Weber Charcoal Grill I’ve used the charcoal snake to smoke on my kettle many times. It’s a fun rewarding experience, though to be perfectly honest I now never smoke on this grill because I tend to always smoke on my Kamado Joes. However, you can smoke on it, and many people do very often. It’s a relatively large grill, which means it’s a versatile grill. You can arrange your coals for two-zone cooking, roasting, searing — anything you like! The Original Kettle is a practical barbecue for straight-up grilling — searing and finishing steaks, chops, fish, veggies, and more. In 1956, the Weber kettle was redesigned to its current shape. The 1956 through 1959 Weber Kettles had a solid metal triangular base and the handle on the lid and bowl handles were metal . For “metal lid handle” The steel legs are held into the sockets with thumbscrews. This portable charcoal grill can hold up to five hamburgers at a time, and the lid’s glass-reinforced nylon handle stays cool during use. Reviewers say this product is an unbeatable value, as it’s easy to tote around to various events and delivers the same caliber of high-quality food as full-size Weber grills. The Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill 22? is our pick as the best charcoal grill for most people. Let me qualify that statement; you can absolutely smoke meat in this grill, but it is a bit of a chore. Down below is the steel charcoal grate upon which you place your fuel. That’s just one of the questions I’ll answer in this review of the OG of Weber grills. They go the extra mile to ensure that every purchaser of a Weber charcoal grill finds a solution to any problem they encounter, and always feels satisfied with their grill. Nicholas McClelland is an expert on all the topics that will help you have a great summer, from grills to whiskey to golf. He graduated from The Missouri School of Journalism and has been testing products and writing for The Spruce Eats since April 2019. After she was done testing, cleanup was a breeze, whether using a grill brush or removing the grate to clean in the kitchen sink. A couple of downsides discovered during testing were that the lid can detach while cooking and the lack of a built-in thermometer means you'll need to have your own. 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 will keep its fire humming along close to 225 degrees F for as long as possible. If you're looking for the fanciest kettle grill out there, this one might just be it. Our experiments ran the gamut from grilling burgers to smoking . All of our tests were designed and run by Wirecutter senior writer Lesley Stockton, who has over a decade of experience in professional kitchens, many of them spent on the grill station. Lesley conducted the testing with senior staff writer Tim Heffernan, who wrote this guide, and Michael Sullivan, a senior writer on the kitchen team. Sam Sifton, assistant managing editor at The New York Times, also joined in and added his extensive knowledge. The Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill 22? is a classic for good reason. And, yes, I totally love those few features; not having to hand-scoop the ash is a blessing, and the lid hook will save you from dents and scratches. None of the hood thermometers built into these grills mirrored the temperatures recorded by our own thermocouples and data software. The Nexgrill definitely gets hot enough to create a nice sear, but you do have to work a little harder than you do with the Weber to avoid overcooking your meat. You can also raise the Nexgrill's adjustable charcoal tray basket to its highest position. Brian Bennett is a senior writer for the home and outdoor section at CNET. He reviews a wide range of household and smart-home products. But if you want a full-size, backyard family grill, go big. This is typically accomplished by piling or corralling your charcoal fuel on one side to create a hot direct cooking zone over the fire and a moderate indirect zone on the opposite side. A two-zone setup helps you avoid charred chicken and exploding sausage, plus it gives you the option to gently roast or sizzle and sear at the same time. For our tests, we cooked hamburgers on direct heat for four minutes on each side and then compared their level of doneness. The two Weber grills both cooked our hamburgers to medium rare, while the Oklahoma Joe’s, Cuisinart and Char-Griller all ran slightly hotter and cooked our test hamburgers to medium.