To see for myself, I filled my yard with highly rated grills and enlisted the help of a year-round charcoal grillmaster who also happens to be a Weber enthusiast (and also happens to be my husband). With open minds and lots of raw meat, we tested seven promising charcoal grills under $500. And to learn more about how we tested and what we looked for, scroll to the bottom.
Certain custom-finished products and other items will ship factory direct from the manufacturer when necessary and can take additional time to process. Sign up to receive new product news, exclusive offers, grilling tips & recipes, and more from Weber and its affiliates / subsidiaries! Finally, as charcoal generates a lot of ash, an ash-management system is essential. Some are notably easy or difficult to remove for cleaning, and we’ve mentioned these above.
Experience the evolution of the iconic Kettle where charcoal grilling meets low-and-slow smoking. With a push of a button, coals are lit and the smell of barbecue will soon embrace the neighborhood. Whether smoking, grilling, or even baking, the Summit® Charcoal Grilling Center is the answer to any craving and the ultimate backyard kitchen. We placed two steaks on each grilling grate near the center and seared them for five minutes before flipping them over and searing for another five minutes. With a good and reliable grill, this will give you a steak with a seared outside and a medium rare to medium center.
This grill offers a rust-resistant aluminum damper and 2 glass-reinforced nylon handles with tool hooks. 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. When it was time to cook, we filled a charcoal chimney starter with Kingsford Professional Competition Briquettes. When coals were ready we dumped the coals to cover exactly half of each grill’s charcoal grate (using grilling tongs to adjust if necessary).
If you’re somewhere in the middle, a kettle or pellet grill may be a good choice. Weber now manufactures gas grills, pellet grills, electric grills, and other takes on charcoal grills have become popular, too, among those who know and trust the brand. We tested 13 popular options to find the best Weber grills across seven categories. Versatile and increasingly popular, a Weber pellet grill can reach temperatures high enough to grill, sear, smoke and even bake to give you more cooking options.
The Royal Gourmet 24-Inch Charcoal Grill (Lowe’s) presented multiple problems, starting with a complicated assembly process. Based on the procedures outlined in our testing methodology, the grill also raised significant safety concerns. The heat ran out of control, bubbling the paint and igniting the steak on the grill. These concerns for safety, in addition to somewhat flimsy construction, removed it from the running. Throw your hands up for the love of charcoal and ridiculously good food. Whether entertaining on a small patio or in a big backyard, the need to grill has no limits.
Wake up and light the smoker, because succulent pulled pork and fall-off-the-bone ribs come to those who wait. The Smokey Mountain Cooker™ smoker has two cooking grates for smoking multiple items at once, and dampers that adjust easily so that you’re always in control of the heat—and your feast. The best charcoal grill for steak searing in our lineup was the Weber Classic Kettle. The steak had nice grill marks while keeping a medium doneness on the inside.
Fueled by wood pellets, infuse whatever you’re cooking with delectable woody flavor. Featuring a high-capacity hopper to fit more wood pellets for a convenient grilling session, many Weber pellet weber bbq grills also feature Wi-Fi capabilities to give you control right from your smartphone or tablet. The first was assembly, clocking one of the longer assembly times of the models we tested.
Four dampers provide excellent airflow but may prove difficult for a beginning griller to learn to manipulate. As our searing test showed, not fully respecting the power of the airflow can result in flares, over-charring, and dried food. The stainless steel grate has a hinged, removable section that facilitates quickly adding more charcoal during long cooks, and the lid, while heavy, is well-hinged and easy to open and close. The Char-Griller Super Pro is a versatile steel barrel charcoal grill with a whopping 850 square inches of total cooking area, if you count the top warming rack. The main grates are made of heavy-duty cast iron and resemble the grates of some of the best gas grills we tested this year.