Hey everyone, today I’m excited to walk you through using the Weber Kettle Premium Charcoal Grill. In this guide, you’ll learn how to light the grill, cook chicken, clean the grill, and I’ll share some tips to make grilling easier, especially if you’re new to charcoal grilling. I’ve got the 22-inch model in this lovely green color, but it also comes in black, copper, and crimson. If you’re interested in grabbing this grill for yourself, I’ll drop a link right below this post. I’ve also put together a guide on assembling this grill; you’ll find that link in the description below.
Just below this article, there’s an in-depth video that provides further details.
If you’re interested in discovering the top charcoal grills on the market, make sure to check out my article on the best charcoal grills in 2024 for an in-depth look at the leading products.
Page Contents
How to Use a Weber Kettle Grill
Grill Features and Setup
This grill features a porcelain-enameled bowl and lid, a lid hook inside the grill lid, which I find to be a bit of a design flaw since it’s awkward trying to get it into the right position. The Master Touch model comes with a side lid holder, which seems much more convenient. It includes rust-resistant aluminum dampers, a lid handle with a heat shield, and a side handle with two hooks for hanging your grilling accessories. The handle is also used to move the grill around, a built-in thermometer, a heavy gauge steel charcoal grate, and a plated steel hinged cooking grate. The sides open up so you can add more charcoal; it can also be hung on the side of the bowl. The aluminized steel One-Touch cleaning system just requires you to move the handle back and forth, and the three blades push ash into the removable aluminum ash catcher. The vents help control airflow; open it up all the way for high heat, and close it up to about halfway for lower temperatures. There’s also a bottom wire rack and two wheels for easy movement.
Preparing to Grill
Before you start grilling, adjust the handle and remember its position so you can monitor how much of the vent is open, which will assist you while cooking. The simplest approach is to leave the bottom vent fully open and control the temperature by adjusting the lid damper. So, during cooking, there’s no need to adjust the bottom vent at all. The first symbol means the vent is closed, the second indicates the vent is half open, and the third is fully open. Slide the handle all the way to the trash can symbol and back when moving ash from the bowl to the ash catcher.
Grilling Essentials
Before you start grilling, there are a few essentials that’ll make your life easier: a grill brush for cleaning, tongs, a spatula, and a fork for heating up the coals, a chimney starter, lighter cubes, a lighter, and gloves for safety. Plus, consider getting a cover. This is the lighter, less expensive cover. It works for me since I can move the grill under an awning. If you don’t have any cover outside, opt for the heavier grill cover. I’ve used a larger version of this for my gas grill, and it’s lasted many years without any issues.
Lighting the Grill
To start grilling, first, fully open the bottom vent and the lid damper. Without a chimney starter, you can arrange coals on the charcoal grate in a pyramid and place two lighter cubes within the pyramid. Light them up and let it burn until there’s a white ash coating the charcoal. With a chimney starter, you can use crumpled-up paper or two lighter cubes. Place the chimney starter on the charcoal grate and fill it with coals. Place two lighter cubes or crumpled-up paper underneath it, light it up, and wait about 15 minutes until the coals are ashed over. Every day I grill seems to be windy. There are tips online for grilling on windy days. The instruction manual provides a guide on how much coal to use depending on your grill size, as well as how long to cook different types of meat and vegetables.
Cooking Techniques: Direct and Indirect Heat
There are two methods of cooking: direct and indirect heat. Direct heat means cooking right over the coals, perfect for food that cooks in less than 20 minutes like steaks, burgers, boneless meats, fish, veggies, and kebabs. Indirect heat means the food isn’t directly above the coals. Move the coals to one side and place the food on the other, or have coals on both sides of the grill with the food in the middle. When I first used the grill, my gloves hadn’t arrived, so I just used a kitchen towel instead, but gloves are definitely safer and more preferable. As you can see, they’re quite big on my hands but still flexible. I’ll link everything I’m using below in case you want to get them.
