The 6 Very Best Charcoal Grills

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Size: 363 square inches of cooking space |Material: Enameled steel body with aluminum legs and ash catcher; plated steel grate |Extras: Hinged cooking grate makes adding fuel easier and ash catcher makes cleanup neater

This iconic grill is the Goldilocks pick within the Weber range. While you can get amore basic Weber for about $150, it won’t include the ash catcher that makes cleanup almost elegant — it’s worth shelling out for the Premium version. And while Weber offers similar builds in 26-inch sizes, this slightly smaller 22-inch model still gives you enough room to cook more than 15 burgers or a pork butt, a full-size brisket, or a couple of chickens. “There are so many ways of using a Weber grill and to manipulate the heat,” Kostow said. “And it’s also the easiest to dump your coals out and put the lid on.”

The 22-inch diameter also gives you enough space to set up two-zone cooking with distinct hot and cooler areas, which is useful anytime you’re not just grilling a batch of thin burgers or hot dogs. While you can bank coals to one side, a pair of crescent-shaped,aluminized steel basketsmakes heat management easier to move around the grill because you can just tug the heat source with a pair of tongs. The plated steel cooking grate is hinged on both sides, making it easier to add fuel mid-cook. The lid hooks onto the bowl when not in use, and Weber’s center grate section can be swapped out for accessories like a griddle. With proper care, the Premium Charcoal Grill should easily outlast the 10-year warranty — and if anything does go wrong,replacement partsare available for everything from the wheels to the lid handle.

Size: 363 square inches of cooking space |Material: Enameled steel body with powder-coated frame and aluminum ash catcher, with plated steel grate |Extras: A built-in electric fan regulates temperatures for low-and-slow cooking, while ports for two wired leave-in meat probes (one included) and a companion app let you monitor temperatures remotely.

Pellet smoker manufacturers figured out that not everyone who enjoys barbecue loves the process of managing a fire and tending coals for hours — so they added smart controls that make the process a whole lot easier. The latest generation of Weber’s Performer, the Smart Charcoal Grill, brings that idea into a compact kettle format without giving up the fundamentals that make cooking over a half bowl irresistible. A power cord — yes, this is a charcoal grill you plug in — runs a fan built into the bowl, which detects the ambient temperature using a grate-level temperature probe, and a computer, to regulate airflow. Like a Traeger pellet grill or a kitchen oven, you set a target temperature — say 225 degrees Fahrenheit for brisket — and the fan cycles to increase or limit the oxygen supply to the charcoal to keep you within that range. But unlike a pellet smoker, you can still cook directly over the coals whenever you want, using it like a traditional 22-inch kettle.

The cart has a compact 28 x 40 1/4-inch footprint, so it doesn’t take up much more space than a standard kettle setup, but the side table is wide enough for prep work, plating, or staging tools. The center insert is removable and accepts Weber Works accessories like storage caddies. The controller includes ports for two wired meat probes (one included) and connects to your phone with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so you can monitor and adjust temperatures from the app even outside your home network. With thoughtful coal placement, you can run steady low-and-slow cooks around 200 to 250 Fahrenheit for hours, or dump in a mess of gray coals from a full chimney of charcoal for high-heat searing for burgers and summer cookouts.

Size: 523 square inches of cooking space |Material: 18-gauge powder-coated steel with 12-gauge galvannealed steel fire box, and nickel-plated cooking grills |Extras: A crank that raises the charcoal up high to sear or down low to smoke

Any disposable $20 hibachi can generate enough heat to sear a burger, but the hallmark of a splurge-worthy charcoal cooker is the versatility to shift from high heat to low-and-slow smoking with minimal effort. Most charcoal grills, including kettles, are typically set up for one style of cooking or the other, and moving between the two is cumbersome. The Legacy 131 has a smart feature that is far more clever than any Wi-Fi connectivity: an exterior crank that raises or lowers the firebox. That, effectively, puts a control knob on charcoal heat. A few turns bring the coals within roughly 3 ¾-inches below the grates for burger-searing temperatures around 600°F. A few clockwise cranks, and the charcoal basket drops way down, so the heat settles in at 225 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit to smoke larger cuts over several hours.

