12 Best Charcoal Grills in 2021

Using a charcoal grill allows your favorite meats to be cooked to perfection, emitting the summer smell of charcoal cooking to invigorate your senses. There are many different types of best charcoal grills available for you and your family, encompassing different sizes and the best different features, while ensuring that you create delicious and healthy grilled food on top of the grill.

View the Best Charcoal Grill, Below.

• Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill
• Weber 15501001 Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill
• Weber 10020 Smokey Joe Portable Grill
• Char-Griller E1515 Patio Pro Charcoal Grill
• Weber 121020 Go-Anywhere Charcoal Grill
• Char-Griller E56720 AKORN Kamado Charcoal Grill
• Lodge Cast Iron Sportsman’s Grill
• Char-Broil TRU-Infrared Kettleman Charcoal Grill
• Cuisinart CCG-190 Portable Charcoal Grill
• PK Grills PKO-SCAX-X Original PK Grill & Smoker Grill
• Royal Gourmet CD1824A Charcoal Grill
• Dyna-Glo DGN576SNC-D Dual Zone Premium Charcoal Grill

1. Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill

The Weber Kettle Original Premium Charcoal Grill provides a wheeled, portable charcoal grill that offers sufficient cooking space to cook up to thirteen standard size burgers at once on top of the grill, complete in the best Weber original kettle grill design. The built-in lid thermometer ensures that the best and the most perfect temperature is consistently achieved, providing the best heat retention through the porcelain-enameled lid. This grill offers the best one-touch cleaning system in addition to 363 square inches of cooking.

The Weber Kettle Original Premium Charcoal Grill provides an excellent 363 square inches of space to cook around thirteen burgers at once, providing a Weber original design.

2. Weber 15501001 Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill

Weber 15501001 Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill offers 363 square inches of cooking, complete with a 22-inch diameter bowl and lid that are porcelain-enameled. In addition, this best Weber original grill comes complete with an electronic Touch-N-Go gas ignition for easy use, allowing you to instantly light your charcoal. The best one-touch cleaning ensures that your grill is easy to clean, while an LCD timer and a built-in lid thermometer ensure that your charcoal grilling is simple and straightforward.

Weber 15501001 Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill offers 363 square inches of cooking, complete with a 22-inch diameter bowl.

3. Weber 10020 Smokey Joe Portable Grill

The Weber 10020 Smokey Joe Portable Grill provides superb grilling capability for the best portable tool. Being able to hold five standard-sized burgers on top of the grill, the included Weber burger press ensures that the perfect burger is achieved each time. The porcelain-enameled lid and bowl ensure that heat is kept inside of the grill, while easy to clean features are maintained with the best, plated steel cooking grate. Offering a 14-inch diameter, the Weber 10020 Smokey Joe Portable Grill certainly is a small and mighty charcoal grill.

The Weber 10020 Smokey Joe Portable Grill is a small and portable charcoal grill that is able to cook average-sized portions of food to perfection.

4. Char-Griller E1515 Patio Pro Charcoal Grill

The Char-Griller E1515 Patio Pro Charcoal Grill provides you with 250 square inches of cooking space, the perfect and best grill for smaller outdoor spaces. Offering cast iron cooking grates, the side drawer is an additional, handy feature, complete with wheels for easy moving. The Char-Griller E1515 Patio Pro Charcoal Grill weighs 40 pounds as well as dimensions of 18.5 x 17 x 16 inches, creating excellent meals for you and your family on top of the grill.

The Char-Griller E1515 Patio Pro Charcoal Grill offers you a portable charcoal grill and provides perfect results every time.

5. Weber 121020 Go-Anywhere Charcoal Grill

The Weber 121020 Go-Anywhere Grill is able to hold six standard-sized burgers and comes complete with a Weber burger press. This lightweight option is perfect for portable grilling, allowing you to take this grill anywhere you like.  Heat is retained through the use of the porcelain-enameled lid and base, achieving excellent cooking capabilities.  Plated steel cooking grates are durable and so easy to clean, ensuring that you take full advantage of the 160 square inches of cooking space.

The Weber 121020 Go-Anywhere Grill is the perfect choice for portable grilling anywhere you go.

6. Char-Griller E56720 AKORN Kamado Charcoal Grill

The Char-Griller E56720 AKORN Kamado Grill offers 314 square inches of main cooking space in addition to an extra 133 square inches of space inside of a warming rack. The design of this grill offers the best insulation, resulting in a reduced airflow to create the perfect meals. The tubular steel cart is practical, utilizing rubber wheels so that you can easily move the grill around. This best grill is easy to use and provides powder-coated steel on the exterior and porcelain-coated steel on the interior of the grill. Additional features include a locking lid in addition to an easy to use ash catcher.

