When you’re done cooking, the Weber grill has a one-touch cleaning system that lets you sweep ash and debris into the removable ash catcher for disposal. It’s true that great charcoal grills don’t have to cost a lot, but there are many high-end models with superb construction and compelling features. For most of us, price is a key element in all purchasing decisions. Whatever your charcoal grill budget may be, I strongly advise getting a model that has an ash removal system, such as Weber’s One-Touch removable ash bucket.
In an effort to revamp the Ducane brand, Weber introduced the “Ducane Stainless” exclusively through Home Depot, the “Ducane Affinity” and the “Ducane Meridian” through multiple channels. “Grilling is all about high heat and using direct heat to cook each side of the meat, so you don’t need to use the lid. If I were grilling steaks, I might use the lid to get some oven-like cooking while I’m grilling the meat. In that case, I’d put the lid on and open up its vents,” Karl told me. The vents in the grill’s bowl and lid allow you to control the airflow into your grill. For grilling, you want a hot fire, so you want plenty of air to come in.
This is pure meditation after a busy week – and precisely what the charcoal grill provides. The Master-Touch Premium grill can sear the perfect steak, and then easily transform into a smoker for smoking low-and-slow ribs or pork shoulder. With new features such as a convenient hinged lid and charcoal ring for efficient fuel consumption, the Master-Touch Premium is your answer to grilling. Stay true to the modern version of the kettle that started it all—the Original Kettle®, invented by Weber’s founder, and loved around the world.
“At this point, the Weber Kettle is more of a platform than a stand-alone product,” he says. Out of dozens of community-driven updates and upgrades, these are the best Weber Kettle add-ons that money can buy. Whatever grill you choose, do not rely on the built-in dial thermometers, which can be off by 50°F to 100°F (10-38°C).
To test the indirect heat, we cooked raw beer brats and bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Cooking a variety of meats allowed us to observe grill marks, crispiness, and doneness. After the grills had fully cooled, we cleaned each, following the manufacturer’s instructions as closely as we could. We assembled each grill according to the manufacturer’s instructions. I timed each build and noted any confusing directions or hard-to-finagle parts.
The Weber can also smoke low and slow at a rock-steady cooking temperature. For the high-heat, whole-grate burger test, we lit a chimney’s worth of briquets—the equivalent of six quarts, or about 90 coals of a former runner-up from our extensive briquet tests. We then oiled the grates and distributed 10 to 12 six-ounce patties across the whole cooking surface . While the burgers cooked we kept an eye out for undesirable flare-ups, which can char the meat and create acrid smoke, and examined the evenness of cooking on the different areas of the grates. After about 10 minutes of cooking , we compared how well each grill had seared the burgers, looking for any patties that were charred or unacceptably raw, and took a taste. The Smokey Mountain Cooker™ smoker has two cooking grates to smoke two large items at once or plenty of ribs.
Similarly, you’ll probably have to scrape stuff off the lower charcoal grate, though possibly not after each use. It’s a fairly large grill with lots of primary cooking space. Grilling for a large family or a crowd of guests is no problem. We love this grill, and it always appears highly in our roundup of the best charcoal grills available. Although it’s not a purpose-built smoker, it is certainly possible to do some smoking on your charcoal grill with the help of the charcoal snake method and some good temp control via the vents.
The PK Grills company has recognized the need for an update, and in February 2017, it launched the PK360, a bigger, slicker design with front access vents and a better lid attachment. It still has no significant backstop for the grates, however, and no bottom tray for catching ash—which means it just kind of pours out on the ground. And at $750 at the time of writing, it was beyond our price consideration. Before the cooking tests, we spent a day assembling the three grills. Overall, the cooking tests were far more important to us; you typically only assemble a grill once.
To learn how we use your information, see our privacy policy. Combustion by-products produced when using this product contain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. In 1999 they opened a second location in Easton, PA leasing a space from a nursery company. weber charcoal grill With more time and family personnel available they gradually began increasing the length of their season and daily hours. As they became known throughout the Lehigh Valley and as business increased they made the decision to stop produce farming so they could better serve the growing demand for their products.
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 weber genesis 2 as fuel. Cooking over charcoal takes longer than cooking with a gas grill, and we typically need to add more fuel during cooking to keep our grills above 350 degrees F for the full duration.