With grilling, the ability to cook on direct heat means that your food will be ready quickly. However, unless you’re closely watching the grill at all times, your food can easily burn or overcook. The One-Touch™ cleaning system provides hassle-free cleanup of charcoal ash and debris by swiping it into a high-capacity, removable ash catcher.
And the lid, when closed fully, creates a strong seal imperative for smoking success. With a hinged charcoal grate, it was simple to adjust and add coals during the cooking process. We liked the original version of the PK Grill & Smoker that we tested. The thick cast-aluminum body holds and reflects heat efficiently, and it’s extremely sturdy and inherently rustproof. The shallow rectangular shape keeps the coals close to the grates, and its flat base works better for indirect grilling than sloped, round grills. It also has two vents each on both the top and bottom, allowing for better control over heat output.
All of our tests were designed and ran by Wirecutter senior staff writer Lesley Stockton, who has over a decade of experience in professional kitchens, many of them spent on the grill station. Lesley conducted the testing with senior staff writer Tim Heffernan, one of the original writers of this guide, and Michael Sullivan, a senior staff writer on the kitchen team. Sam Sifton, founding editor of New York Times Cooking, joined us for testing. There’s no table or workbench, which is a boon for those looking to streamline storage. The warranty isn’t as generous as other models—one year for the grill, and five for the burner—but for under $100, we still think it’s a great deal. Then, I called my friend and resident AoM meat-cooking consultant, Karl Engel, and asked him to show me the ropes on how to cook with it.
One other trick to note during assembly is that you will have to apply a little bit of tension to the legs when installing the wheels. I found that just pushing the leg in a little and then tapping the wheel covers on with a hammer (ball-peen, claw, or even a rubber mallet) worked. I set up the grill in under 15 minutes, and three or four of those were spent taking it out of the box. It is an absurdly simple process that requires a hammer and a Phillips-head screwdriver. In the box, you’ll find 16 pieces including a plastic wrench only used to attach the handle to the lid.
Our experts lean toward lump charcoal due to the lack of additives often found in briquettes. Some people joke that the Weber Kettle is “your weber portable grill grandfather’s grill.” Well, maybe Grandpa had the right idea! The Weber Original Kettle is probably the best-selling BBQ grill of all time.