The Char-Griller E56720 AKORN Kamado Grill offers a large cooking space in addition to a spacious warming area.

7. Lodge Cast Iron Sportsman’s Grill

The Lodge Cast Iron Sportsman's Grill offers a rugged, portable design that allows two different heights and, therefore, temper cooking speeds for food on top of the grill. Providing 155 square inches of cooking space, this grill is a great choice from a reputable brand. Produced from cast iron, this easy to use grill allows perfect retention of heat and can be transported to the ballgame or the backyard, wherever you want to cook delicious food.

The Lodge Cast Iron Sportsman's Grill is the perfect portable grill, offering a great cooking surface.

8. Char-Broil TRU-Infrared Kettleman Charcoal Grill

The Char-Broil TRU-Infrared Kettleman Grill provides you with a 22.5-inch diameter grill across the porcelain-enameled firebox for excellent temperature control. The steel legs are durable and strong while the stainless steel latch ensures that the grill is securely closed. Providing an effective, closing lid, the Char-Broil TRU-Infrared Kettleman Grill additionally contains a handy ash catcher.

The Char-Broil TRU-Infrared Kettleman Grill is a durable grill that offers a secure latch and a handy ash catcher.

9. Cuisinart CCG-190 Portable Charcoal Grill

The Cuisinart CCG-190 Portable Grill provides a useful 150 square inch cooking area with a diameter of 14 inches across the grill. The enamel-coated firebox provides a durable grill, in addition to a dual venting system so that temperature control is effortlessly achieved. Three strong locks ensure that the grill is secure, while the ash catcher helps maintain your grill and enables easy cleaning.

The Cuisinart CCG-190 Portable Grill offers an effective dual venting system for perfect heat control.

10. PK Grills PKO-SCAX-X Original PK Grill & Smoker Grill

The PK Grills PKO-SCAX-X Original PK Grill & Smoker Grill offers the best unique capsule design in addition to unique cast-aluminum construction that is rust-proof and conducts heat four times more efficiently than steel construction. Four different vents ensure that you can grill at varying temperatures to aid temperature control while the cooking surface offers 300 square inches.

The PK Grills PKO-SCAX-X Original PK Grill & Smoker Grill provides an effective cast-aluminum construction for great results.

11. Royal Gourmet CD1824A Charcoal Grill

The Royal Gourmet CD1824A Grill provides an impressive 393 square inches of surface for cooking an extensive range of foods for your family, in addition to a warming rack measuring 205 square inches.  Offering chrome steel wiring, the easy to lift pan provides adjustable heat control, utilizing a perforated design to enhance airflow and to help ensure that a reduced amount of coal is used when cooking.  Temperature control is an excellent feature, in addition to a pull-out drawer to catch the ash.

The Royal Gourmet CD1824A Grill offers a large 393 square inch area to cook as well as a 205 square inch warming rack.

12. Dyna-Glo DGN576SNC-D Dual Zone Premium Charcoal Grill

The Dyna-Glo DGN576SNC-D Dual Zone Premium Grill offers an extensive 576 square inch primary cooking space in addition to a further secondary cooking area that measures 240 squared inches.   A removable steel firebox divider ensures that you can tailor your grill to meet the needs of you and your family, flexibly changing the cooking temperature when different foods demand different temperatures.  The included ash catching pan is of large capacity and is easily removable.

The Dyna-Glo DGN576SNC-D Dual Zone Premium Grill provides temperature flexibility for different food requirements.

Charcoal Grills Buyer’s Guide

The best overall charcoal grills allow you to capitalize on achieving delicious smoky flavors on top of the grill that are traditionally derived from charcoal grills, in addition to encompassing the best technology to address previous flaws in grills such as uneven cooking and taking a while for the coals to heat up efficiently. The best overall grills offer heat control in addition to an easy cleaning system and even gas ignitions to enable you to ignite the coals in an easy manner. The desired heat is achieved fast in such an easy touch, providing the exact heat required for your chosen food.

How Do You Use a Charcoal-Grill?

Grilling food is a healthy alternative to frying food that additionally results in a tasty and smoky flavor that symbolizes the taste of summer barbeques. With a wide range of gas grills available that require less maintenance and are so much easier to use, you could be forgiven for shunning the traditional grill that uses coal as its power source. However, despite the convenience that gas grills derive, there is no substitute for that smoky flavor that only traditional grilling with coal can achieve.

