There are five Weber kettles with a 22.5 inch grate, one with a 26.75 inch grate and one with a 36 inch grate.
Of these seven grills the two that I recommend are the Weber 26.75 Gold and the Weber 22.5 inch Gold.
I will walk you through the seven options and explain my opinions.
22.5 Inch Kettle Grills
One Touch Silver: ($100) This is the bare bones model and she cooks great. The fundamental flaw with this grill is that it is a pain in the ass to get all of the spent charcoal and ashes out. This might sound like a minor issue but I have stopped using my OTS because of this.
One Touch Gold: ($150) The Gold comes with an ash catcher assembly that makes all the difference in the world. In my opinion this grill meets all of the basic requirements and is affordable priced. There is no down side to this grill.
Silver Performer: ($230) A cart mounted 22 inch kettle with a lid holder, dome thermometer and small side table. The little storage shelf below the kettle is just the right size to store your chimney. All of these upgrades are nice but none are necessary.
Gold Performer: ($300) A cart mounted 22 inch kettle with a lid holder, dome thermometer, large side table and integrated charcoal storage bin. Again, nice upgrades but the price tag is getting silly.
Platinum Performer: ($400) Identical to the Gold Performer but also includes the Touch N Go propane assisted charcoal lighting system. This is for folks who have trouble lighting charcoal. All the upgrades are lovely but I am not shelling out that kind of cash for a 22.5 inch grill.
You get one extra gadget with the Gold and Platinum Performers; a removable LCD cook timer. I think it looks awful and is a horrible addition.
I love Weber grills because they are simple and they work. That doesn’t sound like much to ask of a product but it is amazing how many pieces of junk on the market fail at meeting those two basic requirements. I know my Weber kettle grills are going to work for at least ten years. They would easily work for twenty years if I actually took care of them.
Why in the heck would Weber include an electronic gizmo on one of these kettles? Seriously, do you own ANY electronic device that is more than five years old? There is ZERO chance that the gadget will last as long as the grill. Is this something that anyone actually needs? A timer?? The ONLY purpose this stupid electronic component serves is to help make sure you buy a grill cover.
26.75 inch One Touch Gold
($300) Comes with a built in dome thermometer, lid holder and ash catcher assembly.
This might be the biggest secret in Weber grills. This grill is massive, performs just as well as the smaller kettles and can easily be set up as a SERIOUS smoker.
Lots of folks run their 22.5 inch grills as smokers and have pretty good luck. However there are some limitations with using the 22.5 as a smoker (how often you have to refuel, how much meat you can cook) that eventually push them into buying a Weber Smokey Mountain.
The Weber 26.75 One Touch Gold blasts through these limits. You can throw 16 pounds of pork butts onto this guy and run it at 250F for nine hours before having to refuel. The 26.75 will never be as good of a smoker as the 22.5 WSM. However, the 26.75 is good enough that you won’t need a WSM.
You might still end up buying a WSM at some point just because they are incredibly designed smokers in addition to looking beautiful.
I strongly suggest that if you are getting ready to buy a Performer you give serious thought to getting the Weber 26.75 inch One Touch Gold instead.
This is Weber’s showpiece grill. It comes with a 36 inch cooking grate and an $1100 price tag. The Ranch is a status symbol. It cooks fine but there are so many better ways of spending $1100. You can buy two 26.75 grills for $600 and have more cooking area, greater flexibility and you won’t need a shovel to handle the ashes. I really don’t see the case for spending an extra $500 on something so massive that it is awkward to handle.
Bottom line:
The Weber 22.5 inch Gold
If you have some extra cash and want to get something nicer then go for the Weber 26.75 Gold instead of the 22.5 inch Performers.