Grilling Chicken: A Case Study
My coals are hot; carefully pour them out onto the grate. Cover and let the grill heat up for 10 to 15 minutes for direct heat and less than 10 minutes for indirect heat. I’m grilling some Jamaican-style marinated chicken using indirect heat. It’s a super easy marinade and makes for delicious chicken. The recipe is below if you want to try it. I grilled bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs one time and a spatchcocked whole chicken another time, so I’ll show you both. The grill is heated up; you don’t need to oil the grate. There should be enough oil on your food so it doesn’t stick. With these eight chicken thighs, I cook them about 20 minutes on one side, flip them over, and cook another 20 minutes on the other side. Then I move them over the coals. By the way, you could just move the grate with your tongs instead of moving each piece of food. I covered and cooked about five minutes on each side, and they’re done. Total cooking time for the chicken thighs is about 40 minutes. For the whole chicken, I put it skin side down for 30 minutes, flipped it, and cooked for another 30 minutes, moved it over the coals, and cooked for 10 minutes on each side. Use a thermometer to check the internal temperature. The total cooking time was 1 hour and 20 minutes. The chicken weighed a little over four pounds. You just can’t beat the taste of charcoal-grilled chicken; it’s really that good. The meat’s always juicy and has an amazing smoky flavor.
Grilling Tips and Temperature Control
A few tips so you don’t have to figure it out on your own: keep the grill covered as much as you can; it’s the most important part of grilling. Don’t keep opening the lid to check on your food; you’ll lose heat, see the temperature dial go down, the food won’t cook, and then you might have to add more charcoal. As long as you use indirect heat and watch the temperature, your food won’t get burnt. A temperature tip: most food can be cooked using indirect medium heat, like I did with the chicken. That’s 350 to 450 degrees. To keep the temperature around 375-400, leave the lid damper about three-quarters of the way open. As you get used to grilling and adjusting the lid damper, you’ll see how much to open it for the temperature you want. It’ll take about 10 minutes for the temperature to adjust.
Post-Grilling Cleanup
After you’re done cooking, put the lid on, close the damper completely, and close the bottom vent completely. Wait for the grill to cool down, and the charcoal should be fully extinguished. I usually just clean it the next day since I grill in the evening. The lid is clean; I don’t have to do anything with it. If it gets a grease buildup over time, use a stainless steel bristle grill brush. As for the cooking grate, the next time you grill, when the coals are hot, clean the cooking grate with a brush. Take the remaining usable coals and save them in your chimney starter; there’s no need to waste them. You can use them the next time you grill. Remove the charcoal grate, move the handle back and forth so the ash goes into the catcher below. I keep an old kitchen towel just for cleaning this grill. Wipe the inside and move any remaining ash down. You don’t have to wipe the inside every time. Remove the ash catcher and dispose of the ash. You want to do this every time you grill. I want to compost everything, but if you’re using briquettes that have additives or aren’t wood, you can’t compost them; you have to throw them out. If you’re using wood charcoal with no additives, they can be used as fertilizer for some plants, not all of them. Lump charcoal generally doesn’t have additives. Some of the ash was stuck in there, mixed with the fat that dripped off the chicken. I wash out the catcher with a sponge.
Deep Cleaning Your Grill
When you grill, you can always put some foil or a foil pan on the charcoal grate, so there’s less mess. Most of us won’t be doing any more cleaning than this, but when you feel the grill really needs a deeper cleaning, both grates can be washed with a sponge and soapy water. The inside of the lid and bowl, the three blades can also be washed the same way, as well as the outside of the grill. Rinse everything and dry with a cloth.
Video – How to Use a Weber Kettle Grill Complete Guide
As always, I hope this guide was helpful. If it was, give it a thumbs up. If you want to get notifications when I upload a new guide, click on the bell icon and select all. And don’t forget to turn on your notifications. Subscribe, and I’ll see you next time. Thanks for reading.