The Product: Charcoal Grill

Purists will tell you that there is no substitute for charcoal. There’s also no substitute for Weber, which pretty much invented this category with its popular kettle grills. These grills are easy to use and easy to clean.

Recommendation: Weber One Touch Gold 18½’’ and Weber One Touch Gold 22½’’

The One Touch Gold is the latest incarnation of Weber’s original kettle grill. The 18-inch-diameter grill is perfect for an apartment or small gatherings, it is easy to transport and perfect for grilling on the beach. The larger 22½-inch is big enough for a dozen burgers, making it ideal for parties with all your family and friends. The Weber One Touch Gold 22.5 also adds hinged grates on the side so you can add coals while you are still cooking, helpful when you are slow-cooking large pieces of meat. The major feature these Gold models have over the Weber One Touch Silver Grill is the large capacity ash-catcher below the One-Touch cleaning system, which makes sifting and cleaning ashes out of the grill quick and painless—you won’t have to get your hands dirty at all. This grill has been around for about half a century in its current form and will probably last 25 years, so you know what you are getting. Webers come with a 10-year limited warranty.