If napalm in the morning is the best smell in the world, burgers on the grill must be a close second. It doesn’t matter if the yard is covered in freshly cut grass or a foot of snow, sizzling meat over an open flame satisfies an almost primal hunger. We can debate the merits of grills that use charcoal, propane, or wood all day long, but they all make delicious food.
For the high-heat, whole-grate burger test, we lit a chimney’s worth of briquets—the equivalent of six quarts, or about 90 coals of a former runner-up from our extensive briquet tests. We then oiled the grates and distributed 10 to 12 six-ounce patties across the whole cooking surface . While the burgers cooked we kept an eye out for undesirable flare-ups, which can char the meat and create acrid smoke, and examined the evenness of cooking on the different areas of the grates. weber genesis 2 After about 10 minutes of cooking , we compared how well each grill had seared the burgers, looking for any patties that were charred or unacceptably raw, and took a taste. Testing charcoal grills requires a lot of hands-on cooking, and your results will obviously vary based on your technique and ingredients, among other factors. Depending on the season and how your charcoal grill is set up, your experience cooking and grilling will likely be very different from ours.
You’ll need to purchase a bag of briquettes, and either lighter fluid or a handy charcoal starter. For our tests, we used a Weber RapidFire Chimney Starter. We filled it up to the top with briquettes and then put newspaper underneath, which we lit on fire and then allowed the coals to heat up for exactly 15 minutes. Once your briquettes are fired up and ready to go, you then dump them into the base of the kettle grill.
This grill measures 18 inches wide, which is a noticeable surface-area difference from the 22-inch grill. It does not include a lid hook or thermometer, and the ash catcher is not enclosed. That said, this Weber takes under 10 minutes to set up and requires no hardware. Like the Weber Original Premium grill, hamburgers tested on this grill cooked up to a perfect medium rare. The chicken we grilled took four minutes of sear time and 25 additional minutes on indirect heat to come up to a safe internal temperature.
Attaching the vent, ash catcher, and legs to the Weber is dead easy—everything simply snaps into place. After much discussion, we also decided not to insist on a built-in cart, with side tables, on our charcoal contenders. Most manufacturers offer them as an option, but they can tack on hundreds of dollars to the grill price.
No matter what your preferred style of backyard BBQ cooking is, Weber has you covered with a complete line of gas, wood pellet, charcoal, electric and portable grills. And each made-to-last option comes with the promise of quality and innovation. The Weber name is inextricably tied to backyard barbecues, but that wasn’t always the case. The domed charcoal grill, which many foodies swear gives the best flavor, traces its roots back to Weber Brothers Metal Works. Founded in 1887, the Chicago company produced a range of metal products, from hinges to wagons.
With this type of charcoal grill, the grill temperature can be set, changed and displayed on a smartphone through an app-based application. A probe can send internal meat temperature readings, giving you the freedom to do other things instead of being chained to the grill. Gas-assisted charcoal grills are usually fueled by a small screw-on propane tank. “This allows you to fire up the charcoal with a quick twist of the knob as opposed to using a charcoal chimney or other lighting methods,” Lilly said. The thickness of metal that the grill is made from is measured as the “gauge.” As the gauge number increases, the material thickness decreases and this makes comparing grills easy, explained Lilly. “Thicker metal makes for a longer lasting grill and better insulation,” he said.
They’re handy, no doubt, but if your patio or deck already has a table or countertop, you’re paying for something you don’t need and giving up valuable living space, too. On balance, gas is probably the better choice if you favor no-fuss cooking or weber q grill often . If you’re an occasional griller or you enjoy getting hands-on with your cooking, charcoal is an economical choice that, with a bit of practice, produces superb results. Napoleon delivered excellent cooking results in our ribs test.
When purchasing a new charcoal grill or smoker, understanding the different styles of Weber charcoal grills and what each type can do is important. No matter your grilling experience, use this convenient charcoal grill buying guide to select the charcoal barbecue grill that’s right for you. The Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill 22″ is our pick as the best charcoal grill for most people. In our tests it outperformed the other grills in cooking, ease of assembly, and user-friendly details.
If your grill plans stop at burgers and brats, this might be the best option. This expanded-steel model is all about simplicity and surface area. It features an under-unit storage rack and warming rack, and has plastic wheels that make it easy to transport. Our gas grills are engineered to go together in under an hour with easy-to-follow, illustrated step-by-step instructions.