It’s about waist level in height for almost everyone, so it’s quite comfortable to cook on. The 363-square-inch cooking area can easily handle a pair of whole chickens or about 10 to 13 burgers, depending on how large you make your patties. Any more than that and the grill can get overloaded, weber gas grill making it difficult to cook everything evenly and to flip the patties. 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.
Ash must be removed once it’s cooled, but, unlike with gas grills, most of the grease that drips off food will burn up on the hot coals, rather than collect at the bottom. Our last test is grilling barbecued ribs, specifically baby back pork ribs. This style of cooking requires strict temperature control over a period of multiple hours. Ideally, a quality charcoal grill (or any smoker) will keep its fire humming along close to 225 degrees F for as long as possible. Charcoal grills are also often more affordable than their gas counterparts, making them a good option for tight budgets and beginner grillers. All you need for charcoal grilling is a lighter, a bag of charcoal and your favorite ingredients.
In our medium, indirect-heat chicken tests, the Nexgrill delivered flavorful, juicy meat as a close second to the Weber. And this updated model, when we used the charcoal snake method, demonstrated temperature control almost as good as the Weber. The legs and ash catcher slot effortlessly into built-in sockets and lock into place with idiot-proof spring pins—not a bolt or screw in sight. Weber even supplies a simple plastic tool to help you attach the thermometer without digging out a wrench. The Weber kettle is round, so you can spin the grate to adjust heat exposure.
Though the basic design has barely changed since 1952, Weber has added helpful details over the years, like hooks on the side handles for hanging your spatula, tongs, or other tools. From 1999 to 2001 there was a period of tremendous growth for the business. Several additional product lines were added and delivery/setup services were expanded. In 1999 they opened a second location in Easton, PA leasing a space from a nursery company.
If you do not have a grill, the Weber Original Kettle Premium 22” Charcoal Grill is the place to start. For those new to cooking outdoors, the Weber makes it easy to learn to grill over a flame; you’ll look like an old hand in no time. But even if you have a gas grill or a pellet smoker (as I do), sometimes the charcoal option is simply superior. The cost of the grill is justified with thoughtful design features, like a hinged lid with an XL handle, a front-loading fuel door so you can easily add or remove charcoal or wood. It’s also super sturdy, with four wheels and plenty of work and storage space.
Just make a habit of emptying it every time you clean the grill and you’ll be fine. While the Weber is a very basic cooker, it does have a few helpful features. There’s the elevated ash catcher, which makes dumping the remnants easier than with the original model (see the Ease of Cleaning section). The lightweight construction and wheels on two of the three legs made the Weber reasonably easy to move or reposition on pavement. While the Weber is nearly perfect in its simplicity, I do wish they had given this premium model bigger, better wheels. As is, it requires some effort to roll the grill through the grass into storage or when the kids need the yard for a soccer game or water fight.
Overall, it’s well-designed, well-built, and deserving of the Weber name. There are many appealing, well-thought-out features, despite it being a basic grill. Buy a wireless digital meat thermometer, you’ll be much happier over the long run. One feature you also don’t get with the Original Kettle is a thermometer in the lid. Let me qualify that statement; you can absolutely smoke meat in this grill, but it is a bit of a chore. Our outdoor kitchen design experts have helped thousands of customers transform their backyards at no extra cost.
The dampers are made of aluminum and the hinged grill grates are made of heavy-duty plated steel. The Ducane Products Company began as the Ducane Brothers Metal Fabricating in 1946. It moved three years later to Little Ferry, New Jersey and manufactured warm air furnaces. When grilling things like hot dogs and hamburgers, you don’t need to put weber gas grill the lid on. I prefer the weber, coated cast-iron grates to the plated steel grates the Original Kettle comes with, but there are worse things, and the plated steel still cooks relatively well. Because of the kettle-shape design, there’s no practical way to include a secondary cooking surface for cooking delicate items, warming buns, etc.
Our experts lean toward lump charcoal due to the lack of additives often found in briquettes. BBQGuys has the largest selection of charcoal Weber Grills available, and our BBQ experts are standing by 7 days a week to answer any questions you may have about this iconic brand. We can help you find the Weber grill that will keep you and your family cooking for years to come.
I love cooking outdoors over live fire and smoke whatever the weather, using various grills, smokers, and wood-fired ovens to produce epic food. My goal with this site is to help as weber bbq many people as possible enjoy and be good at doing the same. When it comes to cleaning the lid and bowl, burning charcoal and cooking food will cause carbon to accumulate on them.