For most people, a 22 inch kettle is the right first charcoal grill: it grills, roasts and smokes, and our top scoring kettle costs about $149. Pay more for a kamado if you want long smokes and the most heat. Choose a barrel for the most grate space for the money, and a portable for the park. Then spend on a thick bowl, smooth vents and an ash catcher.
Step 1: choose the kind
The real trade is heat against money. Here is where each kind sits on our Value and Heat Performance scores, across the 37 charcoal grills we have scored, with the typical price under each name.
Heat Performance, higher is better ↑
- Kettle grill: A round bowl and a domed lid, with vents top and bottom. The classic backyard charcoal grill. Heat Performance 8.5, Value 7.5, from 8 scored.
- Barrel grill: A long drum on legs. Lots of grate space, and often a crank to raise or lower the coals. Heat Performance 7.1, Value 8.7, from 5 scored.
- Kamado: A thick ceramic or insulated egg that holds heat for hours, for searing, smoking and pizza. Heat Performance 8.9, Value 7.7, from 12 scored.
- Portable charcoal grill: Small kettles and tabletop boxes for the park, the beach or a small balcony. Heat Performance 7.5, Value 8.7, from 6 scored.
- Gas and charcoal combo: A gas side and a charcoal side on one cart, so you choose the fuel for each cook. Heat Performance 8.5, Value 8.1, from 4 scored.
- Charcoal cart grill: Built like a gas grill, with a charcoal tray you raise and lower and an ash drawer below. Only 2 scored, so it stays off the map.
Kamados run hottest (8.9) and cost the most. Portable charcoal grills and barrel grills score best for value (8.7) but give up heat. Kettles sit between. Our guide to the types of charcoal grills explains how each one works.
Step 2: the size
A typical kettle we have scored has 363 square inches of grate, which is the 22 inch size and feeds a family of four to six. A typical kamado has 250, smaller than it looks because the walls are thick, a barrel 310 and a portable 190. For two zone cooking, with coals on one side and food on the other, pick one size up from what you need for direct grilling. Our guide to what size grill you need has a chart by number of people.
Step 3: what is worth paying for
A charcoal grill is simple, so the few parts it has decide how well it cooks and how long it lasts.
Worth paying forNice extra
- Thick enameled bowl and a lid that seals
- Top and bottom vents that turn smoothly
- A closed ash catcher you can empty
- A hinged cooking grate, to add coals mid cook
- Lid thermometer
- Charcoal baskets or dividers
Price is a poor guide here. Our top scoring kettle, the Weber Original Kettle Charcoal Grill 22, scores 8.44 at about $149, while the dearest kettle we have priced, the Weber Ranch Kettle Charcoal Grill 37, scores 7.63 at about $2,599, for a far bigger grate of 1104 square inches. Paying more buys size; the bowl, lid and vents do the cooking.
Step 4: the budget
Here is the average score of the 32 charcoal grills we have scored that have a current price.
The average rises from 7.75 under $150 to 8.43 at $500 and up, but 73% of that top band are kamados. Above $500, you are mostly paying for a different cooker, not a better kettle. Value falls the other way, from 8.6 to 7.0.
Lump or briquettes?
Both work in any charcoal grill. Briquettes burn steadily and evenly, which suits kettles and long cooks; lump lights faster, burns hotter and leaves less ash, which suits kamados. See lump charcoal vs briquettes and how to light charcoal.
The best of each kind we have scored
See every pick in our best charcoal grills and best kamado grills.
Questions people ask
- What size kettle should I buy: 18, 22 or 26 inch?
- 22 inch for most families. An 18 inch suits one or two people; a 26 inch suits big gatherings and smoking a whole brisket or several racks of ribs.
- Is a kamado worth the extra money?
- If you will smoke often or want pizza and searing heat from one cooker, yes. For burgers and chicken a few times a month, a kettle does the job for a fraction of the price. Our guide to how a kamado works goes further.
- Can I smoke on a charcoal grill?
- Yes. Set up a two zone fire, add a few chunks of wood, and use the vents to hold about 225 to 275 F.
- How long does a charcoal grill last?
- A well kept enameled kettle lasts many years; thin painted barrels rust out sooner. Our guide to how long grills last has the warranty terms and reliability scores.
- Charcoal or gas?
- Our gas vs charcoal guide compares the two on our scores.