Best Reviewed
Charcoal Grills
- Budget charcoal grill Weber One-Touch Silver *Est. $70
- Best charcoal grill overall Weber Performer *Est. $330
- Barrel-style charcoal grill Char-Griller Outlaw *Est. $150
- Portable charcoal grill Weber Smokey Joe *Est. $30
- Luxury charcoal grill The Big Green Egg (Large) *Est. $750
Get info about new reports and updates
Best charcoal grill overall
- Gas-assisted coal lighting
- Weber quality reputation
- Long warranty
- Choice of colors
- Built-in thermometer
- Plastic worktable flimsy compared to wood, metal
- Similar to less expensive Weber grills
- Smaller cooking area than other grills
The Weber Performer's standard features include a hinged cooking grate, one-touch cleaning, a worktable, a built-in thermometer, a lid catcher, onboard utensil and charcoal storage and its unique gas-assist lighting system. Combining propane and an ignition switch results in easily lit coals that are ready for cooking in around 10 minutes. (The gas ignition system uses disposable five-gallon propane tanks.) The Weber Performer charcoal grill has 363 square inches of cooking space; if you want a charcoal grill that can cook for a crowd, the Char-Griller Outlaw (*Est. $150) has over 1,000 square inches of cooking area and also gets good reviews.
About.com's Derrick Riches includes the Weber Performer in his list of the top 10 charcoal grills for 2011 and provides a full-length review. His is the best professional review we found; on a segment from NBC's "Today" show, a professional reviewer names it the best charcoal grill but has little else to say about it. Amateurs are nearly unanimous in their praise of the Performer, as evidenced by posts at Amazon.com and Buzzillions.com and in amateur video reviews posted to ExpoTV.com.
 |
||
|
|
| Weber 1421001 Performer Charcoal Grill, Black | |
(116 reviews) In Stock. Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping |
|
| Featured Stores | Store Rating | Notes | Total Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  4,536 store reviews | In Stock. Free Shipping on Most Orders $45 or More! Online Only | $329.00 | See It |
| See All Stores | ||||
Our Sources
1. About.com
Derrick Riches is the guide to barbeques and grilling for About.com. He says the gas-assist lighting feature alone makes the Performer well worth the cost, even though it is essentially a variant of Weber's cheaper mainstream kettle grills. In his words, "This is as convenient a charcoal grill as you will find." Riches gives the Performer a perfect rating: 5 out of 5 stars. (Note: ConsumerSearch is owned by About.com, but the two don't share an editorial affiliation.)
Review: Weber Performer Charcoal Grill Review, Derrick Riches
2. Today
Lou Manfredini recommends the Weber Performer in this brief guide, though mentioning its gas-lighting system is the extent of his description. No testing criteria are mentioned. The site contains a segment from "Today" in which Manfredini displays his recommended grills and discusses their features.
Review: Need to Buy a Grill? Check Out These Top Styles, Lou Manfredini, June 8, 2007
3. Amazon.com
More than 300 user reviews are available at Amazon.com (there are separate listings of this grill in different colors and from different vendors); they give the Performer an essentially perfect average overall rating. The handful of contributors who do voice complaints quibble over minor design choices, or say newer versions (from 2005 on) aren't as satisfactory as earlier Performer models.
Review: Weber Performer 22.5" Charcoal Grill, Contributors to Amazon.com
Over 160 Buzzillions users give the Performer an average score of 4.8 out of 5. Nearly all of the comments are overwhelmingly positive. Even those who don't give it a perfect rating (because of concerns about lower airflow or the need to clean the lighting mechanism often) are generally satisfied. Buzzillions is a site that collects user reviews from other, usually smaller, websites.
Review: Weber Performer Charcoal Grill, Contributors to Buzzillions.com
5. ExpoTV.com
Michelle F. provides a short video of the Weber Performer charcoal grill. She gives it a 5-star rating and says, "I really love this grill. Love that it's so easy to use and gives the food great flavor."
Review: Weber-Stephen Products 847001 (NG) Charcoal Grill, Michelle F., June 22, 2010
Charcoal Grills Runners Up:
6 picks including: About.com, Amazon.com…
3 picks including: About.com, Walmart.com…
3 picks including: About.com, Amazon.com…
1 pick including: Amazon.com…
 |
||
|
|
Char-Griller 1224 Smokin Pro 830 Square Inch Charcoal Grill with Side Fire Box
In Stock.
Average Customer Review: |
||
|
|
 |
||
|
|
 |
||
|
|
