The high capacity ash pan is removable for quick and easy clean-up. Weber’s original, kettle-style charcoal grill continues to stand the test of time. In our high-heat searing tests, Weber delivered the best balance of seared exterior and medium-rare interior steak. The Weber kettle grill gave us tasty chicken too, with crispy chicken skin.
We tested several brand-name models to find out which is the best charcoal grill for your next cookout. The Spirit II E-310 is a perfectly fine gas grill, just not an exceptional one. There were some flare-ups during cooking, and we found about a 15-degree difference between foods cooked in the front and those in the back and center. The Original’s bottom damper also serves as part of the ash management system, scraping spent ash into a detachable unit at the bottom for easy disposal.
But if you appreciate a classic, flame-broiled flavor, a weber portable grill is simply the way to go. Control the heat, enjoy the crackle of the fire and focus on the entire cooking process as you create foods with delicious, mouthwatering flavors. Cooking with charcoal requires patience but the results are well worth your time—mouthwatering, smokey flavors in every meal. Cook delicious burgers, juicy steaks, game-day hot dogs and yummy veggies to perfection with a new Weber charcoal grill or Weber smoker grill from Ace Hardware.
The premium model adds a couple of upgrades to the nearly 70-year-old design. A built-in thermometer on the lid allows you to monitor the grill’s temperature, while a hinged grill grate makes it easy to add coal or reposition embers for enhanced fire management. And when dinner’s done, an improved ash catcher makes cleaning up the charcoal mess even easier. Read on to see how well the Weber Original Kettle Premium 22-Inch Charcoal Grill performed under fire. Grilling purists will tell you that charcoal cooking is the only way to go, and seasoned grillers I’ve spoken to maintain that a Weber kettle is the best charcoal grill you can buy. It’s hard to argue with the first part because propane simply won’t give you the same smoky flavor you get from charcoal.
It performed on par with competitors when it came to smoke flavor in our long-smoke tests, and it left a nice char and browning in our short-smoke experiments. It didn’t weber charcoal grill fare as well in our searing tests, however, leaving burgers looking more pan-seared than grilled. We’d also like to be able to see if the ash bin requires emptying.
We liked the original version of the PK Grill & Smoker that we tested. The thick cast-aluminum body holds and reflects heat efficiently, and it’s extremely sturdy and inherently rustproof. The shallow rectangular shape keeps the coals close to the grates, and its flat base works better for indirect grilling than sloped, round grills. It also has two vents each on both the top and bottom, allowing for better control over heat output. It was also impressively easy to assemble, and the built-in cart and shelves (there’s no cartless option) would be welcome on a patio that doesn’t have a worktable of its own. No matter what you slap on it, the Weber can cook it—hot and fast or low and slow.