Freestanding charcoal grills are perfect for individuals with limited space, a tight budget, or those who tend to grill about once a month or less. Charcoal grills deliver a great smoky and delicious taste, plus they are generally low maintenance and don’t require much upkeep. If you are looking for a new charcoal grill, check out these five great options!
Napoleon Professional Charcoal Grill
This is where traditional charcoal grilling meets modern styling and performance. Stainless steel charcoal grills are a rarity among premium and luxury BBQ brands, with only a select few offering them. Napoleon’s Charcoal Professional stands out as one of the aesthetically pleasing models within this price range. Featuring a cooking surface of 605 square inches, it includes a charcoal grate with adjustable height, offering multiple positions. Able to handle about 28 burgers, you can also set it up for two-zone cooking with enough capacity for ribs and roasts on the indirect side.
PK 300 Grill
Call it the New Original because at the heart of its upgraded retro architecture, this grill embodies the spirit and pure cooking simplicity of the very first cast aluminum PK Grill to come out of its mold in 1952. Still built to cook. Still built to last. Unlike other grills, the PK300 cook chamber is constructed entirely from aluminum. Aluminum conducts heat 4x more efficiently than steel, which means heat is dispersed evenly throughout the capsule. Your PK will be with you through decades of sunshine, rain, sleet, and snow, you name it. PK grills produced before the moon landing are still cooking strong to this day, so buying a rust-proof aluminum PK saves you money in the long run.
Weber 22″ Performer Deluxe
One of the standout highlights from the Weber Performer Deluxe is its Touch-N-Go igniter. No more messing with a chimney stack! Simply load your charcoal, twist the fuel knob, then press the ignite button. Once the charcoal catches, turn off the fuel. Take off the lid to check out the 363 sq. in. cooking surface. Mind you—those are not just your normal everyday grill grates. The center grill grate is completely removable and beneath it are two charcoal baskets. (Remove the center grill grate to add charcoal to the middle of the grill and the side grates are hinged and can fold up so you can add charcoal to the sides as well.
Everdure HUB I 54-Inch Charcoal Grill
The Everdure HUB is a stunner for sure, but the functionality will have you raving about it to friends and family during your weekend BBQs. The rotisserie is powerful and quiet, but the way in which it is built-into the grill is nothing short of industrial design brilliance. Keep everything from small chickens to suckling pigs firmly in place on the rotisserie rod thanks to the jaw-like Cliplock Forks. The stay-cool grills are super thick and well-constructed, and perhaps most of all is the simple addition of an electric stove-top burner to light your charcoal. As a bonus, clean-up and ash removal are a breeze.
Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 Digital Charcoal Griddle + Grill + Smoker
The Masterbuilt 800 is quite a powerhouse— If you’ve experienced the intense heat of grilling over charcoal, you’ll appreciate that this grill is equipped with a fan that intensifies the heat of the coals, ensuring they reach a searing temperature. Switching between cooking modes isn’t a hassle, just remove the grill manifold, swap it out with the griddle manifold, and then set the griddle on the grill surface. The griddle surface isn’t a cheap attachment by any means, it’s made of cold rolled steel and it is very heavy and feels secure when you are cooking on it.