Weber Original Kettle Premium 26 Inch Charcoal Grill, Black

Assembly was a bit annoying since the leg locking pins have to start from within the mount instead of sticking a pin through the cylinders that are supposed to be locked together. Seems sturdy. Wheels have a bit of give so rolling across a bumpy surface isn't going to put undue stress on the plastic wheels. Cleaning is straight forward because it's a bowl with ceramic enamel. You just take a wet sponge to the bowl and scrub off anything you think would cause a flare up and burn your food. The ash disposal system isn't the best on its own. I recommend taking a small soft brush and brushing it down into the ash bucket. Easy enough. Moving the lever back and forth to get the ash out creates an awful screeching sound of metal on ceramic. No real way around this because it doubles as a control for airflow. It has to be a decent seal to put the coals out. Both grates are pretty solid and Weber offers replacements if you somehow manage to destroy them. The grill is big enough to do 2 zone grilling for a family of 4. Smoking meats is fine once you get used to the grill. Water baths will help you control the temp, but keep an eye on it with a digital thermometer as always. No one wants to open the lid and find out that their brisket went up in flames. Overall its a good grill. Good capacity. Good versatility.

As a Weber 22" owner for 14 years I can attest to how good of a job they do. After back and forth debate with myself over getting another 22" or not, I ordered the 26.75 as a replacement for my 22" which still has some life left in it even though it has sat outside in the weather the entire time year round. The legs have gotten somewhat wobbly and the grill surface doesn't sit level and it was just generally tired and beaten looking. I had been looking at the 26.75 for some time and decided to just do it. On the 22" there never seemed to be quite enough room. More than two racks of ribs placed flat was impossible, more than one cut up chicken was not doable, a big pork butt or kabob baskets etc is tight. I did a 14 lb. turkey at Thanksgiving on my 22" and though it was good, it was marginal in space. I have read where the 26.75 will accommodate a full 17 lb. brisket easily. Another person can do 3 pork butts. With a 14 lb turkey on the 26.75 there will be room for side dishes. So I am looking forward to the extra room and better heat control on the 26.75. And if I want to do both a butt and some chickens I can. I can have extra to take to work or if I want I cook enough for the guys in the shop. Compared to the 22", too many people on numerous sites have said that once you get the 26.75 there is no going back. So I don't question the purchase at all. As an experienced Weber owner I have no hesitation to give a Weber five stars based on the quality of the food you can produce using it and how well the grill itself is made and holds up over time. I have read where a number of people complain that the one weakness is the thin metal, hollow legs. Here is a suggestion that I am going to try with the legs when I get my new Weber . I am going to spray foam fill in the legs (essentially make them solid) which should possibly offer more rigidity, stability and support. I have done it with PVC pipe and a hollow fiberglass rake handle in the past to strengthen it. Just keep the foam a couple inches short of where the leg end meets the kettle due to heat and I think it should help with it.

I’ve been grilling/smoking for several years, and I’ve been chasing the elusive smoke ring in smoked meat most of that time. I had tried nearly every trick in the book: higher temps, lower temps, various woods, pure wood smoke, lump charcoal, charcoal briquettes, bringing food to room temperature before smoking, transferring food directly from the refrigerator to the grill, etc, etc. Nothing seemed to give me the desired results. The best smoke ring I was able to produce was 1/8” thick, and that was just on one occasion. Until I bought the 27” Weber. My very first cook on this grill was a 4 1/2 hour baby back rib smoke. The result was arguably a small mound of competition quality smoked ribs: juicy, succulent, with a hint of smoke, slightly firm, but easily separating from the bone. And the smoke ring? I’d never personally seen, and certainly never been able to produce such a pronounced smoke ring: it nearly encompassed the full width of the meat in the ribs! Superb! The following day was a test of the high temp searing properties of the grill; a marinated pork loin which had been cut into a series of chops. Once again: perfect! The grill was easily able to reach the necessary 500F range. Thanks to the grill’s generous amount of space, I was able to maintain a hot zone for searing, and there was plenty of room to finish the chops (~20) concurrently in the indirect heat zone to reach final temp. Cook number three, the following day, consisted of a 9 hour 8-lb Boston butt smoke. Once again, the meat came out juicy, tender, subtly smoky. That’s three cooks, producing three home runs! It required no extra gear (except for a grate thermometer and a meat thermometer). Temps were controlled only by manual adjustment of the upper and lower vents, and by the distance the meat was placed from the flame. This brings you to one of this grill’s greatest strengths: enough room under the dome where you can sensibly place the meat to find the optimal temperature for whatever you’re making. Don’t be fooled by the size of this larger kettle: it’s advantage is not simply that it will handle more food at once, but that it affords you enough room and side offset to properly place food in optimal conditions to achieve results like you may never before have been able to achieve. Weber: hats off to you! This grill is a winner!

