We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The 6 Best Charcoal Grills for Searing and Smoking, According to Our Tests We tested tabletop, cart, and kettle styles for more than a month. By Greg Baker Greg Baker Greg Baker is a chef, restaurant consultant, and writer with almost 40 years of experience in the industry. As an expert in outdoor cooking, Greg has written more than 30 articles on grilling and barbecuing for Food & Wine across categories including kamado grills, pizza ovens, and meat thermometers. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 10, 2026 In This Article View All In This Article Top Picks Reviews How We Tested Charcoal Grills Factors to Consider FAQ Other Charcoal Grills We Tested Other Grills We’ve Tested Our Expertise Credit: Food & Wine Best Overall: The Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill is an easy-to-use grill with the versatility to smoke, slow-cook, and sear. High-Heat Fave: The PK Grills Original PK300 Grill was our top performer in searing. It’s cart-mounted for extra mobility. Big Space, Low Price: With nearly 4 square feet of cooking area, the Char-Griller Classic Charcoal Grill has room for big families. Charcoal grilling is the closest you can get to live-fire cooking, without building a wood fire and waiting for it to burn down to coals. They both impart smoky flavors and create a pleasant charred texture; charcoal is just faster and simpler. A good charcoal grill makes the task easier and provides better control. But what’s the best charcoal grill? There’s no single “best” style of charcoal grill; so we tested 21 popular cart, barrel, tabletop, kettle, and “smart” styles to find the best of each type. We found some good, some bad, one almost comically dangerous, and five winners. These are the best charcoal grills to buy right now. Top Picks Best Overall Charcoal Grill: Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill at Amazon $219 Jump to Review Best Value Charcoal Grill: Char-Griller Classic Charcoal Grill at Home Depot $380 Jump to Review Best Cart-Style Charcoal Grill: PK Grills Original PK300 Grill and Smoker at Amazon $700 Jump to Review Best Splurge Charcoal Grill: Masterbuilt Gravity Series 1150 Digital Charcoal Grill and Smoker at Ace Hardware $1,100 Jump to Review Best Smoker: Pit Barrel Cooker Co. Classic Pit Barrel Cooker Package at Amazon $436 Jump to Review Best Portable Charcoal Grill: SNS Grills Slow 'N Sear Travel Kettle Grill at Amazon $200 Jump to Review Best Overall Charcoal Grill Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill Credit: Amazon $219 at Amazon $229 at Home Depot $249 at Tractor Supply Co. Pros The dual dampers made this one of the easiest grills for temperature control; it’s incredibly easy to set up dual temperature zones, and it produced some of the best food in this test round. Cons The built-in thermometer only measures ambient temperature, and the ash-catching device gets very hot, so you have to wait for the grill to cool before emptying the ashes. The Weber Original Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill has maintained its status as our top pick through multiple rounds of testing. This grill is one that novice and experienced grillers alike can agree on as a go-to. I’m on my second, as no matter how many other grills I have, I always gravitate back to the Weber for charcoal grilling. The primary reason for this grill’s popularity is the easy temperature control. Weber popularized the dual-damper design found in many contemporary charcoal grills over 70 years ago. The top and bottom dampers control airflow to create convection, providing easy, accurate heat control for dual-zone cooking, smoking, and searing. In fact, this grill’s design intentionally makes dual-zone cooking much easier, with hinged areas on two sides of the grate for adding charcoal at different times to meet varying heat requirements. One slightly problematic issue we encountered when cooking fish was that the built-in thermometer reports the ambient temperature, not the grill grate temperature. As such, the fish’s skin was burnt and rubbery, and some sticking occurred due to the grate’s lower temperature. But overall, aside from the skin issue, the snapper’s interior was a textbook example of perfectly roasted fish. Grill marks aren’t really going to be a thing when cooking on this grill. We saw an excellent sear, but the grill marks on flat bread were from the negative space between the grates, where the bread had more exposure to direct heat. The bottom damper serves dual purposes: It acts as an ash scraper, depositing the remains into a bottom-mounted catcher, making cleanup a non-issue. Primary cooking area: 363 square inches | Dimensions: 27 x 23 x 40 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Best