The cooker comes across as exceptionally well-made despite carrying only a five-year warranty. A removable front shelf provides a handy place for tools and seasonings, though it’s too narrow to comfortably hold full racks of ribs. The two-piece nickel-plated steel grates have a shallow “V” shape, encouraging rendered fat to cling to the underside of the bars, flow toward a narrow center drain, and funnel into an external grease cup. That design helps reduce flare-ups and, if one does occur, the adjustable firebox lets you quickly crank yourself out of trouble.

Size: 190 square inches of cooking space |Material: Powder-coated steel with 12-gauge galvannealed steel fire box |Extras: A pair of folding legs elevate the grill off the surface for cooking and fold up to secure the lid during transport.

At under 9 pounds, the Charbroil weighs roughly three times more than a disposable single-use grill, but it’s built to last through repeated beach trips, camping, park outings, and tailgating. It has enough cooking space for two to three people, though you’re effectively working with a single heat zone — banking coals is possible, but it significantly reduces usable surface area. A lidded handle helps trap heat for melting cheese or finishing burgers. Expect to use around ten briquettes per cook, which can be lit without a chimney starter. With no adjustable vents for temperature control, this grill is best suited for quick-cooking foods like burgers, hot dogs, and vegetables.

Size:315 square inches of cooking space; 32 pounds |Material:The body is made with stainless steel; the grill itself is chrome-coated steel |Geegaws:Heavy-duty canvas carrying case, many available add-ons (from a charcoal tray to an entire table)

The Snow Peak Takibi is the center of a modular grilling system. “You can literally customize it and build a table system that spans coast to coast,” says Mike Nicholas of the Brooklyn Caribbean vegan restaurantAunts et Uncles. When Nicholas brought eight of his friends to St. Lucia last February, he brought along his Takibi, too. He turned local mushrooms, okra, asparagus, broccolini, and more into flavorful beachside feasts. TheFireplace Coal Bedbrings the charcoal (or firewood) to a high even surface underneath the grill; theJikaro Table, the larger modular system of which the Takibi is a part, meanwhile, turns the Takibi into the centerpiece of a table. The full system may not be cheap, but it lets the Takibi do double duty as a full outdoor kitchen and dining rooom. Lightweight and durable, the Takibi works as well on a Brooklyn rooftop as at Reduit Beach at sunset.

Size: 452 square inches of cooking space |Material: Enameled steel, dual-wall insulated body with powder-coated steel legs and ash catcher, and stainless steel grate |Extras: A heavy-duty hinge allows the lid to be opened one-handed, while a wide-opening vent quickly boosts heat when needed. An innovative grate system adds versatility, enabling both high-heat searing and low-temperature cooking

Most kamado cookers — egg-shaped, insulated grills built to seal in heat and moisture, giving you the kind of precision control you need for everything from smoking to slow-cooking to searing — are ceramic, and make the same trade-offs: thick insulation, excellent heat retention, and extreme weight that typically caps practical sizes around 18 inches. The 24-inch versions often tip the scales at 200 pounds and become difficult to move, and thermal properties aside, they can be fragile.

The Weber Summit Kamado E6 takes a different approach, using a double-wall insulated steel body — like your favorite water bottle — instead of ceramic. It delivers strong heat retention in a lighter, more mobile form (about 146 pounds) than competing kamados, while maintaining a cooking grate footprint that feels as familiar as a large kettle-style grill. That 24-inch cooking surface behaves much like a standard Weber kettle for everyday cooks like steaks, seafood, and vegetables, but with far greater thermal stability for longer, low-and-slow cooks.

Where the Summit really separates itself from a traditional kamado is in airflow and heat control. A unique lid damper, which houses the familiar four-hole vent system, flips open to create a high-flow exhaust, similar to a smoker’s chimney, for rapid temperature spikes. The lower vents function like a classic Weber kettle intake and ash sweep. Inside, adjustable fuel grate positions let you, before you start cooking, change the distance between coals and food, shifting from direct searing to indirect smoking without needing accessories. A heavy-duty gasket seals the lid to lock in heat and smoke, and a hinged stainless steel cooking grate allows you to add charcoal mid-cook without removing food. Combined, these systems create a cooker that behaves like a hybrid of a kettle for hot-and-fast grilling and a kamado-style oven for low-and-slow cooking, without the fragility of ceramic construction.

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