Hinged sections on opposite sides of the grate let you access the entire charcoal bed below. The Napoleon grill we tested had hinges on opposite sides of the grate, too. But the PK Grill had a hinge on only one side, which proved inconvenient. All the grills we tested featured simple, thin-wire grates that worked well, with no notable sticking. The Weber kettle is round, so you can spin the grate to adjust heat exposure. Without having to move your food around, you can expose burgers, chicken, or whatever else you’re cooking to higher or lower heat.
Direct heat is best for relatively small, tender pieces of food that cook quickly, such as hamburgers, steaks, chops, boneless chicken pieces, fish fillets, shellfish, and sliced vegetables. Direct heat sears the surfaces of those foods, developing flavors and texture, and it cooks relatively thin foods all the way to the center. Indirect heat is best for larger, tougher foods that require longer cooking times, such as roasts, whole chickens, and ribs. Indirect heat cooks the surfaces of food, too, but in a much more even way.
Our customer service reps are real people offering great service, backed by 8 weeks of hands-on training with all of our products. We also spoke with more than a dozen experts, backing up our reporting with comprehensive research and hands-on time with the grills. On paper, it’s a smaller version of the Classic Kettle, but in reality, the heat wasn’t there, yielding gray, unappealing food. It’s not just the nostalgia talking; for value and performance, the Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill really delivers in both areas. If you’re looking for a gas grill with fewer hands-on requirements, the Weber Genesis E-325s 3-Burner Gas Grill or its Smart counterpart are excellent choices, as well. Email updates from our community of barbecue masters, food enthusiasts, and lovers of outdoor cooking.
However, some models are designed with electronic Touch-N-Go ignition switches that make lighting up charcoal even easier. When purchasing a new charcoal grill or smoker, understanding the different styles of weber qs and what each type can do is important. No matter your grilling experience, this convenient guide can help you select your Weber charcoal grill. The premium CRAFTED stainless steel grate that lets you transform your grill into a griddle, pizza oven, and more.
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. The pop-up stand takes little effort to operate, and the wheels make moving the grill from the car to the cooking spot a simple task. The Traveler requires assembly, a job that took us about 15 minutes, and given its heat retention, it cooled quickly, making it easier to pack after cooking. We suggest taking out the grill grates to scrub them, though, as cleaning them made the entire setup shake.
Cleaning this grill is easy thanks to Weber’s One-Touch cleaning system—a lever-controlled tool that forces ashes down into the ash pan or catcher for easy cleanup—and the enclosed ash catcher. Assembly is pretty straightforward and additional assistance is available through the BILT app. All Weber charcoal grills come with a limited 10-year warranty covering rust and burn-through of the body (other parts are covered for two or five years). Weber kettle grills are precision-engineered for perfect convection. Also, rust-resistant dampers allow for easy control of the airflow into and out of the grill. Opening the dampers will allow the heat to rise while closing the dampers will cause the fire to die out.
It’s easy to clean, there’s little setup, and it’s lighter than its gas counterparts. With a price tag well below $100, this is also the kind of grill you could have shipped to a vacation destination and wouldn’t have to feel bad leaving weber genesis 2 behind. We assembled each grill according to the manufacturer’s instructions. I timed each build and noted any confusing directions or hard-to-finagle parts. Assembling each grill also allowed us to assess the quality of the materials.
All colors are hand-applied, so each kettle has its own characteristics, and no two will ever be exactly the same. Designed for a more comfortable, convenience-driven grilling experience. 4.2 We will use our reasonable endeavors to maintain the Website and rental items. The Website and rental items are subject to change from time to time. 4.1.2 change these Conditions from time to time, and your continued use of the Website or any rental items (or any part of) following such change shall be deemed to be your acceptance of such change.