A minor complaint for sure, but I think it is an easy and obvious fix. I set up the grill in under 15 minutes, and three or four of those were spent taking it out of the box. It is an absurdly simple process that requires a hammer and a Phillips-head screwdriver.
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. Your mileage may vary, but with proper care and maintenance you can expect your Weber grill to last for many years.
Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time). Lesley Stockton is a senior staff writer reporting on all things cooking and entertaining for Wirecutter. Her expertise builds on a lifelong career in the culinary world—from a restaurant cook and caterer to a food editor at Martha Stewart. She is perfectly happy to leave all that behind to be a full-time kitchen-gear nerd. Weber sells one for its 22-inch kettle, usually for about $40. The Weber grill has three legs—an inherently stable design, because having three points of contact means the legs will automatically “find their level,” even on bumpy ground.
This model is marketed as a grill and smoker, so we had high expectations for it in both categories— and it delivered. The PK300 is thoughtfully designed, with a lid that hinges open but can be removed entirely with ease, too. And the lid, when closed fully, creates a strong weber charcoal grill seal imperative for smoking success. With a hinged charcoal grate, it was simple to adjust and add coals during the cooking process. Although starting a charcoal grill requires a little more skill and labor than gas, it’s made easier with the right tools and a quick primer.
Even before testing, we were concerned that the short distance between the grate and the top of the grill meant food could go flying. Sure enough, Sam Sifton accidentally flicked a chicken wing onto the ground. A single hinge on the grill grate makes it difficult to access all corners of the coal bed during cooking. And this grill has no ash catcher, which means anything sitting on that handy bottom shelf gets dusted with soot. All of these concerns made it difficult to justify this grill’s cost, which is double that of the Weber kettle. We monitored the grills’ temperatures using the built-in thermometer where available and a probe thermometer where not, and adjusted the vents as necessary.
Brand-new grillers may struggle with maintaining an ideal temperature, but the efficiency and quality of the design will please experts and those looking to make the switch from gas grilling. It’s also ideal for large families or anyone who regularly cooks for a crowd. The only real learning curve to cooking on a charcoal grill is fire management, but the built-in thermometer makes that easier. Maintaining a consistent temperature is crucial, and the Weber does this better than any other in its price range. You can thank the porcelain-enameled bowl and lid, which are heat retention pros, for that.
To use one, load up the space on the bottom with a piece of newspaper or two, pile coals in from the top, then light the newspaper. The fire and heat from the newspaper ignites the bottom coals, then the fire builds up. When the top coals are covered with gray ash, you’re ready to go. We don’t recommend this grill for beginners, because the proximity of the charcoal grate to the cooking grate makes searing tricky without strong knowledge of zone cooking. But with four separate dampers to control the heat, it’s a luxe option for those looking to up their grilling game.
Interior temperatures had a greater swing, jumping up to 300 degrees F during periods of cooking. While its ribs came out tender and juicy overall, the exterior bark had a few burnt spots. For our tests, each grill gets a full chimney of lit charcoal and a 6-pound chicken opposite the coals for indirect heat. We also compared how each of these grills performed in our grilling weber gas grill tests and evaluated other parts of the user experience, such as vent control and assembly. After testing and reviewing it for over 6 months, I can safely safe I’m a big fan of the Slow N’ Sear, however, I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary to make smoking feasible on a charcoal grill. Having said all of this, this upgrade is not necessary to smoke on the weber kettle.
First, we set up each grill for a low-and-slow burn, using the charcoal snake method. In the case of kettle models, we arrange coals in a semicircle around the grill’s inner wall. The charcoal briquettes (Kingsford Blue) form a line two coals wide and two coals deep.