Best Charcoal Grills

Char-Griller's answer to the Weber kettle: a 22-inch porcelain-coated bowl with adjustable top and bottom vents and a removable EasyDump ash pan, at $150 against Weber's $229 for the Original Kettle Premium. It weighs 23 lbs, about 10 lbs less than the Weber, which is a build-quality difference as much as a portability one.

The Weber Master-Touch 22 is the upgraded version of Weber's iconic charcoal kettle, adding a hinged Gourmet BBQ System grate, a built-in thermometer, and a Tuck-Away lid holder. It's a benchmark backyard charcoal grill.

The Weber Original Kettle Premium 22 is the iconic charcoal kettle that started backyard grilling in America, upgraded with a built-in thermometer, hinged grate, and sealed One-Touch ash catcher. It's the single most-recommended first grill in owner discussions.

The smallest full-size Weber kettle, an 18-inch bowl with 240 sq in of grate against the 22-inch model's 363. It keeps the One-Touch ash sweep, enclosed ash catcher and the same porcelain-enameled bowl and lid as its bigger sibling, so the only real difference is diameter. Weber sells it as the apartment-balcony and small-patio kettle rather than a budget version of the 22.

The 14-inch tabletop kettle, and the cheapest charcoal grill Weber sells. The Tuck-N-Carry lid lock clamps the lid to the bowl so the whole grill carries by its handle, then doubles as a lid rest once open. It is a true kettle in miniature — same porcelain-enameled bowl, same damper control — not a stamped-steel picnic grill.

The Gravity XT is Masterbuilt's current gravity-fed flagship and a direct response to the #1 complaint about the original 560/800/1050 series: build quality. The XT gets dual-wall FuelSaver insulation, a porcelain-coated interior, beefier hardware, and a 3-year warranty (up from 1), while keeping the party trick that made the line famous - real charcoal flavor with pellet-grill automation, from a 225F smoke to a legitimate 700F cast-iron sear in minutes. Owners and reviewers consistently call it the best-cooking gravity smoker you can buy, with better fuel efficiency and steadier temps than the old 1050 and the Char-Griller Gravity 980. The honest caveats: at $1,799 it costs nearly triple what a Gravity 800 street-prices for, it's a 199 lb two-person assembly job, and the electronics-in-a-charcoal-grill concern hasn't vanished - fans, switches, and control boards remain the failure points owners report, though XT-generation complaints are notably rarer. The hopper's 12 lbs of lump or 18 lbs of briquettes genuinely runs an overnight brisket. If you want charcoal taste with an app and don't want a Big Green Egg's learning curve, this is the class leader.

A Walmart-exclusive Char-Griller barrel grill that sits between the Patio Pro and the Classic Cart: 520 sq in primary and 785 sq in total for $180. It uses the adjustable charcoal tray and dual-damper layout from the rest of the line plus the EasyDump ash pan, and adds a side shelf, which the cheaper models do not have. Char-Griller sells it only through Walmart, so it is not on the same dealer shelves as the Classic.

The Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 is a digital, app-controlled charcoal grill, griddle, and smoker that uses a gravity-fed charcoal hopper and a fan-driven digital controller to automate charcoal cooking. It blends real charcoal flavor with set-and-forget convenience.

A charcoal grill built like a premium gas cart: all stainless, 605 sq in of WAVE cooking grid over a charcoal bed that cranks up and down for searing or roasting, a front-loading door so charcoal and smoking wood go in without lifting the grate, sliding air vents, a slide-out ash and drip pan, and a charcoal-fired rear rotisserie burner — which nothing else on the US market has. The lid is centre-gravity balanced so it lifts without swinging out past the back of the grill.

Napoleon's answer to the Weber kettle, and it is not a copy. The 21.5-inch cast iron grid sits at three selectable elevations and is hinged; a conical Vortex insert at the base of the bowl reshapes convection and funnels ash into the bucket; a smoke-stack chimney replaces the flat lid vent so wind and rain do not upset the draw. The lid is offset-hinged rather than lifted off, and the stainless extension ring is rotisserie-ready with covered spit ports. An 18-inch version sells for $319.

