The 120-pound weight limits portability, even with wheels, but it also makes this a sturdy backyard companion for years to come. Powder coating protects the exterior from the elements. An additional cooking grate is a great place to roast vegetables above your meat to maximize space. Control airflow with an adjustable vent, and keep an eye on cooking temperatures with a built-in thermometer. Two wooden exterior shelves provide a convenient workspace where you can keep your tools, spices, and a frosty beverage or two.
We learned a lot about them , but they also helped us identify a few design strengths and flaws of the grills. Our rib experience weber charcoal grill with a few of the other grills was far from ideal. At times, the inside of this grill hit temperatures as high as 400 degrees F.
And never, ever use your charcoal grill in an enclosed space. Burning charcoal produces carbon monoxide, an odorless, deadly gas. Indoors, it can overwhelm and kill in minutes, without warning. Finally, after all our tests were done, we did routine maintenance, emptying the ash catchers, brushing the grates, and washing out the grills. Throughout the Weber’s 6-hour, 32-minute cook time, the grill’s internal heat levels never strayed beyond 25 degrees of our target, 225 degrees F. In fact, most of the time the temperature hovered between 220 degrees F and 230 degrees F.
It’s also a lot compared with the Weber’s 363-square-inch cooking area. The Weber® Summit®, Genesis®, Q®, and charcoal grills are assembled in America using internationally sourced components. The Weber® Spirit® series gas grill and Compact charcoal grills are assembled in China. “Grilling is all about high heat and using direct heat to cook each side of the meat, so you don’t need to use the lid. If I were grilling steaks, I might use the lid to get some oven-like cooking while I’m grilling the meat. In that case, I’d put the lid on and open up its vents,” Karl told me.
This is by far the most expensive option on our list, but the top-shelf components and features make it an exceptional pick for those who demand the best. This classic charcoal grill from Weber is a mainstay at backyard parties and gameday get-togethers for a reason. The 18-inch grate is capable of serving small groups and small enough that making a meal for yourself wouldn’t be a waste of charcoal. There’s no shortage of knockoffs trying to imitate this grill, but the difference is in the details. Rather than paint, Weber uses porcelain enamel that won’t flake or chip, so the metal is protected from rust. The cooking grate uses plated steel that wipes clean and resists corrosion.
The 22-inch Napoleon Rodeo Charcoal Kettle Grill (model number NK22CK-L) is considered one of the better Weber clones available (the pros at AmazingRibs.com, among others, rate it highly). In our cooking tests it performed well, though not quite as well as the Weber. In particular, we didn’t find its unique heat-diffusing plate—a shallow metal dome that sits in the middle of the coal bed—to be as effective as we would have liked. However, at 34 inches at the grates, it’s nearly counter height, and a full 7 inches taller than the Weber, so it was less tiring to work on. The Napoleon’s four legs, versus the Weber’s three, make this grill more stiff and stable, and allow for a nice big shelf underneath. When it came to assembly, the only direct comparison we could make was between the Weber and the Napoleon.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter other Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. From Traeger to Weber, here are 8 great grills, according to grillmasters. I do not recommend unless you are looking for a cheap grill. I have a large Weber Deluxe Performance grill and wanted this when grilling for 2.
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The Napoleon Freestanding Charcoal Kettle Grill took the longest to set up, clocking in at an hour and five minutes of build time. While this grill does come with an included cart, which added to setup time, we also found the instructions hard to follow, and the amount of hardware included felt a bit overwhelming. If you’re going to purchase this grill, then we’d advise looking into having your local hardware store build and deliver it to you. We measured the temperature of the grill surface, as well as the internal temperature of the chicken, with an external thermometer to ensure that any built-in temperate gauges were accurate.