They’re all liable to leak, spill, and trash the trunk of your car, so don’t set out without a storage bin or a large, heavy-duty sealed bag to contain grease, ash, and grit. I prefer the weber, coated cast-iron grates to the plated steel grates the Original Kettle comes with, but there are worse things, and the plated steel still cooks relatively well. It’s a fun rewarding experience, though to be perfectly honest I now never smoke on this grill because I tend to always smoke on my Kamado Joes. The bowl and lid are protected against burn-through and rust-through for 10 years.
But what really sets the Premium version apart from the standard 22-inch kettle is the enclosed ash catcher, which makes cleanup easy and eliminates concerns about stray embers. Assembly is dead simple, and the construction and portable bbq materials are sturdy. Add its solid warranty and well-regarded customer service, and the Weber Kettle Premium Grill is the best value going. No matter what you slap on it, the Weber can cook it—hot and fast or low and slow.
Of the Grills I own, the Weber Kettle is the one I find myself using the most. Weber is also a company that’s essentially synonymous with barbecue at this point. When it comes to a Kamado-style grill, you won’t find much competition for the Kamado Joe Classic II, save for the Big Green Egg, which we also like. The Orson Gygi Company has evolved from a restaurant wholesale kitchen supply store, to a shopping experience for anyone searching for anything kitchen. There are many appealing, well-thought-out features, despite it being a basic grill.
For our tests, each grill gets a full chimney of lit charcoal and a 6-pound chicken opposite the coals for indirect heat. But the biggest problem is that the instructions completely overlook what we found to be a potentially dangerous design weber charcoal grill flaw. The Napoleon’s vent assembly consists of two metal collars, one inside the other. When you invert the assembly to screw it to the grill, the inner collar can slip down unnoticed and prevent the screws from attaching to the grill body.
Only very old models of Weber grills would require seasoning, and because they are very old, that surely happened a long time ago. If you purchase a new Weber grill, you don’t need to worry about seasoning it. The grill was able to achieve high temperatures as well as larger models, and was even able to sear meat. Lastly, we found it easy to assemble and attach a 1-pound gas canister. Our tester called it “pricey, but worth it” for anyone who regularly grills on the go. If you do want something a bit cheaper or smaller, we’ve also tested and recommend the Q 1200.
Weber kettles combine traditional design with an innovative production. Made of steel and coated with porcelain enamel, the bowl and lid are formed exactly right to allow heat to circulate around the inside of the grill for even cooking. The porcelain enamel is baked on at approximately 1500°F ensuring that your grill will not only withstand the heat, but also resist rust and burn through.
A few twists of the knobs, and I can have a high-heat zone, medium-heat zone, and low-heat zone at the ready. There are many approaches to how to clean a charcoal grill, but while it’s still warm, you can use a brush, scraper, or block weber q to remove grease, drippings, and fuel residue. Here are some of the best grill brushes and cleaning tools we recommend. Another popular method, which should only be conducted while the grill is cool, is using a spray cleaner.