Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill – Iconic 22-Inch Outdoor BBQ for Authentic Grilling
The Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill combines classic design with upgraded functionality, making it an essential tool for anyone passionate about outdoor cooking. Crafted with a durable porcelain-enameled bowl and lid, this 22-inch kettle-style grill delivers exceptional heat retention and even cooking performance while resisting rust, cracks, and peeling.
This grill includes a hinged plated-steel cooking grate, allowing you to easily add charcoal while cooking without removing the entire grate. The integrated lid thermometer helps monitor temperature accurately, ensuring precise control throughout the grilling session. With a capacity to grill up to 13 burgers at once, it’s ideal for family meals and backyard gatherings.
The One-Touch cleaning system, paired with a high-capacity ash catcher, streamlines post-cook cleanup with a single swipe, while the angled lid hook lets you rest the lid conveniently without placing it on the ground.
- 22-inch diameter grill with high-efficiency heat circulation and retention
- Hinged cooking grate for simple charcoal access during grilling
- Porcelain-enameled lid and bowl resist corrosion and retain heat
- One-Touch cleaning system with detachable ash catcher for quick maintenance
- Built-in thermometer for temperature precision during grilling
- Integrated lid hook for safe and clean lid placement while in use
Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned griller, the Weber Original Kettle Premium offers a reliable, time-tested solution for achieving the rich flavors of charcoal barbecue with ease and confidence.
1. Buy a charcoal chimney. It makes lighting the charcoals so much easier. You can use newspaper or fire starters along with the chimney to get the coals lit and it's slick as snot.
2. Buy the charcoal baskets. These allow you to create direct heat zones and indirect heat zones. This helps so that if you want the meat to keep cooking but not get too cooked on the outside, you can move them to a zone of indirect heat. No more burger hockey pucks...
3. Have an instant read meat thermometer.
4. One of the videos I watched online said that it takes about 15 minutes to adjust the temperature using the vents and they were right. Be patient. It does take a little more time than gas, but it's worth it.
-So my process is to pull the grill out, clean out the ash from the previous cook, and put any left over charcoals in the chimney for reuse.
-I then add any new charcoals I need to mostly fill the chimney. I set the charcoal chimney on the charcoal grate of the grill and light it from underneath using newspaper or a fire starter.
-I let the charcoals in the chimney get hot. This takes 15+ minutes for the smoke from the chimney to clear up and not be too gray.
-Once I see the smoke clear up, I pour the charcoals from the chimney into the charcoal baskets and position the baskets on the charcoal grate within the grill according to what this specific cook will need. I have some of those fireproof gloves that make doing this easy.
- I then put the cooking grate in the grill and put the lid on the grill and let it get hot for 15 minutes. This allows the fire to make the cooking grate hot and easier to clean. Once I finish cleaning the cooking grate, I adjust the vents from full open to half open to bring the temp down.
-I wait another 15 minutes and then start cooking.
So yes, it takes a bit more time to get cooking but it tastes sooooo good and the meat is tender and juicy. I also feel safer cooking with charcoal versus gas, especially when cooking burgers.
I also use the Weber Rapidfire chimney so I can cook on my mesquite without any lighter fluid taste.
I haven't smoked with this kettle yet but I did on my old one and I know it'll do great there, too.
The upgrade, for me, is the ash catching attachment on the bottom of the grill, makes clean up and ash removal a breeze!
It is also a nicely sized grill. It is small enough to store in a small space and to use for 1 person but also large enough to be able to fit enough food for family and friends. Whether cooking for 1 or a party, it’s a great size.
Assembly was also easy. The instructions are easy to follow and the pieces go together easily enough. The legs take a bit of work to squeeze into the grill base, but that’s the only part that requires any real effort.
Aside from that, it’s a charcoal BBQ… it’ll grill as well as the person using it.
Update: Contacted Weber through email and sent same pictures. I thought it would take at least a week for them to respond. The next afternoon got email saying they were sending me new lid. Then got email with shipping information. Haven’t gotten new lid yet but will post again when I do. Changing from 1 star to 3 stars for now but if new lid works will update.
Update. Now grill is 5 states. Weber sent new lid that fits!! Sent that didn’t back un same box with label they sent. All good !!
Before purchasing this I did a lot of research, and this grill was voted one if the best grills in 2018. I can see why! Now as a beginner I had no idea how this was going to go, but with just some tutorials I was able to figure out how to get things going. This is definitely the grill that will get me really enjoy barbecuing. There are many versions of this, I saw the more basic one with no temperature gauge, the more expensive one with a side table, and even one that has an igniter. I would recommend for you to just get this one. Get this one and then get a chimney starter. No need to get lighter fluid .
Pros
Food comes out with a Smokey flavor, so good!
Comes with temperature gauge and a ash catcher!
Was easy to clean and put away
Easy to move
Cons
Temperature control is not easy! You need to know how much charcoal to put, and how to put it in the grill for the best experience.
I wanted to mention some people said that it may have been difficult to assemble, but I thought it was really easy. They may have updated their manual, but it was not hard at all! I was worried that I didn’t select the free assembly option.
Can’t wait to have more barbecues and maybe update this review on the durability on it. I’m loving mine so far and I’m glad I got the black color!
This new Weber gets a lot of things right. It comes standard with a hinged grate and a thermometer. There are two handles with hooks for my grill tools. These are a great addition my last grill lacked.
The lid is orientated differently on this grill than my original. For instance, the top vent is located to the side of the handle rather than the top of the handle on my last Weber. It's a small change but it effects the way you remove the lid and engage the latch. Any long term Weber owner will notice and need some time to adjust.
The latch under the lid is curved and much more hook like. It is an improvement as any long term webber user has had the lid fall off many times due to the old latch not engaging properly.
The ash catcher is new, looks great but does require the user to pinch or squeeze the handle to remove the ash bowl. I can imagine this would be difficult for anyone with diminished grip strength such as and the elderly.
The legs now latch to the kettle with pins. This is a nice touch as the legs had fallen out of my old webber on occasion when I picked it up.
Beyond this everything else is what I have come to expect from a webber. The build quality can not be beat, the porcelain enamel paint is unblemished and the whole grill looks and feels like a quality tool.