I’m a grill guy. I own two smokers, three charcoal grills, two outdoor boilers and a Medium Green Egg — and I have nothing against gas cookers but I just don’t need any more gear. But if someone asked me what single grill they should own for a variety of casual summer cooking, my answer would be easy: A Weber kettle.
Your basic Weber kettle is a model of simple, effective and durable engineering and construction. It grills, it smokes, it even bakes with a little encouragement. The basic kettle will last for years — even decades — and all of the more vulnerable parts are easily and cheaply replaced or repaired as needed.
I own an 18-inch kettle and a 14-inch portable Smokey Joe grill. If I was buying one new grill today, I’d actually opt for the slightly larger 22-inch grill, which increases your smoking and grilling options.
Webers aren’t terribly expensive unless you tack on options — your basic 22-inch kettle is about $100. They also are far superior to any of the many cheaper clones out there that I’ve seen. The steel is enameled, not painted, and it’s generally thicker than competing charcoal grills. The vents are easy to use and have minimal leaks. The lid fights tightly. This construction gives you greater control over temperatures and ensures durability.
The larger kettle is big enough to let you set up hot and warm zones on your grill. You can smoke ribs and chicken fairly easy, and if you’re willing to put up with paying a lot of attention over a very long time, you can even cook briskets or pork butts.
The Weber is a terrific steak cooker. Leave the lid on while cooking and it works just like a high-temperature convection oven — perfect for steak. It took me a long time to replicate my Weber results on my Egg, and the Egg — which cost six times as much — is just a brilliant cooker.
So if you only one one grill, and you don’t want to spend a lot of money, go for the Weber. OTOH, these days, $300 will get you a very well-made kamado cooker from Lowe’s.
Previously: Catching up | Hokum home
I will second the comment about the cooker from Lowes – the Lillestons were kind enough to give Bill and I the gift of one of the cookers for our 50th birthday.. a fantastic gift that I thought that they had waayyyy overspent in its purchase.. I then learned that it was just overspent, not waaayyy, when Randy told me where he had bought it. Its a great smoker and grill – it smokes ribs and pork roasts as well as an offset firebox smoker without all the hassle of one of them. I have yet to try a brisket, but I have faith it will do one of them just fine. I have kept a low fire going for over 6 hours with no reloading of charcoal or any tending at all… damn fine results for the price. It cooks a steak or burgers just fine too! A great gift that we will enjoy for years.
Actually, as it turned out, we got it somewhere else for you — Lowe’s was impossible to deal with and would have charged us sales tax, so we found it from another online merchant at the same price and had it shipped. But honestly, a steel kamado with oven insulation makes all the sense in the world — way more sense than a ceramic one, actually, although a ceramic one should last for decades with proper maintenance. Glad you’re enjoying it.