Best Charcoal Grill for 2023

The worst was our Tacklife review unit, which didn’t hold much heat and didn’t sear while cooking. The steak on that grill needed an additional five minutes to get to a temperature of 135 F, the minimum for medium rare. We measured charcoal in weber portable grill a chimney by grams, and in a ratio for that grill’s specific surface area. We lit the charcoal inside the chimney, letting it burn until the smoke dissipated and the coals began to turn grayish-white, then put the charcoal into the grill.

weber charcoal grill

However, for about $200, we think a lot grillers will be happy with the Weber Original 22-Inch Kettle Grill. For five or more people, look for a grill with at least 550 square inches of cooking area. For one or two people, look for weber portable grill a grill with approximately 200 square inches of cooking area. It also has a rail system, letting users raise and lower its coal basket at nine different heights, and adjustable tripod legs to level it out on uneven surfaces.

Here at BestReviews, our goal is help you make sense of your shopping choices. We work with industry experts to identify the most important features for the products we’re evaluating, and we then test out some of the top items to see firsthand how well they work. And because we buy our own products, you can trust that our recommendations are always completely unbiased. Efficient grill that has built-in side tables for small families or gatherings. Camryn Rabideau is a freelance writer and product reviewer specializing in home, kitchen, and pet products. In her four years as a product tester, she’s tested hundreds of items firsthand, and her work appears in publications such as Forbes, USA Today, The Spruce, Food52, and more.

The opposite is true of charcoal grills, which function best as sealed systems with solid, tight construction for effective air control. Just as with gas, the charcoal fire needs oxygen to burn, and you can use this oxygen flow to your advantage. Shut down the air dampers to drop the cooking temp or snuff the charcoal out entirely when finished. Open them wide to flood the fire with oxygen and create a rip-roaring, red-hot coal bed. If you’re a frequent tailgater or camper and need a grill you can easily take with you, Weber has you covered.

This brings about more smoke flavor in barbecue meat like pork ribs, pork butt and beef brisket. Next, we tested each grill’s medium heat cooking capability by roasting whole chickens. The trick here is to keep the grills at a hot enough temperature to cook a chicken for upwards of two hours. We placed two steaks on each grilling grate near the center and seared them for five minutes before flipping them over and searing for another five minutes. With a good, reliable grill, this will give you a steak with a seared outside and a medium rare to medium center.

A front door allows easy access to the charcoal during cooking and the double-lined hood is a nice feature to help hold in heat. The Professional Cart Grill has an interesting rotisserie design, too, that uses a special charcoal basket across the back for a dedicated rotisserie fire. With charcoal grills, I test for effective air control by smoking low and slow at 225°F, roasting in the mid-range around 350°F, and letting ‘er rip with a blazing, red hot fire.

It also has an easy-to-remove ash pan, a professional temperature gauge, and large air dampeners for superior airflow control. The best charcoal grill weber portable grill for steak searing in our lineup was the Weber Classic Kettle. The steak had nice grill marks while keeping a medium doneness on the inside.