Throw your hands up for the love of charcoal and ridiculously good food. Whether entertaining on a small patio or in a big backyard, the need to grill has no limits. After dinner, fold down the side table, push together your chairs, portable bbq and toast to the Performer charcoal grill. Still, you’ll have it up and running in no time, especially if you follow guide to using a charcoal grill that’s a complete A to Z that will help you master this form of cooking.
Overall, this is a good basic barrel grill, but assembly was frustrating and it lacks many of the features that made the Classic our pick for best upgrade. The true original Weber grill, the Weber Original Kettle Grill, can be purchased for under $100, making it our top pick for best budget grill. This grill measures 18 inches wide, which is a noticeable surface-area difference from the 22-inch grill.
His idea was that the rounded cooking bowl with a lid was the key to success. The ultra-durable, porcelain-enameled lid and bowl are uniquely designed to retain the charcoal’s heat, while dampers are easily adjusted for precise temperature control. Cook delicious burgers, juicy steaks, game-day hot dogs and yummy veggies to perfection with a new weber charcoal grill or Weber smoker grill from Ace Hardware.
Cart-style grills have a handle and wheels that make them easy to move around, and the Char-Griller Patio Pro BBQ Grill is a compact and budget-friendly option for your deck or patio. It features a modest 250 square inches of cooking space, but it has all the features you need to whip up a delicious meal. This weber charcoal grill portable charcoal grill can hold up to five hamburgers at a time, and the lid’s glass-reinforced nylon handle stays cool during use. Reviewers say this product is an unbeatable value, as it’s easy to tote around to various events and delivers the same caliber of high-quality food as full-size Weber grills.
We fired up models from Weber, Nexgrill, Napoleon, KitchenAid, Char-Griller and others to find out which charcoal grill is king of the cookout. Lesley Stockton is a senior staff writer reporting on all things cooking and entertaining for Wirecutter. Her expertise builds weber q 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. Weber sells one for its 22-inch kettle for about $40, usually.