Weber Original Kettle 18 Inch Grill – Review And My Opinion

The Weber original kettle 18-inch grill review shows that it is a great grill for beginning and more experienced grillers.

Although it says 18 it actually is an 18.5-inch grill surface.

You can find all the facts, pros, and cons in this review to help you decide if this is the best Weber Grill for you.

Updated: October, 2024

Read the rest of the Weber Original 18″ kettle review:

I will try to answer every question you have about this small charcoal grill, but you can always contact me if you have any more.

Grill surface of the Weber original 18″ kettle

As I mentioned this is sold as an 18″ grill but the actual grill surface is 18.5 inches in diameter.

This makes the total available grill surface almost 260 square inches.

“If you go by the general rule that you need an average of 72 square inches for every person to cook a full meal including vegetables, this grill can be used for 3-4 people.”

Since most of the time we do not grill to many veggies there is room enough for many hamburgers and hotdogs or a few nice steaks.

Material Of The Grate

I always like to know what the material of the grill grate is since this is the part where your food touches the grill grate.

The grill grate is made of plated steel grates and I could not find any complaints about the quality and durability.
It is just a straight grate. Not the hinged one.

Features Of The Weber 18″ Original Kettle

• Porcelain-enameled bowl and lid
• glass-reinforced nylon handles
• Aluminum ash catcher
• Aluminized steel cleaning system
• 35 inches total height
• Easy to control damper in the lid
• 5″ between charcoal and cooking grate

Customer Reviews of the Weber original 18″ kettle

One of the things mentioned is the piece in the lid that holds the lid attached to the bowl when you open it is very well-engineered and easy to use.

Just do it slowly so you don’t miss the lip, as I did the first time

There are quite a few who mentioned that they used this grill on the campground since it is also very mobile.

Assembling is not a problem and actually very easy to do. Just attach the wheels to the legs and the legs to the bowl and you are basically done.

The only harder-to-do part seems to be the so-called “H” piece that connects the cleaning part to the bowl. You might need some help with that.

The ash catcher and cleaning system work well as long as there is not too much wind. It is just a shallow bowl that is attached by using some spring clips.

Although it is a charcoal grill I read that several people used just plain wood in it with no problems.

If you use the Weber Charcoal basket it is possible to set the grill up as described in this article about indirect cooking.

I always like to read the lower ratings but there were only a few complaints about the grill coming with bent parts and some parts damaged.

Better Grills Rating: 4.6

Pros & Cons

Every product has pros and cons and this Weber grill is no different.
Pros:

• Durable
• Affordable
• Great for camping
• Get hot
• can be used for indirect grilling

Cons:

• No rotisserie
• Not that high for tall people
• The grate is not hinged

Weber Original Kettle 18 Inch Grill – My Opinion

After doing the Weber original 18-inch grill review, and based on my observations, I can only say that this is a nice little grill for basically two people.

After putting it to the test at my daughter’s house I am very impressed with what you can do with this affordable charcoal grill.

Unless you only cook burgers or hotdogs then you can cook for more people.

I consider this an upgrade from the Weber Smokey Joe I reviewed here for you since it is larger and has some better features in my opinion.

With the name Weber, you basically can not go wrong and the nice ratings show this again.

Taking this grill to the campground or park is easy since it is not too big.

Overall I can recommend this grill as a good buy and bang for your buck.

Recommended

Recommendations we found on other products.
As I mentioned the Weber charcoal basket is a great addition and will make it easier to put your coal on one side and your meat on the other side and use indirect heat for some great results.

Tips From Real Users

I always like to read tips from people who bought a product already and save me time to figure it out myself or compare it to my experience.

The easiest way to get your charcoal started is to use the Weber Charcoal starter, as you can read here, and light your charcoal.

The ash catcher is something that does not work too well. There is a replacement for that you can get here.

I read that it is just as good as the ones used on the Weber 22″ charcoal grills I reviewed.

I hope you find all the answers you were looking for in this Weber 18″ kettle grill review.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Eddie van Aken

Eddie van Aken brings years of experience from running a full-service restaurant, where he honed his skills with all types of kitchen equipment. His expertise extends to mastering the art of outdoor cooking, utilizing the right recipes to enhance flavors on grills and smokers. Eddie’s in-depth knowledge allows him to provide comprehensive grill reviews and valuable outdoor cooking tips, helping enthusiasts make the most of their grilling adventures. You can read more on the About page for Eddie van Aken