A Weber charcoal smoker is a great option for larger cuts of meats like brisket and ham, while charcoal grilling may be a better option for classic grilling dishes like hamburgers, hot dogs and more. We don’t recommend this grill for beginners, because the proximity of the charcoal grate to the cooking grate makes searing tricky without strong knowledge of zone cooking. But with four separate dampers to control the heat, it’s weber q a luxe option for those looking to up their grilling game. The PK300 comes with a very generous 20-year warranty, making the higher price tag more palatable. In evaluating charcoal grills, we evaluated their performance with evenness of cooking, grill marks, caramelization and char, tenderness, and overall flavor. A high-performing grill should be able to reach a desired temperature and stay there steadily with monitoring.
The Weber kettle grill has been around since the early 1950s, so chances are good you’ve eaten a burger, a hotdog, or a steak cooked on one. As a kid, our family had a gas grill, while the neighbors had a Weber. Their food was always a little weber q bit tastier, so I made the Weber Original my first grill when I got a home of my own. Essentially just a grate sitting between two pieces of metal atop a tripod, it’s hard to imagine a simpler cooker beyond just an open fire on the ground.
It’s also ideal for large families or anyone who regularly cooks for a crowd. When used as a smoker, it produced large amounts of smoke and heat, with ribs that ranked among the highest in tenderness and overall rib quality. Due to their comparably simple construction, they tend to cost less than a similarly sized gas or pellet grill. Another powerful draw of these grills is the intense smoky flavor they create in the food they cook. They’re versatile too since they can use either traditional charcoal briquettes or lump charcoal as fuel. This Weber’s plated steel cooking grate is hinged so that it’s easier to load charcoal, even while cooking, onto the heavy-gauge steel grate below.
The round grate has ample cooking space for an entire Thanksgiving turkey, at least 10 burgers (Weber claims you can fit 13, but nobody likes an overcrowded grill), or a few beer-can chickens. Retailing at around $200, this grill is well-priced considering the upgrades from the original. To me, that’s money well spent considering how much easier it is to discard ashes, one of my least weber genesis 2 favorite things about operating my previous Weber. The built-in thermometer and dampers also enhance the cooking experience and justify the cost. Once you factor in price, performance, and design, the Weber is the heavy hitter in the arena of charcoal grills. They’re bulkier, the assembly is more involved and you’ll likely need more fuel to keep the larger space at a high temperature.
All you need is a Phillips screwdriver to attach the side handles, and a hammer (or even just a chunk of firewood) to tap the end caps of the wheel axle into place. One person can have the grill up and running within minutes of opening the box. By contrast, other grills we tested had cumbersome assembly processes. The Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill 22″ is a classic for good reason. In our tests it outperformed the other grills in cooking, ease of assembly, and user-friendly details.