Charcoal Grill Review

Charcoal grills gain ground on gas

This ConsumerSearch report covers charcoal grills. Gas BBQ grills are covered in our companion report.

According to the April 2009 Weber GrillWatch survey, charcoal grilling's popularity is on the uptick in the last three years. However, critical interest in charcoal grills has been inexplicably lacking over the same period. Because charcoal grill designs are relatively static (some models have gone virtually unchanged for decades) even the best reviewers only occasionally survey the charcoal grill field.

For instance, ConsumerReports.org includes an annual test of gas grills but no longer tests or rates charcoal grills. The best expert review for charcoal grills comes from Cook's Illustrated's 2006 comparison of six full-size charcoal grills. This exhaustive hands-on comparison includes the turkey test, where editors attempt to cook a 12-pound turkey on each charcoal grill. In a more casual comparison, Slate.com offers a well-written guide to portable grills from 2007, which includes three charcoal models. Grills are tested with different types of food and given scores for taste, convenience and performance.

About.com's Derrick Riches may be the most prolific grill reviewer (both charcoal and gas), with an array of articles and rankings that cover full-size and portable charcoal grills. Riches provides detailed pros and cons for each grill, and he covers the widest range of models, producing an annual top-10 ranking of his favorite charcoal grills. The downside is that Riches doesn't conduct hands-on tests of most grills. Ratings are based on physical examinations of grill build-quality and features, and on the manufacturer's reputation. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)

Other personal reviews for grills can be found on blog-style sites. At the Barbecue Grill & Smoker Source, "avid outdoor cooker" Doug gives his opinion of five charcoal grills, inviting readers to provide their own comments and reviews. HomeBarbequeGrilling.com and Squidoo.com also have posts of some use in evaluating current models.

User reviews can be very useful in evaluating charcoal grills because users can give a wider picture of a grill's longer-term durability and overall usefulness. Amazon.com, Buzzillions.com and Epinions.com have valuable comments sections, though most of the comments go to Weber grills and many of the charcoal grills featured on these websites are outdated or discontinued.