Up top, you’ll find a single vent offset from the center of the lid to help you control the out-flow of smoke. Right at the peak of the dome is a nylon handle with a heat shield to keep you from burning yourself when you lift the lid. The Original Kettle is a practical barbecue for straight-up grilling — searing and finishing steaks, chops, fish, veggies, and more. Plus, its generous size and ample room under the lid make it easy to roast large items over a longer period. Finally, make sure to empty your ashes, and keep that grill covered when not in use. It scored incredibly high for performance, with testers praising it for its attractive Maillard reaction grill marks during the steak test.
But once you factor in price, performance, and design, the Weber is the heavy hitter in the arena of charcoal grills. A high-end ceramic kamado grill, while a superior cooker thanks to its insulation, will run you $800 minimum. Barrel-style charcoal grills, while larger, can be more difficult to manage and harder to clean. No matter what you slap on it, the Weber can cook it—hot and fast or low and slow. I’ve thrown pork, burgers, steaks, chicken, veggies, and even some pineapple on the Weber with fabulous results. You can even use the Weber to slowly smoke more traditional barbecue by adding a little wood to the fire.
With that said, I really only have one problem with the Weber Kettle and it’s with the way Weber opted to setup their lid thermometer. At the time of purchase, the Green Weber Kettle Premium was $194.00; However, the prices of grills changes regularly as seasons change. The only problem I had with assembly is with the legs and getting them installed correctly.
We also drop a few chunks of smokewood on top of the snake (aka fuse). On cart-style grills, we modify the snake to run in right angles to match their rectangular-shaped fireboxes. The best charcoal grill for steak searing weber charcoal grill in our lineup was the Weber Classic Kettle. The steak had nice grill marks while keeping a medium doneness on the inside. The worst was our Tacklife review unit, which didn’t hold much heat and didn’t sear while cooking.
Even before testing, we were concerned that the short distance between the grate and the top of the grill meant food could go flying. Sure enough, Sam Sifton accidentally flicked a chicken wing onto the ground. A single hinge on the grill grate makes it difficult to access all corners of the coal bed during cooking. And this grill has no ash catcher, which means anything sitting on that handy bottom shelf gets dusted with soot. All of these concerns made it difficult to justify this grill’s cost, which is double that of the Weber kettle. We monitored the grills’ temperatures using the built-in thermometer where available and a probe thermometer where not, and adjusted the vents as necessary.
The lifespan of any grill is affected by several factors including cleaning frequency, maintenance, amount of use, weather, and the overall environment where the grill is located. There is an weber bbq 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.