The 4 Best Charcoal Grills for Summer 2023—Tested and Reviewed

Jun 09, 2023

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We grilled steaks, burgers, hot dogs, you name it—these are the ones that came out on top.

There's something primal about grilling over an open flame. You show up to a friend's backyard barbecue. You're surrounded by beautiful home objects—tens of thousands of dollars of luxury furniture. There's a big comfy outdoor couch to have a drink on. There's a matching outdoor sectional you could lay out on. A lounge chair to post up on. The nicest outdoor furniture you've ever seen... But when you smell the food getting cooked over an open flame, that's all you want to know about.

Listen, we get it! We're just like you. When the weather gets above 75 degrees, all we wanna do is get outdoors, enjoy the sun, enjoy the pool, and grill. And we don't want to do it over a gas flame. We want an all natural charcoal flame. So we took it upon ourselves to answer one question: What actually is the best charcoal grill out there?

To find the answer, we put the market's top models through their paces. We grilled, we smoked, we served off these things. We critiqued everything from grilling performance to how convenient a certain handle was. Because it's all important! What we came up with were these four grills—tested by our editors and deemed the best charcoal grills on Earth.

To be honest, I don't feel like there's a need to recommend any other charcoal grill. The Weber Kettle—the grill you probably think of when you hear the words "charcoal grill"—is perfect. It's the right size for most people, capable of cooking a weeknight dinner or Thanksgiving feast. You can buy one anywhere. It's easy to assemble. And it's infinitely versatile.

Use direct heat and you can grill hotdogs, hamburgers, and veg for a crowd, or you can get a firey sear on some steaks. Or you move the coals to one side to set up a hot zone and a cool zone for roasting birds at a lower, smokier temp. OR you can go coals on one side, aluminum drip pan with some water on the other, and you can use your kettle as a smoker.

The vent system is easy to use, the materials will last your whole life, and it's sized for the city or the country. These days, a cheaper original version, a portable version, and a deluxe table version exist, but Weber hasn't substantially changed anything since it started selling the Kettle in 1952. Why? 'Cause it's perfect.

This Esquire Home Awards Winner gives you all the pleasure of a charcoal Weber or Big Green Egg, but you get the added bonus of Wi-Fi enabled control—somewhat of a first on this type of Kamado grill. Ignite your briquettes fast with the Automatic Fire Starter heating element, pay attention to the grill temp via the digital "Kontrol board," stick a probe in your chicken, and let the app notify you when it's reached the right internal temp. The internal fan and thermometer keep air flowing at a the perfect amount to maintain your desired temperature. It makes grilling ridiculously easy.

On top of that, ceramic Kamado grills are the Holy Grails of charcoal grills. They're incredible at holding temperatures, versatile like Webers, and (most importantly) look really nice. This Konnected Joe is the true charcoal upgrade I'd suggest to novices and aficionados alike. It's an investment, but you won't have to buy another one for the rest of your life.

I think the whole pellet grill revolution is a bit overblown. Most models just take the place of offset smokers, which are already low maintenance and designed for that specialized type of cooking. None of them would replace a charcoal grill, and I'd be hesitant to recommend them to anyone who isn't serious about smoking.

So it was a bit of a personal revolution when I tried out Recteq's Bullseye. It's the only pellet grill I've used that is actually great at both smoking and grilling—the only one I'd recommend to anyone, regardless of experience.

First, you can use it as a smoker. The pellets give off a great flavor, and the Wi-Fi enabled control lets you maintain a low and slow temp, down below 250 degrees. It's perfect for a roast, a bird, or a pork shoulder. But the real revolution is that you can just use this thing as a regular ole grill. Crank the heat up to 700 (the Hi setting can reach 1000 degrees on hot days, overkill but it's there) and you'll be able to get an insanely good sear on steaks and burgers.

The revolution comes from the heat source, which Recteq placed at the true center of the grill. The hopper syphons pellets onto it, and the flame is directly under the grates, perfect for searing. Or, use the cast-iron heat deflector to use it as a more traditional smoker.

This will never be your day-to-day grill, but if you're camping, climbing, #VanLife-ing, or just somewhere that you need something portable, there's not anything this clever at a similar price point.

The cooking design is simple, direct heat over a bed of hot coals, similar to a gas grill. When it's set up, the two full length legs prove plenty study, so long as you have a flat surface to put them on. As for grill space, there's enough for two people at a time. Our favorite use was doing meat on one half and setting up a small cast-iron skillet for softer veg on the other half.

When you're all done, dump the ash tray and fold this thing bak into it's little lunchbox-sized carry case.

It's not exactly a science, but there is some science involved. Generally, we decided these are the best charcoal grills, because they're the grills we actually want to cook on. They're the grills that we asked to keep after testing. Here are a few factors that make them so great.

Cooking Versatility: Mainly, you want a grill that can cook at high or low temps. Charcoal is superior to gas because you can cook at lower temperatures to smoke cheaper cuts of meat, and you can cook at high temps to sear nice steaks and vegetables. We looked for grills that handled both tasks, all while maintaining consistent cooking temps.

Size: Charcoal grills are generally smaller than gas grills. This makes them portable enough for tailgates, camping trips, and city balconies. But it also means it can be a bit tough to cook larger items. We only picked grills that could handle big jobs—a whole turkey, a few racks of ribs, etc. etc.

Ease of Cleaning: The only thing gas has on charcoal is that it's easy. Scrape the grates, cut the gas, and you're done. We only picked grills that had good ash catching systems with catchers that were easy to wash off and keep looking new.

Luke Guillory is the Associate Commerce Editor at Esquire.

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