Unlike BBQ smoking, or even gas grilling to a certain extent, charcoal isn’t aset-and-forget style of cooking. You need to monitor surface temperatures, meat internal temperatures, and to ward off any appearances of cold spots or flare ups. 393 square inches for cooking grates, porcelain enamel steel wiring, 205…
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.
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 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.
When you invert the assembly to screw it to the grill, the inner collar can slip down unnoticed and prevent the screws from attaching to the grill body. That happened to us twice before we figured out what was going on. If it had been full of hot ash, we would have had a real problem.
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, weber q 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 weber q and true design and solid engineering. Weber believes in the quality and craftsmanship of their grills, and offer the warranty to back it up.
Its main cooking grates are porcelain-enameled, which helps to retain heat as well as distribute it. This is always a key feature I look out for on modern grills as its helps to reduce uneven cooking temperatures. Due to their comparably simple construction, they tend to cost less than a similarly sized gas or pellet grill.
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 weber genesis 2 noted that wood pellets simply don’t produce the searing heat you need to make perfect burgers or steaks. Our experiments ran the gamut from grilling burgers to smoking .