When it comes to BBQ-ing around here, I’ve been using a gas grill during the 10 years I’ve lived in my house. Many folks strongly believe charcoal produces better flavor than gas. Let’s just say different fuels have different characteristics—and we won’t even get into all the different types of charcoal available today. The basic kit comes with an aluminum pizza tray, but we recommend using a classic pizza stone for a crispier foundation. Sixty years ago, Weber Brothers Metal Works, later called Weber-Stephen Products, used to make mailboxes, fireplace equipment and a number of various other metal-based products. George Stephen, Sr., a salesman at the company, then decided the grills of the day weren’t up to snuff.
For our tests, we cooked hamburgers on direct heat for four minutes on each side and then compared their level of doneness. The two Weber grills both cooked our hamburgers to medium rare, while the Oklahoma Joe’s, Cuisinart portable bbq and Char-Griller all ran slightly hotter and cooked our test hamburgers to medium. We cooked burgers on the Napoleon grill with the cooking grate at its highest level, which was pretty far away from the briquettes.
You may want to occasionally wash it with warm water and perhaps a mild soap. Similarly, you’ll probably have to scrape stuff off the lower charcoal grate, though possibly not after each use. As with all charcoal grills, your briquettes or lumps rest near the bottom of the bowl on a grate that keeps them off the base of the pit to allow airflow. Cooking on a charcoal grill is a bit more complicated than using a gas-powered model. First, you’ll need to measure out an appropriate amount of charcoal briquettes—this will depend on the size of your grill, what you’re cooking, and how hot you want the grill to get. Next, you have to light the charcoal using a chimney starter or other tool.
This Weber grill features a porcelain-enameled lid and bowl for optimal heat retention, and the cooking grate can hold up to 13 burgers at once. Our reviewer tested this model by cooking everything from pork to pineapple and found that it’s consistently a great choice for beginners and seasoned pros. Charcoal grills are a staple for home chefs because charcoal is a relatively inexpensive fuel source that weber charcoal grill gives your food a beautiful, smokey flavor, from hot dogs and hamburgers to pizza and pulled pork. Charcoal grills also tend to be less expensive than gas or pellet grills, so you can cook outdoors, even if you’re on a budget. One of the cheapest ceramic kamado grills Consumer Reports tested, this Vision Kamado was also among the highest rated — it scored a “Very Good” in their “Convenience” test.
As you cook your food, control the grill’s temperature by using the upper and lower vents. For the hottest fire possible, you’ll want to open both vents all the way, or for a lower temperature, close the upper vent to a half or quarter. Pellet grills work somewhat similarly to charcoal grills, except they burn wood pellets. Like gravity charcoal grills, pellet grills have a separate hopper that stores and gravity causes the pellets to drop into the “burn pot,” where a fan circulates the heat, cooking your food.