Weber Master-Touch 22 vs Original Kettle 18
Master-Touch: 363 sq in, Char-Rails, GBS grate, 42 in tall, $289.00. Original Kettle 18: 240 sq in, 36 in tall, no thermometer, $129.00. Which one to buy.
We pick the Weber Master-Touch Charcoal Grill 22
The Master-Touch, for anyone feeding more than two. Weber rates it for six to eight against the 18's 4 to 6. Its Char-Rails keep a two-zone split where the 18's banked coals leave a cramped cool side. The 18 wins only where small is the point: a small household, a small space, and $160 kept back.
What actually differs
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Six inches of working height
The Master-Touch stands 42 in with the lid shut; the 18 stands 36. Over a long cook, that is the gap between working at a counter and bending over a bowl.
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Rails, or banking by eye
The 18 asks you to rake the coals to one side and keep them there. The Master-Touch's two rails fix that edge, so a drip pan and a shoulder get a cool side that stays cool.
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A grate you can build on
The Master-Touch grate takes circular GBS inserts for searing, wok cooking or griddling, bought separately. The 18's plated grate is a cheap part to swap and nothing more.
The scorecard, side by side
Both reviews are scored on the same six weighted categories, each bar on the same 0–10 scale, and every cell carries the reason that review gave. A row is marked won only where the two differ by a tenth or more. How we score →
The Original's 22 in fire, no hotter, but Char-Rails pin a two-zone split and the hinged grate feeds it mid-cook.
Lid and bowl dampers give the usual kettle control, but a 240 sq in grate leaves a cramped cool side once coals are banked.
Bowl and lid get ten years, One-Touch five; the hinged grate, rails and Tuck-Away holder, more parts than the Original, get two.
Enamelled bowl and lid carry ten years, the aluminium legs shrug off rust, and only the grate and small parts sit on two.
Porcelain enamel, aluminium legs and glass-reinforced nylon handles are sound, but a plated-steel grate is thin dressing on a $289.00 grill.
Porcelain enamel and glass-reinforced nylon handles are the real thing; the plated grate and wire leg brace are where the money was saved.
Tuck-Away holder, lid dial, Char-Rails and a hinged grate, standing 2.5 in taller than the Premium; only the Performer adds a table.
No thermometer is listed, so dampers are set by feel, and a 5 in lid height turns away tall roasts.
$289.00 buys the same 363 sq in as $149.00, and $60 over the Premium pays for comfort and GBS access, not cooking.
At $129.00 against $149.00 for 363 sq in, the bigger Weber kettle buys far more grate for each extra dollar.
A swipe of the One-Touch lever empties the bowl into an enclosed, wind-proof catcher, warranted five years like the sweep itself.
One-Touch sweeps ash into a shallow open catcher in a few strokes, and the enamel wipes down; nothing encloses the ash.
Published figures that differ
Quoted from each maker's own specifications, as each review records them. Figures the two products publish identically are left out — only the differences are listed.
Which one is for you
You cook for a family, run two-zone fires most weekends, and want a sear insert or wok down the line.
Check price →You cook for two, have a balcony-sized corner, and want real enamel and dampers for $129.00.
Check price →More head-to-heads
Every score and figure on this page comes from our own reviews of these two products, linked above. We have not tested them side by side in one place; the comparison is between two full reviews, each built from the maker's published specifications and documentation. Prices move, and the ones quoted are the ones each review checked on its own date.