Best Charcoal Grills of 2024

These highly rated barrel- and kettle-style charcoal grills cook evenly and give you plenty of control

By Paul Hope

Updated by Justin Krajeski

Updated January 1, 2024

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Red hot coals underneath a grill — While charcoal grills take more time to start up than gas grills, they give you greater control of the heat because of the size of the fire you build.

Charcoal imparts a unique taste to food while offering the utmost control when you use it in your charcoal grill.

With charcoal, the more you add, the hotter the fire. If you know what you’re doing, you can control the cooking surface to masterfully grill anything from a quickly seared steak to a slow-smoked pork shoulder. (If you’re really serious about grilling and smoking, you might consider trading up to a kamado-style grill, which combines charcoal with an airtight design to give you even more control.)

Best Barrel-Style Charcoal Grills

Barrel-style charcoal grills are rectangular; many have helpful features, such as adjustable cooking grates and a door to add charcoal. Most also have a removable ashpan. These grills hold more food than other grills but they’ll use more charcoal, so expect to add lots of coals while cooking.

Best Kettle-Style Charcoal Grills

Kettle-style charcoal grills are smaller than most barrel grills, so they take up less space. The tapered shape lets you build a deeper bed of coals than you can with a barrel grill, so you can sear or cook for a longer time without adding coals. But they hold less food.

Paul Hope

Paul Hope is a senior multimedia content creator at Consumer Reports and a trained chef. He covers ranges, cooktops, and wall ovens, as well as grills, drills, outdoor power tools, decking, and wood stains. Before joining CR in 2016, he tested kitchen products at Good Housekeeping and covered tools and remodeling for This Old House magazine. You’ll typically find him in his old fixer-upper, engrossed in a DIY project or trying out a new recipe.