Description
What the Weber Performer 22 inch is
The Performer is Weber’s 22 inch charcoal kettle grill mounted on a cart with a work surface. The bowl and lid are porcelain enameled steel, the cooking area is 363 square inches, and the whole assembly measures 43.5 by 42 by 29 inches once built. The country of origin is listed as the United States and assembly is required.
The 22 inch kettle is one of the most widely used grill designs in existence, and what the Performer adds to it is a cart, a folding table and a set of convenience features. The side table is painted metal and folds down when not in use, which is the space saving element Weber leads with. Three tool hooks are fitted.
Note before anything else: this is an outdoor grill. Charcoal produces carbon monoxide, which is odorless and lethal, and no charcoal appliance should ever be used indoors, in a garage, in a tent or in any enclosed or partly enclosed space. That warning does not appear anywhere in this listing.
The kettle, the grate and the ash system
A 22 inch kettle at 363 square inches holds enough for a household plus guests, and its shape is the reason the design has lasted. The domed lid circulates heat around food, so the grill roasts as well as sears, and closing the vents controls the fire precisely enough for low and slow cooking as well as direct grilling.
The Gourmet BBQ System grate is a two part design: the center section lifts out and accepts inserts from Weber’s cookware range, such as a griddle, a wok or a pizza stone. It is also hinged, which is the more useful property day to day, because it lets charcoal be added mid cook without lifting the whole grate and the food on it.
The One-Touch cleaning system is a set of blades inside the bowl operated by a single handle. Sweeping the handle back and forth pushes ash through the bottom vents into a removable aluminum ash catcher underneath. That is the difference between cleaning a kettle grill in ten seconds and tipping it out by hand, and it is the feature that most affects whether the grill gets used on a weeknight.
The lid handle carries a heat shield, the damper is rust resistant aluminum, and a lid thermometer is built in.
Three data faults worth naming
The attribute table on this listing contains three entries that are simply wrong, and repeating them as fact would be misleading.
The item weight reads 3.3 pounds. A 22 inch porcelain enameled steel kettle on a metal cart with a folding table weighs many times that. This figure is a data fault and the listing publishes no usable weight.
The heating power reads 8000 British Thermal Units. BTU is a gas burner rating. A charcoal grill has no BTU output because its heat depends entirely on how much charcoal is lit and how the vents are set. The figure is meaningless here.
The main burner count reads one. A charcoal grill has no burners at all. Like the BTU entry, this has been carried over from a gas grill template.
None of these affect the product, which is a well established design. They do mean the attribute table on this record should be ignored in favor of the description and feature bullets.
Direct and indirect cooking
What makes a kettle grill more versatile than its simple shape suggests is the ability to build two heat zones. Charcoal banked on one side gives a hot zone for searing and a cooler zone on the other side for finishing thicker cuts without burning them, with the lid down and the vents controlling the fire. That is the technique behind cooking a whole chicken or a rack of ribs on a grill that looks like it can only do burgers.
The porcelain enameled lid is what makes it work. It reflects heat back down and holds temperature, so a closed kettle behaves like a small oven. The built in lid thermometer gives a reading to work from, though it measures the air at the lid rather than at the grate, so it reads differently from a probe at food level. Vent control is the throttle: more air means a hotter fire, and closing the vents down shuts the fire out at the end.
Highlights
- 22 inch porcelain enameled bowl and lid with 363 square inches of cooking area.
- Gourmet BBQ System hinged grate, accepting inserts from Weber’s cookware range.
- Hinged grate allows charcoal to be added without removing the food.
- Fold-down painted metal side table with three tool hooks.
- One-Touch cleaning system sweeping ash into a removable high capacity catcher.
- Tuck-Away lid holder, so the lid never goes on the ground.
- Built in lid thermometer and a heat shielded handle.
- Rust resistant aluminum damper for vent control.
Things To Consider
- Charcoal produces carbon monoxide. Outdoor use only, never in a garage or any enclosed space.
- The listed 3.3 pound weight is a data fault, and no real weight is published.
- The 8000 BTU figure and the single burner entry are gas grill fields with no meaning on a charcoal grill.
- Assembly is required and a cart mounted kettle is a substantial build.
- At 43.5 by 42 inches assembled, it needs real outdoor storage space even with the table folded.
- Charcoal takes 15 to 20 minutes to reach cooking temperature, unlike gas.
- No charcoal, chimney starter or cover is included.
- Temperature control is by vents and fuel quantity, which is a skill rather than a dial.
Who it suits
This is for someone who wants charcoal flavor and is willing to manage a fire to get it, with outdoor space for a cart mounted grill. The One-Touch ash system, the hinged Gourmet BBQ System grate and the folding table together turn a basic kettle into something that can be used on a Tuesday evening rather than only at a weekend, and the 22 inch bowl is the size most charcoal cooking is written around.
It is not for anyone who wants to grill indoors or on a balcony where open fire is prohibited, where an electric unit such as the Starfrit The Rock is the practical answer. Buyers who want gas convenience should look at the Cuisinart Grillster portable gas grill, and anyone whose real interest is low and slow smoking should read the Char-Broil Bullet charcoal smoker or the London Sunshine ceramic kamado in the smokers category. The grill category itself is charcoal grills.