Value Charcoal Grill Char-Griller Classic Charcoal Grill Credit: The Home Depot $380 at Home Depot $400 at Walmart Pros The Char-Griller Classic has excellent heat distribution and fuel efficiency. Cons The grate arrangement makes adding more charcoal for direct grilling difficult, and a smaller damper might allow more forced airflow through the grill. The Classic is easy for one person to assemble, taking less than 30 minutes to complete. The charcoal pan is easy to adjust, using a crank to position the coals anywhere between 3.5 and 8 inches from the bottom of the enamel-coated cast iron grates to regulate the direct heat on your food. The front vent and chimney stack allow easy airflow adjustment to control the temperature. Our first round of tests showed it reached a searing temperature in a reasonable amount of time and left good grill marks with few flare-ups. Our second round of tests involved slow cooking, and the Classic demonstrated good temperature retention and fuel efficiency over six and a half hours of cook time. It also scored well in the ease-of-cleaning department, requiring a quick brushing of the grates and a few taps on the bottom of the ash pan to empty it. It’s a heavy grill at 88 pounds, but the sturdy construction and casters (two of which lock) at each corner make it easy to move and stabilize. Plus, it’s large enough to fit multiple pork butts, briskets, or whole chickens. All in all, it’s relatively easy to use, and the price-to-value ratio is on point. Our editors found it intuitive to use for both beginners and experienced grillers, and, most importantly, it retains heat very well. Primary cooking area: 550 square inches | Dimensions: 27 x 57 x 52 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Best Cart-Style Charcoal Grill PK Grills Original PK300 Grill and Smoker Credit: Amazon $700 at Amazon $700 at Ace Hardware $700 at Home Depot Pros The PK300’s construction is lightweight and rust-resistant, its ash management system is easy to clean, and the grill’s five dampers allow precise heat control in specific areas for multizone cooking. Cons The five dampers can be daunting to inexperienced (and some experienced) grillers. Our new cart-style pick from the latest round of testing is a cast aluminum design that conducts heat better than steel. The PK300’s removable lid facilitates low-and-slow, multi-zone (albeit small), searing, and hibachi-style grilling. The grate sits relatively low to the coals, and has a hinged section for adding more charcoal. The grate’s non-adjustable height means all the heat control comes from the baffles. The five baffles let you precisely control the heat, but that precision means a very hands-on grilling experience. The PK300 scored high in our cooking tests, producing moist, flaky fish, though there were a few char spots and a few rubbery spots on the skin where the heat was too high, or the fish didn’t make complete contact with the grate, respectively. Grill marks, sometimes elusive in charcoal grills, and overall searing were better than most of the grills we’ve tested. The flatbread browned nicely, with small char spots, and the grill marks came from the negative space between the grate. The cart features a 13.6-by-14.48-inch side table, an undershelf, and two wheels for easy movement of the grill. Primary Cooking Area: 320 square inches | Dimensions: 37.35 x 42.75 x 16.21 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Best Splurge Charcoal Grill Masterbuilt Gravity Series 1150 Digital Charcoal Grill and Smoker Credit: Masterbuilt $1,100 at Ace Hardware $1,100 at Home Depot $1,100 at Masterbuilt.com Pros It’s incredibly user-friendly and consistent, producing excellent char and evenly cooked fish and flatbread. Cons The heat is indirect, which doesn’t produce a hard sear or grill marks. In direct contrast to the PK300, the Masterbuilt 1150 combines the convenience of a pellet grill with the flavor of a charcoal model for a very hands-off grilling experience — but don’t think that means you’re trading performance for convenience. The grill required very little user input to light, but we were trepidatious when it had only reached 225°F after 13 minutes. We quickly cast that doubt aside when it reached 400°F only four minutes later. Like a pellet grill, a gravity-fed charcoal hopper and an electric fan work in conjunction to provide heat control. The 1150 features app connectivity, but we found it more useful for smoking than for grilling. With indirect heat, we found the 1150 didn’t produce many grill marks, but the whole fish and flatbread were nicely charred and evenly cooked to perfection. The solid construction, design, and automation of this grill deliver precision and consistency, making it ideal for beginners or low-intervention