Before grilling your food on a grill that requires coal, the best method, to begin with, is laying briquettes in a chimney, which is a metal cylinder used to safely lite your coals.   Place the coals in the chimney and then take some newspaper that has been dipped in vegetable oil and place it under the grate at the bottom of the chimney. Take a match and lite the coals, allowing the fire to burn for around 20 minutes.

Tip the burning coals into your grill. To create an intense, smoky flavor, try adding a couple of handfuls of woodchips to the coals, although ensure that these are food-grade wood chips. Before adding your food on top of the grill, however, you must prepare the grate by taking a clean, wet rag and wiping the grate well. You could then add a brush of oil across the grate to stop your food from sticking to the grate.

If you are grilling food that requires slow grilling, such as pork loin, it is best to use the lid during the grilling process. Aim to leave the lid on the grill without interruption for the best results as a closed lid provides slower grilling due to reduced levels of oxygen.

To achieve the best results for your food, use a digital thermometer to check the temperature of your coals. Different food will require different temperatures, and so it is recommended that temperatures are monitored. Chicken breast requires a temperature of 165 Fahrenheit, while pork requires 160 Fahrenheit. It is best to replenish the coals every 30 minutes to 60 minutes, particularly for slow-cooked foods.

The best foods to cook over hot coals are different varieties of chicken, spare ribs, sausages, burgers, and pulled pork. You can increase the desirability of your grilled food, however, with a range of tasty sides and condiments such as potato salad, coleslaw, corn, in addition to a range of different relishes, mayonnaise, and hot sauces. Of course, adding a huge refreshing bowl of salad with a range of dressings such as ranch dressing is a further delicious addition to your barbeque.

After you have finished grilling your favorite foods, you can sit down and enjoy delicious, smoky foods with your friends and family, perfect in the summer sun and the evening sunset. However, after you have enjoyed the food, you have got to clean the grill and empty the coals. Allow the coals and the grill to cool down fully by covering the grill with the lid fully closed. Once the grill is cool to touch, empty the coals and the ashes into a metal bucket, soaking them in water overnight before fully disposing of them.

What is the Best Type of Charcoal Grill on the Market?

The best charcoal grills achieve delicious cooking results and that much sought-after smoky flavor. However, basic charcoal grills may contribute to undercooked food and an unawareness of the actual temperature that your charcoal grill has achieved. The best overall type of grills offers a built-in thermometer inside of the grill lid so that you can expertly monitor the temperature achieved, in addition to offering a wide space to cook and special features such as a one-touch cleaning system.

Which is the Best Weber Charcoal Grill?

The best charcoal option for grilling food from Weber is the Weber Performer GBS Charcoal Barbeque, offering a high-capacity aluminum ash-catcher that is removable for ease of use in addition to ensuring a built-in thermometer for the perfect temperatures. In addition, a Weber original kettle grill may be a good all-round choice if you are seeking a compromise between new grills and traditional grills.

Are Weber Charcoal Grills Worth the Money?

Weber charcoal grills and Weber original kettle grills offer the utmost in quality and perfection for the grilling enthusiasts, perfecting your food as it cooks on top of the grill. The Weber brand offers an extensive range of options for grills across different fuel types, offering grills and barbeques that are powered by either charcoal, gas, electricity, or wood pellets, as well as offering smaller, portable types of barbeque and grill.

Which is Better, Gas or Charcoal Grill?

Whether charcoal grills or gas grills are better depends on your preference and how you are going to use it. A gas grill is a good choice if you want to power-up your grill quickly without waiting for the charcoal to heat. You can additionally cover a large area for cooking when using gas grills, resulting in larger meals and evenly-cooked food. However, while the best charcoal grills do require a great deal of maintenance and cleaning, and you have to monitor the heat and performance of the best charcoal consistently, you ultimately achieve an authentic, smoky taste across your meat that cannot be achieved through using gas grills.

Did You Know?

While burning charcoal on your charcoal grill is intended to cook your favorite meats, you can also use heat to clean your grill effectively, particularly if mold has developed after previous uses. To prevent mold growth in the first place, lite a seriously hot fire to kill bacteria and destroy grease and grime. Then, you should ensure that you securely wrap your grill-up after it has been used, cleaned, and cooled down.

Expert Tip

When cooking with charcoal, it can be tricky to know when the charcoal is hot enough to add your favorite meats to the grill. To assess this, wait until the charcoal is covered with grey-colored ash, indicating that the fluid has burned off. It usually takes around fifteen minutes for this process to occur once the charcoal has been lit.