But even if you have a gas grill or a pellet smoker , sometimes the charcoal option is simply superior. To clean the grates, build a fire, heat up the grill, and then take a bristle-free wire brush (metal bristles can fall out and end up in your food, and you don’t want that) and scrape. Every few cooks, I like to use a Shop-Vac to remove any greasy ashes stuck in the bottom of the grill.
Lastly, we place one rack of ribs on each grill for indirect cooking, with the meat not sitting directly above the coals. Cooking over charcoal takes longer than cooking with a gas grill, and we typically need to add more fuel during cooking to keep our grills above 300 F for the full duration. Our favorite bird from this batch was the one cooked weber charcoal grill on the Weber, though it was a tough call. The bird cooked on the Nexgrill cart-style grill came in right behind, a close second in terms of flavor and texture. In our medium, indirect-heat chicken tests, the Nexgrill delivered flavorful, juicy meat as a close second to the Weber. Ribs were tender, juicy and done in just under 5 hours.
Michael Sullivan has been a staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter since 2016. Previously, he was an editor at the International Culinary Center in New York. He has worked in various facets of the food and restaurant industry for over a decade. We dismissed the many cheaper knockoffs of the Weber kettle, including models by Kingsford, Char-Broil, PizzaQue, and Grill Zone.
This versatile ceramic kamado-style charcoal grill might be worth the investment for you, given its ability to grill, roast, smoke, bake and sear. 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.
Weber even supplies a simple plastic tool to help you attach the thermometer without digging out a wrench. All you need is a Phillips screwdriver to attach the side handles, and something dense to tap the end caps of the wheel axle into place. One person can have the grill up and running within minutes of opening the box. The Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill 22″ is our pick as the best charcoal grill for most people.
Over the course of two days, we put three charcoal grills through a battery of tests. But those judgments would have to wait until we got our hands on the things. After weeks of research, reporting, and discussion, we settled on three charcoal weber charcoal grill grills to test. The most boring product on this list may be the most necessary. This one fits Weber Kettles 18.5″, 22.5″, and the 26.75″. Retailing at $165, this grill is well-priced considering the upgrades from the original.