cooks. Primary Cooking Area: 1150 square inches | Dimensions: 58 x 52 x 32 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Best Smoker Pit Barrel Cooker Co. Classic Pit Barrel Cooker Package Credit: Amazon $436 at Amazon $436 at Home Depot $430 at Pitbarrelcooker.com Pros During smoker testing, it was the easiest to set up and made the best wings and ribs among charcoal models. Cons Fuel and heat management may prove difficult, especially for beginners. The Pit Barrel Cooker Co. Classic Pit Barrel was our favorite among the charcoal smokers in our most recent tests. Its large, cylindrical body is lightweight and lined with porcelain for durability against high temperatures. With a two-minute assembly, it was the easiest smoker to set up, and it comes with cooking grates, rods, hooks, and a lid. Simple and versatile though it may be, this design presented some particularities that aren’t too beginner-friendly. Since it lacks a fuel tray, you have to fully remove the cooking grate to manage the coals and temperature in the smoker. Plus, it only has one damper at the bottom, which can make manipulating airflow challenging. Still, once you’ve gotten the hang of using this smoker, the results are mouth-wateringly impressive. We liked the noticeable but mild smokiness this smoker imparts on meats. In testing, the Pit Barrel yielded the juiciest and most tender ribs and wings, with a crispy snap to the chicken skin. We also noted how the foods we cooked didn’t have any acrid aftertastes — just delicious, smoky flavor. While this smoker can be more time- and energy-intensive than most electric and gas models, the flavorful results speak volumes of its excellent overall performance. Primary cooking area: 267 square inches | Dimensions: 21.25 x 21.25 x 33 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Best Portable Charcoal Grill SNS Grills Slow 'N Sear Travel Kettle Grill Credit: SNS Grills $200 $185 at Amazon $211 at Lowe's Pros This grill is easy to carry and offers outstanding heat control. Cons During testing, the built-in thermometer read 25°F lower than our test probe. Weighing a little under 18 pounds, the Home ‘N Roam charcoal grill is easily portable. During our tests, we found the carrying handle sufficiently comfortable. Whether you’re walking it to the beach or packing it into the car for a day at the park, the grill will feel secure in your hand. We also appreciate the latching lid that keeps ashes from spilling onto your leg while walking or splashing in your car trunk while traveling. When using this grill to cook, we had no issues with food falling through the grate and into the fire. We were able to cook two brats, two burgers, and two ears of corn uncrowded on the grate. The grate is hinged, so you can lift one side and manage the coals. You can also add in the charcoal basket as an upper baffle to further control heat flow. Plus, the grate rotates for a two-zone cooking experience. Heat distributes evenly across the grate, leaving clear grill marks on brats and a slight char on burgers and corn. SNS designed this portable grill with extra features we love. The thermometer port allows you to check the temperature without opening the lid. An extra vent on the grill enhances heat control. It also has an ash collection tray below the bottom baffles. You can empty the ashes from the baffles directly or use the tray to collect and dump ash. Primary cooking area: 254 square inches | Dimensions: 21 x 21 x 20.25 inches Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine Credit: Food & Wine How We Tested Charcoal Grills Over the past few years, we’ve tested 17 charcoal grills for more than a month across multiple rounds. Those tests included assembly, lighting, and initial burn-in, searing, smoking, and cleaning. In this round, we picked two grills from the existing winners for retesting and added four new contenders, bringing the total to 21. We added two new tests: grilling a whole snapper stuffed with lemon and herbs, and a simple rosemary flatbread. We collected insights on the grills, including design and construction, ease of use, temperature control, ease of cleaning, and, of course, the finished snapper and flatbread’s flavor and texture. Food & Wine To choose our top grills, we graded them on the following criteria and their overall value: Ease of assembly: We like to see manufacturer’s instructions that are clear and easy to read. All of the charcoal grills in this test required screwing parts together, which took us between 12 minutes to almost an hour. We took setup time into account as well as how easy or difficult the task was for one person. Overall design: We looked at a few key design features. The ideal charcoal grill is easy for one person to move; wheels are an advantage, but