The Char-Griller Gravity Fed 980 is a WiFi-controlled gravity charcoal grill and smoker with a 16 lb hopper, fan-driven 200-700°F range, and 980 sq in of space. It's the budget rival to Masterbuilt's Gravity Series with a triple-insulated body.

The PK Grills PK360 is a cast-aluminum charcoal grill and smoker with a capsule-shaped body and 4-vent airflow control for precise two-zone cooking. PK Grills makes rustproof, heirloom-quality American charcoal cookers.

The base 22-inch Weber kettle and the entry point to the whole charcoal ladder. It has the same 363 sq in grate and One-Touch ash sweep as the Original Kettle Premium above it, but drops that model's hinged grate, built-in lid thermometer and enclosed ash catcher for an open ash pan. Against the 18-inch below it, the extra four inches is the difference between fitting a two-zone fire and not.

The 26-inch Master-Touch is the largest kettle Weber makes below the Ranch, with a 508 sq in primary grate plus an 80 sq in warming rack. It carries the Master-Touch package — hinged stainless grate, Char-Rails, lid thermometer and Tuck-Away lid holder — on a bowl four inches wider than the 22-inch Master-Touch already in the catalog. Weber no longer lists a plain 26-inch Original Kettle, so this is the only way to buy the 26-inch bowl new.

Weber redesigned the Performer for 2026: it is a 22-inch kettle bowl mounted on a wheeled cart with a fixed side table, a bottom storage shelf and the Weber Works side rail for snap-on accessories. The grate, at 363 sq in, is identical to the Original Kettle 22 — what the money buys is the cart, the hinged grate, the lid thermometer and the improved ash catcher. It sits above the 22-inch Master-Touch and below the Smart version, which adds a Wi-Fi airflow controller.

A rectangular portable charcoal grill with legs that fold up and lock the lid shut for carrying. The 160 sq in rectangular grate suits long items — sausages, corn, a rack of ribs cut in half — better than the round Smokey Joe's 147 sq in. It is the charcoal twin of Weber's long-running Go-Anywhere gas model.

A 37-inch kettle on a heavy steel cart with 1,104 sq in of stainless grate — three times the Original Kettle 22 and more than twice the 26-inch Master-Touch. Weber has built it essentially unchanged for decades as a catering and large-party grill. Four dampers instead of the usual two are needed to move air through a bowl this large.

The PK300 is the modern version of the capsule-shaped cast aluminum grill PK has built since 1952, sitting below the PK360 already in the catalog. Cast aluminum conducts heat several times faster than steel and cannot rust, which is why 60-year-old PKs still turn up working. The four-point venting system — a damper at each corner of the capsule — is what makes its two-zone cooking unusually controllable for a grill with no fan or controller.

SnS Grills built its business on the Slow 'N Sear, a crescent-shaped charcoal basket and water reservoir that turns a kettle into a genuine two-zone smoker. The MasterKettle is their own 22-inch kettle with that insert included and a 304 stainless grate rather than the plated steel most kettles ship with. It competes directly with the Weber Master-Touch 22, and the difference is that the two-zone hardware is in the box rather than a $115 add-on.

An Arteflame is a solid half-inch carbon steel cooktop ring around an open central fire — a griddle and a fire pit in one, with no lid and no dampers. Heat is controlled by where food sits on the ring: the inner edge sears past 1,000°F, the outer edge holds finished food warm. The base is Corten weathering steel, which is meant to rust to a stable patina and then stop, so it is designed to live outdoors uncovered.

The current entry point to Masterbuilt's gravity-fed line and the direct replacement for the discontinued Gravity Series 560. A vertical hopper holds charcoal above the firebox and feeds it down by gravity while a variable-speed DigitalFan regulates air, so it behaves like a pellet grill but burns lump or briquettes. The 600 keeps the 560's footprint but adds dual-wall insulation with a porcelain interior and takes the hopper to 17.6 lb.

The long-running large Gravity Series and still the volume seller of the line. Same gravity hopper and DigitalFan as the 600, in a wider cart-style body with 1,050 sq in across a main grate, a warming rack and a smoke rack. It sits between the 800 griddle-hybrid and the newer 1150 in Masterbuilt's range, and differs from the 1150 mainly in hopper size and cabinet updates rather than in how it cooks.