Full disclosure: I already own several other Kettles--from a Jumbo Joe, to a few 22s--from Original, to Master Touch. Yes, I'm a fan of Weber products. The Pros: This 26" Premium, is great for cooking for larger groups, or for cooking larger food items, like briskets, beef ribs, a turkey, or pizzas. With the charcoal baskets, or something like a Vortex, it's great for the indirect cooking of chicken wings, or drumsticks, and the like. It's easy to maintain, and with a tiny bit of care, the kettle should last forever. The cooking grate is stainless, so it should last a lot longer than the plated steel grates on the other, smaller, kettles. Replacement parts are available from several sources, for most, if not all, the typical wear items, like the grates, or the ash cleaning system. The few "Cons": It is heavier than the 22" Kettles, so the legs can be a little more wobbly than usual, but that can be fixed with a few pieces of 3/4" EMT conduit, inserted in the legs. You can find videos of how to do this, online. The lid is also heavier, and it sits a little higher than the 22" kettles, but it can slide onto the lid holder, this shouldn't be a problem. It'll use more charcoal, since it's a bigger grill. It's to be expected, though. All in all, it's a great grill, and if you like to cook for larger groups, this will certainly do the trick.

I've always loved the Weber kettle 22 inch I've owned for two decades. It never failed to produce great flavor. I recently purchased a huge pellet grill with all the whistles and wifi bells. I loved the ease of use and the technology, so I gave my old Weber to my daughter. Soon after, reality set in. The pellet grills are amazing for sure, but something was missing,,,,that charcoal seared flavor. Now my daughter owns two of my grills including the new 300 pound pellet monster. It was time for me to go back to the tried and true Weber and upgrade to the 26 inch. Trouble is, none were available anywhere. I searched high and low, even calling Weber who informed me none would be available until October. Then, by a stroke of luck, Amazon had 6 available. I immediately ordered. An hour later, none were available again. My huge Weber arrived in perfect shape, and I'm amazed at the over 600 square inches of cooking space. I bought a Slow n Sear for it and it smokes just as well as my Smokey Mountain. I installed a probe port in the side and can maintain perfect temps in this awesome grill. Pellet grills are great cookers, but I'm glad to be back where I belong. The flavor is back too. If you are lucky enough to find the big 26, you wont regret it. If you cant find one, get on a waiting list. It will be worth the wait.

Weber, I would of never of thought to go back to one. I had one many years ago and it was the 22 inch unit. Now I see they make two larger ones a 27 inch and an even larger one then that. I opted for this one as It is plenty big for my backyard grilling needs. It is quite easy to use and cooks very nicely. Of course a lot depends on your line of accessories too. If I grill a tri tip for instance, I use a digital thermometer with dual probes. One for the meat and the other for the temp at the grill where the meat is located. An accessory that ships with the weber is two charcoal baskets. These can be a handy item. I bought the Slow N Sear unit myself. It works exceptionally well. The lid holder is a nice item that is on the weber as it allows you to place the cover there if removed instead of on the ground. The ash catcher is great, I am glad it has one. And one other nice design that this one has is the bottom air vent is actually one unit, instead of the way they were in earlier models. And the sucker is made in the USA. I found it worth the money and am very pleased with mine. I did start out looking for another barrel type BBQ similar to my old one but after lengthy research I found this to cook way better.

So, I read too many reviews when buying anything. I don't really agree with the bad ones on this grill. Weber has been making basically the same kettle grill for pretty much forever. Like the Jeep Wrangler they can do it in their sleep. Starting with the box/packaging; it was perfect. Assembly was a cinch. I figured it would take way longer than it did. I casually set it up in about 30 minutes and was grilling on it immediately after letting it cook for awhile so my steaks didn't taste like paint and metal. Surprisingly the first grilling tasted perfect. I'm rather impressed with the quality details (I'm coming from a non-Weber grill). I am slightly second guessing the massive size. I got this one intentionally because I'm used to a gas grill with side burner so I'm hoping the extra surface space will accommodate a skillet or the like. It may be a trick to cook for 2 or 3 people (2 or 3 burgers) on this grill. The learning curve on getting/keeping the grill the right temp will take some time, especially with the 26" size. It's currently 20 degrees outside so that could be posing the challenge. Overall I'm super thrilled with grill. Yes, the lid is heavy (substantial) but personally I prefer it and the grill has a lid holder anyway.

I've used various smokers from offsets, gassers, to another Weber charcoal grill (22" Walmart special). This is the grill to buy if you plan on doing charcoal, don't want the hassle of constantly tending a fire, want just a bit more space for large family gatherings, and don't want to break the bank. When it comes to smoking it holds temps very well, especially when using the snake method, or spend $100 for a Slow n Sear; which is well worth the money. Only down sides are the rather flimsy legs, and the lack of accessories as found for the 22" Kettle. Other than that, I am very happy with this grill. Also, if you're going to be smoking with briquettes, spend the extra money on Weber briquettes. Well worth the cost, far better than other brands, and True Value sells them relatively cheap.