The Best Charcoal Grill for 2023 Reviews by Wirecutter

Before any grill goes out, the brand tests everything to ensure it matches the brand’s high standards. In terms of longevity, Weber grills will last you practically forever . And if for some reason something goes wrong with your grill, Weber has an excellent customer support team, who can help you find replacement parts and services.

We strive for the perfect balance of workplace and community to create a fun, enjoyable environment for all of our employees. Our outdoor kitchen design experts have helped thousands of customers transform their backyards at no extra cost. The lifespan of any grill is affected by several factors including cleaning frequency, maintenance, amount of use, weber q weather, and the overall environment where the grill is located. There is an abundance of Weber owners who have been using the same grill for decades. Your mileage may vary, but with proper care and maintenance you can expect your Weber grill to last for many years. Highly rated by consumers, the Vortex also has a following among barbecue experts, too.

weber charcoal grill

A water pan helps smooth out temperature swings while apple smoke wood adds extra flavor. A wax fire starter works well for this, but you can also use a few lit briquettes. The charcoal snake method is a very effective way to cook low and slow on your Weber Kettle. Place the probe clip right on the grill at food level, on the opposite side of the fire. And remember that the affordable backyard cooker has been around for decades, which means you can find plenty of useful aftermarket accessories for it.

Barrel-style charcoal grills, while larger, can be more difficult to manage and harder to clean. There are cheaper versions of the kettle out there, but the Weber’s quality construction makes it a valuable purchase that should last you a long time. The only real learning curve to cooking on a charcoal grill is fire management, but the built-in thermometer makes that easier.

Because of this, the Napoleon is definitely not a grill for charcoal beginners. 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. During our cooking tests on the Weber Original Premium Kettle Grill, hamburgers cooked to a medium rare temperature and our chicken ended up juicy, with weber q a solid sear on the outside. Other grills we tested either ran hotter and overcooked the hamburgers, or they weren’t hot enough and barely seared or cooked the meat. Starting a charcoal grill is definitely not as easy as starting a gas grill, so it’s important to understand how to do it correctly. You’ll need to purchase a bag of briquettes, and either lighter fluid or a handy charcoal starter.

This helps maintain even cooking temperatures while also reducing the risk of leaking as you cook. Its cooking grates are porcelain-coated, which ensures fantastic heat retention and distribution during cooking. Porcelain enamel is also very durable and robust against peeling, so the grates are unlikely to degrade over the first few years of use. Although primarily a hybrid cooker, it’s still a great charcoal grill. If you adjust the pan to cook at the lower end of its heat range then it can still cook great grilled food. For the unfamiliar, offset smokers are built with a side smoker (or ‘offset’, if you will) that houses the coals while it cooks.

There are a few models under the Q line, but prices generally only climb with higher power levels and for options that come with fold-out side tables. It adds another four inches of grill space, which means eight burgers instead of five. The Ranch kettle comes in one size and it’s absolutely enormous. Easily the largest of Weber’s kettle-shaped grills, the Ranch is overkill for all but Weber brand loyalists that need to make more than 40 burgers at a time. Weber grills aren’t the cheapest grills, but they’re also not super expensive.

On balance, gas is probably the better choice if you favor no-fuss cooking or grill often . If you’re an occasional griller or you enjoy getting hands-on with your cooking, charcoal is an economical choice that, weber q with a bit of practice, produces superb results. Nothing beats the smoky barbecue flavor that can only be created on a charcoal grill. While the Weber is a very basic cooker, it does have a few helpful features.

Whichever side of that fence you sit, its performance can’t be questioned. Its innovative design has a thick-walled ceramic case that makes it fantastic at searing and smoking. A small gripe of mine is that although the main chamber is well built, the smoker box is constructed with what appears to be quite a thin metal. There shouldn’t be any key issues because the chamber seems solid enough, but the built of the smoker box is a little concerning. What really makes this grill stand out is its offset smoker function too. Holds up to 13 burgers made with a Weber burger press; Built-in lid thermometer.