The 2025 revision of the large Gravity Series, sold alongside the 1050 rather than replacing it. It adds 100 sq in, takes the hopper from 15.9 to 17.6 lb, and moves to a narrower and taller cabinet — 54.3 inches wide against the 1050's 60.6 — which is the real argument for it on a crowded patio. Masterbuilt rates the larger hopper at up to 15 hours of fuel.

This is the barrel grill Char-Griller has sold for decades under the Super Pro name; the 2026 catalog lists it as the Classic Cart Style Charcoal Grill, SKU 2175. It is a double-walled steel barrel on a cart with 550 sq in of primary grate plus a 260 sq in warming rack, an adjustable-height charcoal pan on a crank, and a side-firebox port so it can be converted into an offset smoker later. Compared with the Wrangler below it, it adds the crank-adjustable fire pan and the side-firebox port; compared with the Smokin' Champ above it, it ships without the firebox.

The smallest barrel grill Char-Griller sells, now catalogued as model 1616 (it replaced the older E1515 SKU the same shape was sold under). 250 sq in of cast-iron grate on a two-wheel stand, with the same crank-adjustable charcoal pan and EasyDump ash pan as the full-size Classic. It is the apartment-balcony and small-patio version of the barrel grill, not a scaled-down smoker.

PK's collaboration with Aaron Franklin, sitting $100 above the standard PK300. Same rust-proof cast-aluminum capsule and four-vent layout, but with a redesigned lid seal, cast-aluminum wheels with rubber tires, two folding cast-aluminum shelves that lock the capsule to the cart, and an all-aluminum cart instead of the PK300's. It is the PK300 with the parts most owners complain about upgraded.

The original 1950s PK capsule, still in production, on a knock-down aluminum cart with stainless hardware. PK calls it 'King of the Tailgate' because the capsule lifts off and the cart disassembles without tools, so the whole grill goes in a trunk. The PK300 and PK300AF use a newer, redesigned capsule; the PKTX is the classic one, sold in classic silver.

PK's portable: a cast-aluminum clamshell on a molded cradle with cast iron cooking surfaces, 204 sq in, 39.5 lbs. The FlipKit is the second grate and charcoal grate that lets it be run as a covered grill or flipped open as a double-sided hibachi. It carries the same 20-year warranty as the full-size PKs, which is unusual for a portable.

The smallest Arteflame: a 20-inch round CORTEN steel cooktop with an open centre grate over the fire and a flat plancha surface ringing it. You sear over the centre at 1,000°F-plus, then move the meat outward onto the griddle ring to finish, where the temperature falls off with distance from the fire. It is the same one-piece weathering-steel construction and the same cooking geometry as the Classic 40 the catalog already carries, at roughly a third of the price and a quarter of the footprint.

The middle Arteflame: a 30-inch cooktop cut from a single piece of CORTEN weathering steel, with over 700 sq in of surface between the centre searing grate and the surrounding plancha. Four large steaks fit in the centre while vegetables roast in the middle band and bread toasts on the outer edge, all at once. It is the size that fits a normal patio, where the Classic 40 is a landscape feature.

Everdure is Heston Blumenthal's grill line, sold in the US through dealers rather than direct. The CUBE is its portable charcoal box: a single-piece porcelain-enamel firebox with a dual-wall heat shield that keeps the outside cool enough to sit on a table, plus a bamboo prep board and a food-grade storage tray that nest into the body for transport. The grate adjusts to three heights, which is the only heat control it has. At 15.4 lbs it is a genuine carry-anywhere grill, closer to a Weber Smokey Joe than to a full portable.

The grill that made Char-Griller's name and still the cheapest way to get 850 sq in of charcoal cooking surface in the US. Cast iron grates, a crank-adjustable charcoal pan, dual dampers, an EasyDump ash pan and — the point of it — a pre-cut side-firebox port, so bolting on Char-Griller's $100 side fire box turns it into a working offset smoker. That upgrade path is why it outsells everything else at this price.