a poorly designed set can also make it difficult to move. We want to be able to add charcoal easily and adjust the grates after adding coal, moving them up or down. A hinged grate design is a plus, as is a lip to prevent food from falling off the grates.Cooking performance: We want to see defined grill marks when grilling and a bark and smoke ring when smoking. We graded the grills on these results, as well as the flavor and doneness of the meat.Ease of cleaning: After cooking and cooling, we cleaned each grill following its manufacturer’s instructions. It may require disassembling, but features like removable ash buckets can make cleanup quicker and easier. Factors to Consider Size Food & Wine How you intend to grill should be a guiding factor in selecting your size. If you plan to bring your grill on camping trips or picnics, you’ll want something easy to move and pack, or something explicitly advertised as a portable charcoal grill. If you frequently cook for large groups, you’ll want a cart or barrel-style grill, such as the Char-Griller Classic. Remember that the larger the grill, the more charcoal you’ll burn through in cooking. In smaller form factors, a 22-inch grill like the SnS or Weber Performer should be sufficient cooking space for two to four people. That said, kettle grills offer plenty of usable cooking space for smoking, as most can hold a large brisket or one or two pork shoulders. Materials Food & Wine Lightweight grills can perform well, provided they have an enamel coating or a similar finish. On the other end of the spectrum, the cast aluminum of the PK grills has excellent heat distribution and retention, but the trade-off is a significantly heavier grill. Cast iron or cast aluminum grates will give you better grill marks if those are a significant consideration, as both are more conductive than stainless steel. That’s not to say you won’t get caramelization with stainless steel, but the distinctive patterns won’t be as prominent. Coal and Ash Management Food & Wine When using these grills, especially when smoking for long periods, coal and ash management is necessary. You may need to add more charcoal during your cook. Will you have to remove all your food to add charcoal? Are the heavy cast iron grates hinged for easy movement? The grills that performed best in our tests have designs that let you do this with minimal risk of a burn. Grates typically dictate how easily you can add more coal. Grates can be fixed, as you’ll find with kettle grills, or adjustable, which is typical for barrel-style grills. An adjustable grate has an advantage when it comes to controlling heat. You can raise the grate for a more intense sear or lower the grate to smoke chicken, for example. Finally, as charcoal generates a lot of ash, an ash-management system is essential. Some are notably easy or difficult to remove for cleaning, and we’ve mentioned these above. Venting Food & Wine You need airflow to keep your fire going and to regulate the temperature. If you’re cooking on an open grill, hibachi-style, airflow isn’t as much of a consideration. But for closed-lid grilling and smoking, the ideal situation is to create convection. Air enters the bottom of the grill, feeds the fire, then the heated air travels across your food and out the top. Without an easy-to-manage venting system, your temperature will waver or, worse, never get hot enough to cook on. Frequently Asked Questions How do you start a charcoal grill? The cleanest, most reliable method is to use a chimney starter. Using a commercial fire starter block, balled-up paper, or an electric starter, place the lighting method in the bottom of the chimney, add charcoal, and light the starter material. Allow the charcoal to burn until it stops flaming, and add it to your grill. Lighter fluid is an option, but allow the fluid to soak into the charcoal before lighting and allow the fluid to burn off completely before attempting to cook food over the coals. How do you clean a charcoal grill? There are two crucial, non-negotiable parts to properly cleaning a grill. First, you must clean out the old ash if you want your grill to last. Ash is a great moisture collector and can do so from ambient humidity or just being near rain, even if you keep your grill covered. Wet ash feeds rust, and the rust will eat through your grill in short order. The second is to keep your grate clean. Choose a grill brush to your liking, metal, nylon, or natural bristles, and scrape down your grill after cooking. Accumulated grease and soot rare removed easily with some mild soap and water. How do you keep a charcoal grill hot? Let’s take weather considerations off the table for this discussion. Most charcoal grills have a damper system that draws air through them when the lid is closed, creating