Weber Master-Touch 22 vs Performer 22
Same 363 sq in bowl, Char-Rails, hinged grate and lid dial. The Performer adds a 40.25 in cart with a table and shelf for $449.00; the Master-Touch is $289.00.
We pick the Weber Master-Touch Charcoal Grill 22
Buy the Master-Touch unless you have nowhere to set a tray. Both put the same 363 sq in bowl, Char-Rails, hinged grate, lid thermometer, Tuck-Away holder and enclosed catcher on the fire. The Performer's extra $160 buys a painted steel table, a wide bottom shelf and a Weber Works rail. The Master-Touch keeps that money and adds a grate built for GBS inserts, which the Performer's review never claims.
What actually differs
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The table is the whole $160
Strip both to the cooking parts and the lists match line for line. What the Performer adds sits beside the bowl: prep space at working height, a shelf for the charcoal bag, a rail for clip-on tools.
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Only one grate is sold for inserts
The Master-Touch grate is Gourmet BBQ System, so its centre takes a sear insert, wok or griddle, each bought separately. The Performer's hinged plated grate makes no such claim.
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24 inches wide against 40.25
The Master-Touch stands on three legs in a kettle-sized patch. The Performer needs a table-width spot 28 in deep, and 47.5 in of headroom with the lid up.
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Same warranty, but more of the Performer sits on the short term
Both cover bowl and lid for 10 years, One-Touch and plastics for 5, the rest for 2. On the Performer, that 2-year bucket holds the frame, table, shelf and wheels you paid extra for.
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.
The Original Kettle 22's bowl and 363 sq in, plus Char-Rails and a hinged grate that hold two zones and feed a long fire.
Bowl and lid get ten years, One-Touch five; the hinged grate, rails and Tuck-Away holder, more parts than the Original, get two.
Bowl and lid carry 10 years like every 22 in kettle, but the painted-steel cart, table and wheels sit in a 2-year bucket.
Porcelain enamel, aluminium legs and glass-reinforced nylon handles are sound, but a plated-steel grate is thin dressing on a $289.00 grill.
Hand-applied porcelain enamel on bowl and lid is excellent; the grate is plated steel and the side table is painted steel.
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.
Beats the Master-Touch's kit of hinged grate, Char-Rails, Tuck-Away holder and lid dial by adding a side table and a shelf.
$289.00 buys the same 363 sq in as $149.00, and $60 over the Premium pays for comfort and GBS access, not cooking.
$449.00 buys the $149.00 Original Kettle 22 cooking hardware plus $300 of cart, which is steep for a table and a shelf.
A swipe of the One-Touch lever empties the bowl into an enclosed, wind-proof catcher, warranted five years like the sweep itself.
The One-Touch sweep drops ash into an enclosed, wind-proof catcher, and Weber warrants that system separately for 5 years.
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 run two-zone fires on a 22 in kettle, may want GBS inserts later, and already have an outdoor table.
Check price →Your kettle stands on a lawn with no surface nearby, and the tray, tongs and sauce need somewhere off the grass.
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.