Our customer service reps are real people offering great service, backed by 8 weeks of hands-on training with all of our products. 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 abundance of Weber owners who have been using the same grill for decades.
But our recent gas grill testing proved Weber is a powerhouse in that department, too (four out of six of our winners in our gas grill test were Webers). If you’re looking to buy on a budget, and/or favor a smoky flavor and scent while grilling, consider Weber’s charcoal grill options. If efficiency is on your list of grilling must-haves, consider a gas grill, which takes less time to heat up. Smoking is a process in which meats are cooked at a much lower temperature for an extended period. While charcoal grilling is great for hamburgers and hot dogs, a Weber smoker is ideal for larger cuts of meats.
What really sets the Premium version apart from the standard 22-inch kettle is the enclosed ash catcher, which eliminates concerns about stray embers and makes cleanup easy. From burgers to chicken to slow-smoked ribs, this Weber model’s time-tested design produces great results—at a terrific price. Starting with a double-walled air-insulated porcelain enamel lidand bowl. The air acts as an insulator keeping warm air in and cold air out. It also comes with a new and innovative lid damper, that acts like all other Weber lid dampers, with the addition of a hinge, allowing it to flip open acting similar to a built in chimney starter.
While smokers reward patient cooking, the flavorful meals are well worth the wait. Look for options with built-in lid thermometers and silicone temperature grommets to help ensure your meats are cooked properly from start to finish. If you do not have a grill, the Weber Original Kettle Premium 22” Charcoal Grill is the place to start.
The image below on the left is the setup I used to cook the half chickens shown on the right. I mop/basted the chickens while cooking directly over the coals for an hour. The half chickens were just ready to come off the grill in the image, notice they are not burnt after one hour of direct cooking. Instead of placing the hot coals in a pile I spread them out sparsely so I have low even heat under the cooking area. – I found the key to getting a kettle grill to do what you want it to do lies in the setup.
Cooking with charcoal is now stylish and functional with this dual chamber, stainless Dyna-Glo charcoal grill. The removable steel firebox divider allows for expanding or dividing the cooking space depending on the amount and type of food and total number of people. The weber portable grill two charcoal trays adjust separately to provide flexibility with cooking temperature when different foods require different temperatures at the same time. The lid and front firebox are double-walled to minimize heat loss and improve the burn efficiency of charcoal.
That said, charcoal (especially in briquette form) produces a lot more ash than hardwood. And if you plan to cook low and slow we suggest adding a few chunks of hardwood to your charcoal pile. This brings about more smoke flavor in barbecue meat like pork ribs, pork butt and beef brisket.