convection. Closing the dampers cuts the airflow and lowers the temperature, while incrementally opening them increases the flow, raising the temperature. For a hot fire, you need two things: open, or mostly open, dampers and a closed lid. Opening the lid releases heat and adds air directly to the fire, nullifying the convection. In the barbecuer vernacular, “looking ain’t cooking.” A last consideration is ensuring you have enough charcoal to last through your cook if you’re burning it hot, so you don’t have to lower the grill’s temperature by opening the grill to add more. Can you use wood pellets in a charcoal grill? You can, but ensure they’re barbecue pellets, not heating pellets. Most sources like mixing the pellets with charcoal to add a different, smoky flavor profile, but you can use them on their own, too. In a charcoal grill environment, the pellets will burn hotter and faster than in a pellet grill, so adjust your pellet amount and set your dampers accordingly. Other Charcoal Grills We Tested Strong Contenders SnS Original Kettle Grill ($350 at Amazon) It’s lightweight, easy to move, and easy to use, even for a beginner. We found it challenging for one person to set up, the ash collector is difficult to remove, and the hook for holding the grate is made of plastic, so it’s not practical when the grate is hot. Char-Broil Performance 580 Charcoal Grill ($239 at Char-Broil) The 580 suffered in two areas. The first was assembly, clocking one of the longer assembly times of the models we tested. The problems arose from the clarity of the instructions, leaving us to question the process at many steps. The second was airflow, where the holes in the charcoal tray didn’t provide sufficient air entering the bottom to reach a reasonable temperature for searing. Char-Griller Pro Deluxe Griller Charcoal Grill ($179 at Char-Griller) The Char-Griller is a good grill for the price, but assembly without an extra set of hands is challenging. There were frequent flare-ups when the charcoal sat at the prescribed distance from the grates, and lowering the coals away from the grates might have alleviated that issue. Oklahoma Joe’s Judge Charcoal Grill ($499 at Amazon) The most significant drawbacks were the grill’s overall weight and the lid’s weight, the latter of which is heavy enough to lift the front of the grill off the ground should one slip and allow it to fall fully open. It burns hot, burning rather than charring the steak during our tests. Lowering the coals would probably yield better results. Weber Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill ($549 at Amazon) The Performer is a leveled-up version of Weber’s Classic Kettle grill. It features some additional niceties such as a butane charcoal lighter and a cart. It performs every bit as well as its lower-priced sibling, providing even, consistent heat over hours of cooking. It was recently unseated from its “best splurge” designation by a higher-tech contender. Weber Performer 22‑Inch Smart Charcoal Grill ($599 at Amazon) Weber’s entry into the smart charcoal grill market is a good first effort, but not a great one. The Performer centers around a cart-mounted 22-inch Original Kettle (much like the Performer Deluxe), with a fan, temperature settings, and app connectivity. The fan provides a boost during charcoal lighting and controls airflow to maintain the app-controlled temperature, in lieu of the bottom vent. Our tests showed the temperature consistently ran high, which is great for direct grilling but wasn’t ideal for slow cooking in our reverse-sear test. Editor’s Note: Our original roundup included the Nomad Grill & Smoker, which is not available on the manufacturer’s or retail websites. If and when it returns to market, we’ll return it to this roundup. What Didn’t Make the List After testing 20 charcoal grills, some inevitably ranked lower than others due to various problems, such as difficult assembly or poor heat management. With one grill, the grate needed better support, as charcoal fell through the grates because of the spacing. The result: multiple flare-ups, charring, and uneven cooking. Another grill raised safety concerns as the heat ran out of control, bubbling the paint and igniting the steak. These safety concerns, along with somewhat flimsy construction, ruled it out. Other Grills We’ve Tested The Best Gas Grills The Best Portable Grills The Best Flat Top Grills The Best Pellet Grills The Best Kamado-Style Grills Our Expertise Greg Baker is a former award-winning chef and restaurateur with four decades of experience in the food industry. As an F&W writer, he’s tested and reviewed over 100 grills, smokers, griddles, and other outdoor cooking equipment. Explore more: What to Buy Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit