. From enameled steel to stainless steel to ceramic, grills are made from a wide variety of materials, and each has its pros and cons. But that’s not all—grill grates can be made from cast iron, stainless steel, or other material. Our home tester used this to weber charcoal grill cook up barbecue classics like chicken wings and ribs, and she was highly pleased with its performance. Other aspects she liked were that the grates became more nonstick as the testing went on and the warming rack proved itself to be the perfect bun warmer. We looked for charcoal grills with good heat retention, but that also allowed for easy airflow adjustments through dampers and vents or other functions like an adjustable charcoal tray.
Is there a portable grill that works as well as a full-sized one? Get easy-to-follow, delicious recipes delivered right to your inbox. Sarah Vanbuskirk is an accomplished writer who tested her grill out on her family of seven to weber charcoal grill see if it could live up to the rigors of feeding a large family. These are not paid ads, they are a curated selection of products we love. Since then Weber, like many others, has outsourced manufacturing of more product lines.
Plus, there’s a gravity-fed charcoal hopper on the side of the unit, and it can hold up to 10 pounds of lump charcoal or 16 pounds of briquettes, allowing you to cook all day without ever adding more fuel. This charcoal grill can hold up to 13 burgers at a time, and you can monitor the internal temperature using the built-in lid thermometer. This Performer Deluxe grill has an electronic charcoal ignition system and a removable timer that mounts to the side work table. Additionally, there’s a convenient charcoal storage bin integrated into the design, as well as the brand’s one-touch cleaning system.