Nexgrill 17.5-Inch Charcoal Barrel Grill Review

First Impressions of the Nexgrill 17.5-Inch Charcoal Barrel Grill

Standing assembled, it reads as a short drum parked on two long legs. Body, lid and side shelf all wear the same brimstone black powder coat. A chimney rises off the top with its own sliding cap. One color everywhere makes it look tidier than the price suggests.

Nothing about lighting it is automatic. There is no igniter of any kind. The first flame comes from a match or a chimney starter. You load the tray, set the vents, and read the smoke rather than a dial.

The lid is the part doing the work you paid for. It is deep enough to trap smoke instead of letting it drift straight off. Thighs finished on the upper rack came out properly smoky. Sausages colored fast over the middle of the coal bed.

The side shelf is the small luxury here. It hangs flat to the left of the firebox, painted steel rather than wood or resin. It holds a platter and tongs, which is all this grill needs.

Key Features of the Nexgrill 17.5-Inch Charcoal Barrel Grill

Almost everything that matters on this grill is about moving air or moving coals. The feature list is short. Each item earns its place by changing how the fire behaves.

• 3-step charcoal tray: The tray sits under the grids and locks at three heights. Raising it puts the coals closer to the food for searing. Dropping it turns the same fire into something gentler.
• Spring-loaded chimney: A stack on top of the lid gives the fire somewhere to draw toward. Its cap slides to throttle the draw. Closing it down is how you slow a fire without smothering it.
• Multiple vents and dampers: Three ventilation handles control the air across the whole unit. Charcoal only burns as hard as its air supply allows. These are the throttle on this grill.
• Porcelain enameled steel wire grids: Two grids make up the 247.5 sq in primary surface. The enamel coating keeps food from bonding to bare steel. Wire holds less heat than cast iron, so marks come out lighter.
• Warming rack: The rack adds 101.5 sq in above the main grids. It is the difference between the advertised 349 sq in and what sits over the fire. Treat it as a holding shelf, not extra grilling room.
• Removable ash catcher: Ash drops clear of the coal bed and lifts out as a tray. The cleaning routine is to pull the tray and empty it. That is the whole job.
• Two-wheel cart with bottom rack: The frame carries the barrel on two wheels with a wire shelf beneath. It rolls on flat ground once someone tips it onto the wheels. Underneath, the wire shelf suits a bag of charcoal better than a platter.

Heat and cooking performance

Start with the number Nexgrill prints in the manual rather than on the listing. The fire is capped at 2.5 lbs of charcoal at one time. Spread that across 247.5 sq in of grate and the bed goes thin quickly.

So the sensible way to cook here is in a pile, not in a layer. Bank the coals to one side and you get one genuinely hot zone. The rest of the grate becomes somewhere to park food that already has color. That is a real technique, not a workaround, and this grill is built for it.

Airflow is where the design pays you back. The tray moves coals nearer or further, and the chimney sets the draw. Three handles trim the rest of it. Nothing here is precise, but everything here responds.

What you do not get is a reading. Nexgrill’s own spec table lists the temperature gauge as N/A, alongside every ignition system. Retail listings for 810-0063 claim otherwise, so look at the lid in the photographs before buying. A probe thermometer is worth budgeting for either way.

Build, handling and durability

The materials are what a hundred dollars pays for, and Nexgrill does not pretend otherwise. Powder-coated steel forms the lid, the barrel and the shelf. The grids are enameled wire rather than cast iron. Assembled, it stands 44 in tall and needs 36 in of clearance from anything combustible.

Moving it is less casual than two wheels suggest. The manual asks for two people to lift or move it, and that is fair advice. Once tipped onto the wheels it rolls fine across paving. On grass or gravel, plan the route before lighting anything.

The parts list at the back of the manual is unusually revealing. Every part on it carries 1 year of warranty coverage. Every part but one. The charcoal bowl assembly, the piece that actually holds the fire, is listed as Non-Replaceable.

Set that beside the care instructions and the shape of the thing becomes clear. The manual tells you to oil the interior metal and cover the grill when idle. The warranty then excludes rust and surface corrosion by name. Nexgrill will send you almost any part except the one it expects to corrode.

Running costs, upkeep and value

Fuel is the cheap part, and the 2.5 lb cap keeps it that way. A cook here burns a fraction of what a big kettle or an offset gets through. Small fires also light faster, which matters more on a weeknight than any spec does.

Upkeep is quick but not optional. Lift the ash tray, tip it out, then wipe and oil the barrel. Skip that often enough and the bowl starts going orange. It is the one step this grill genuinely punishes you for missing.

Then there is the cover the manual insists on and does not supply. Nothing in the box or the parts list protects the grill from weather. Budget for a cover on day one and treat it as part of the price. It is the cheapest insurance available on a bowl nobody will replace.

Set against its own tier, the value case is easy to make. A hundred dollars usually buys a bare bowl on legs with one vent. Here you get a deep lid, a warming rack, a shelf and wheels. The compromises are real, but none of them are hidden.

Buying it has one wrinkle. Our check on 25 August 2026 found Nexgrill Industries holding the buybox, not Amazon. Delivery ran to Sept 1 to 3, with a 30 day return window. The published feedback record on this model is thin, so treat it that way.

Possible Nexgrill 17.5-Inch Charcoal Barrel Grill Complaints

• The headline area is two different surfaces: Nexgrill sells 349 sq in, and only 247.5 sq in sits over the coals. The remaining 101.5 sq in is a warming rack that cannot sear. Anyone comparing headline areas across cheap grills is comparing the wrong number.
• Nothing covers the part that holds the fire: The manual asks you to prevent rust, and the warranty refuses to cover it. The parts list then marks the bowl Non-Replaceable. Nobody notices it in the first season, which is the trap. Covering and oiling the grill is the only thing that delays it.