Weber 15501001 Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill, 22-Inch, Touch-N-Go Gas Ignition System, Black

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Loop - Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2015

Awesome!

I absolutely love this grill. Great quality and looks awesome. It took me just over an hour or so to put together from start to finish. It was quite a simple build. There are so many positives about this grill I won't bother mentioning, because you probably already know the quality Weber brings. The only con if I had to pick one, is that there are two bolts/nuts that are inside the grill that pop out, so when inserting and removing the cooking grate they sometimes get in the way. Other than that minor issue, this grill is a must have for any griller out there.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Setesh - Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2016

Still the best, but there is always room for improvement.

I started with charcoal grilling on a Weber kettle and always loved it but wanted more work space. The Performer Deluxe has work space in spades, and I love it! This is a well known grill, so I won't get too wordy. As a summary for those with short attention spans, just buy this grill, I can't see you regretting the purchase, there is just so much to love. And now for the pro/con list: Pros: Huge work surface is my favorite feature. It is no longer plastic, but a texture painted metal and very sturdy. Plenty of room to have plates laid out ready to receive burgers, franks, etc.. You can have your foil/paper laid out, plop your pork butt, ribs, brisket onto it, juice it, wrap it up, and back on the grill in moments. No walking to a work surface, it's right there! Much more stable than the kettle. I always worry about the kids knocking the kettle over, but this thing is solid as a rock. I don't worry when rolling it with lit charcoal like with the Kettle. Weber customer service. Have a problem? Weber will make it right. Mine came with a broken leg support. A short call to Weber and they sent me a new one. Weber build quality. This thing is built really well, and well thought out too. They are always improving little details. For instance, the lid on this model now sits more upright when put in the holder so that it doesn't get in your way as much as the previous model. I would still have liked to see a lid hanger on the inside of the lid, more on that in the Cons section. The hole in the center of the grate and hinged sides give you all the access you could need to your fuel grate during a cook. I use the snake/fuse method when smoking and not having to take the grate off to extend the snake is really nice. Push button lighting of your charcoal! This is a much larger benefit than I thought it would be. No more bits of burning paper and ash flying around, no more lighter, matches, torches, whatever...just turn the dial, push the button, and you have flame on your charcoal. It lights the charcoal faster and more thoroughly than the paper method does too, so you reduce your startup time by a good 5 minutes. If you grill as much as I do this adds up. And if you are one of those people that use lighter fluid then stop reading this and BUY THIS NOW. The ash pan is a must have, especially if it is windy where you live. Keeps embers and ashes from blowing around. The fuel bin is a handy spot to store charcoal and a spare propane cylinder. Excellent warranty. Cons: Screws for lid holder protrude into the kettle in a way that can interfere with grate removal/replacement. Not in a big way, but still can be annoying. Hooks for tools on the front aren't as useful as the hooks on the handles of the kettles. Still, I have tried to figure out what I would do differently and couldn't see a better way of doing it. No lid on fuel bin. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Spiders and such won't get in if there is a lid, this doesn't have one. You can use a bin liner and a bungee cord as a makeshift lid if you want. No hook on inside of lid. It's not a bid deal since you have the great lid basket, but it seems like they should have left the classic hanger hook on the inside of the lid so you could hang it low if you wanted to. I asked Weber why they removed it and the nice lady said she didn't know. The bottom shelf doesn't give you much storage space as there is a bin, tools hanging, and the ash pan taking up most of the access to the shelf. It is good for keeping accessories like rib racks and such on, but not super useful because of the limited access. Still no markings on the bottom vent slider to show how open/closed the vents are. You would think this would be easy for them to do, and since you can't see your vents a lot of the time it would be very handy. Just use a sharpie and mark 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 percent open on the metal. Then you will have a very good idea of how your vent is set when you cant actually see it. Because of the shape of the vent lobes the markings won't be linear, but it's easy enough to eyeball. Larger and heavier than the Kettle. Not easy to take to the lake like the Kettle. But really, portability is what the Smokey Joe excels at, so just buy a Joe and use it for travel. Overall, my cons are small and almost nitpicks. The fact remains that this is the best grill I have ever used, bar none. You can grill, braise, broil, smoke, and cook low and slow. I've made some amazing food on this grill, and I'll be doing it for years to come since this grill is built to last.

3.0 out of 5 stars

By Ronald Brewer - Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2018

Do not buy the extra charcoal briquet holders!

I recently bought a Camp Chef pellet grill for smoking ribs and slow cooking meats. In addition, I wanted a traditional charcoal grill, to cook things like burgers, steaks and such - things that a pellet grill generally does not excel at. After doing a bunch of research, I decided to go with a Weber kettle grill. I settled on this model due to the cart, table, charcoal bin and gas lighter. Assembly took a little over an hour. It wasn't complex, but I did find that the sheet metal top rails did not fit very well. It appeared that the curved ends that fit over the tubular end frames had gotten bent out of shape and had to be bent back before it would fit properly. Fortunately, they are a fairly light gauge metal, so bending them back into place was not too difficult. I ordered the cover and the charcoal briquet holders along with the grill, only to find that the briquet holders are already included with the grill. When I returned the extras to Amazon, I got charged a $5.00 return fee on a $16.00 item. So I was not happy about that. Once I got the grill assembled, I decided to use it a few times before writing a review. One of the main complaints I had about the grill itself is that the body of the grill and the lid do not appear to be round. There is only one position I can place the lid so that it seats fully on the lip of the grill. If I turn the lid even a couple of inches to the right or the left, the lid sits cocked on the rim of the kettle, which makes it difficult to control the temperature. Also the nuts that hold the lid holder to the kettle interfere with the handles on the grill grate, so if you like to use the "cold grate" technique of searing meats, you will have a hard time with this grill, as you can't rotate the grill grate very easily. The gas charcoal starter works great, and it is very handy having the table and the bottom shelf of the cart available to hold food and utensils while working. I also like having the charcoal bin as part of the cart. I have seen a lot of YouTube videos on how to use a Weber kettle for slow cooking, and even though I got the pellet grill for that, I decided to try with the Weber as well. I will say that at this point, I am glad I got the pellet grill. It is very difficult to adjust and maintain the temperature on the kettle. Also, the air vent on the lid is directly opposite the thermometer. This means if you place the coals on one side and have your meat on the other for indirect cooking, and you have the exhaust over the meat so the smoke passes over the meat. then the thermometer will be directly over the coals. The only way to get an idea of the temperature on the side of the grill with the meat is to have a separate thermometer. That is probably the best practice anyway, but if you buy one of these and want to do indirect cooking, keep in mind that you will need another thermometer. All in all, for the main purpose this grill was purchased - cooking over direct heat - this grill does a find job. But if you also want to do smoking or long cooks over indirect heat, you may want to get a dedicated smoker as well.

5.0 out of 5 stars

By Timothy - Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2017

Matt at Weber saves the Super Bowl

This review is not for the grill, I purchased the grill but have yet to use it. This review is for Weber Customer Service. When putting this grill together there were two parts missing, parts you have to have to use the grill. I called the Weber Customer Service and a guy named Matt answered, not an automated system but a real person and on the second ring. I explained to him the missing parts and that I need the grill for this weekend, super bowl weekend, Matt ordered the parts and had them expedited in time so that the grill will be operational for the super bowl. I hope the grill is half as good as the service. Thanks Matt.