Weber Original Kettle 22 vs Performer 22
Same 22 in bowl, same 363 sq in grate, $149 against $449. The Performer sets it in a 40.25 in wide cart with Char-Rails, a hinged grate and a lid dial, at 69 lb.
We pick the Weber Original Kettle Charcoal Grill 22
The Original Kettle. The Performer cooks on this exact bowl and grate, so $449.00 against $149.00 buys no extra fire. The $300 is not all furniture: it also brings Char-Rails, a hinged grate and a lid dial. But the cart is most of it, and the cart carries the shortest cover on the grill.
What actually differs
-
The $300 buys a kit, not only a cart
Beyond the table and frame, the Performer adds the parts that make long cooks easier: rails that set two zones, a grate that flips up for fuel, a dome dial and a Tuck-Away lid holder. The Original's specification lists none of them, and it cooks perfectly well without.
-
The dearest part gets two years
Both kettles carry ten years on bowl and lid, and five on the One-Touch system. The Performer's frame, painted steel table, shelf and wheels sit in the two-year remaining-parts term. That is the money you paid extra for.
-
$19.99 does the rails' job
Char-Baskets drop into the Original's bowl and make two-zone banking trivial, at $19.99. Add a folding table and the cooking gap between these two grills nearly closes.
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 →
Lid and bowl dampers over 363 sq in run two zones well, but feeding a long cook means lifting the loaded, fixed grate.
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.
Ten years of rust-through cover sits on bowl and lid, where kettles die; One-Touch gets five, and the grate, dampers and wheels 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 on both halves, aluminium dampers and nylon handles, over a plated-steel grate and no published steel gauge.
Hand-applied porcelain enamel on bowl and lid is excellent; the grate is plated steel and the side table is painted steel.
The lid hook and tool hooks help, but no thermometer is listed and refuelling means lifting the whole grate off the coals.
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.
Leads Weber's 22 in kettles on price: $149.00 buys the same 363 sq in fire the dearer models sell with extras attached.
$449.00 buys the $149.00 Original Kettle 22 cooking hardware plus $300 of cart, which is steep for a table and a shelf.
One-Touch sweeps ash into a catcher warranted five years, but Weber never calls it enclosed, as it does the dearer kettles' buckets.
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 want the 22 in kettle's fire and already have, or will buy, a table to stand beside it.
Check price →You cook on charcoal most weekends, have nowhere to set tongs and trays, and want kettle, fuel and prep space in one rolling unit.
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.