With over 30 years of expertise, Weber remains the most well-known and respected grill brand on the market. The Weber Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill is no exception to their reputation for flexibility and excellence.
This charcoal barbecue is jam-packed with amenities, including a Webers Gourmet BBQ System cooking grate (now standard on all new Performers), a digital timer, a gas-powered charcoal lighter, and an enormous amount of workspace.
In our roundup of the top charcoal grills, we recently ranked the Performer Deluxe the best mid-range alternative.
If you’re searching for a new charcoal barbecue, keep reading to find out why we believe the Weber Performer Deluxe Charcoal barbecue is ideal for upping your grilling game.
Contents
Weber Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill Overview
The Weber Performer Deluxe has the same amount of cooking area as the normal Weber Original Kettle. The built-in workstation is what distinguishes it.
The porcelain-enameled bowl is 22 inches in diameter, and the overall cooking space is 363 square inches. What does this signify for your next cookout? That means you can fit 13 burgers on this big guy at once.
Pushing a button starts the gas ignition system.A typical disposable propane bottle powers the Touch-N-Go gas ignite. This means no fiddling with charcoal lighting.
This grill gets rather hot! Fortunately, the revised nylon lid handle is a fantastic improvement that keeps your fingertips cool when raising and closing the lid.
This model now has a Webers Gourmet BBQ System as standard equipment. This is a two-part grate system that enables you to remove the steel-plated, hinged grate’s center component and replace it with a number of add-on cooking surfaces like a wok, pizza stone, or griddle.
The movable grate also makes it simple to refill your charcoal. This model also has two charcoal baskets that can be rotated to create direct and indirect heat zones, providing you more control over your cooking temperatures.
The LCD digital timer, which can be removed from the device, is another wonderful feature of this grill.
What we like:
- Design This grill’s design will captivate you even before you start cooking. Not only does it look wonderful, but you have enough of work area to prepare your meals and equipment. Weber built their reputation with their distinctive kettles, but putting the kettle on a cart rather than three legs makes this grill more adaptable to any backyard setting.
- Utilization Ease Everything is extremely easy to make and takes less than an hour to set up. You can start cooking in minutes thanks to the Touch-N-Go charcoal ignition technology.Simple Setup
- Simple to Clean With the Performers enclosed ash-catcher, you wont see ash blowing around as you cook. It has a large capacity and is readily removed for simple cleaning. The Weber Performer Deluxe also has an aluminized steel One-Touch cleaning system, and its porcelain-enamel coating can be wiped with a single wipe, significantly reducing clean-up time.
- Storage The CharBin storage container is an easy way to keep your charcoal organized. It tilts effortlessly to the side of the barbecue, allowing you to collect your charcoal. It is also weatherproof, keeping your charcoal secure from the outdoors.
What we don’t like:
- Thermometer on the Lid This grill can achieve temperatures of above 470F, but you can’t rely on the lid thermometer to provide an accurate measurement. We suggest using a digital thermometer to double-check your cooking temperatures rather than relying on the lid thermometer for an accurate temperature.
- The Removable Timer’s Limitations If you want to grill low and slow for an extended period of time, you may wish to use a timer other than the one supplied with this grill. This detachable cooking timer is only good for 99 minutes of cooking time, making it less helpful for many grillers.
Aside from those tiny faults, there isn’t much to complain about.
Webers Gourmet BBQ System allows for the installation of a variety of cooking surfaces, allowing your barbecue to cook nearly anything.
Imagine how surprised your visitors will be when you lift the top to discover a wok! Weber also manufactures a number of different accessories such as pizza stones, griddles, and the Danish Ebelskiver pan.
Build Quality
Although the Performer Deluxe does not compare to prior versions in terms of durability, when compared to comparable charcoal grills in its price range, this model shines out.
When fully completed, the grill measures 43.5-inch by 48-inch by 30-inch and weighs roughly 100 pounds. The cart’s wheels make it simple and handy to transport your barbecue to the backyard.
The grates are one of the greatest aspects of its design. They are composed of heavy-duty steel and are the ideal thickness for maintaining the appropriate amount of heat for uniform cooking.
These grates are similar to those found on the Original Kettle, but you won’t find them on some of Weber’s other models. Because you can connect these grates with Weber’s other add-on cooking surfaces, you get a high-quality grill at a reasonable price.
Ease of Use
As previously said, the Weber Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill is quite simple to operate. Follow the directions, and your grill will be ready in no time.
You don’t have to be a grilling pro to utilize the Performer Deluxe. Simply ignite your charcoal with the Touch-N-Go ignition and you’ll be ready to cook in 10 minutes!
Watch the video below to discover how the Touch-N-Go ignition mechanism works.
Watch this video on YouTube
We were very pleased with how simple it was to rotate the charcoal baskets to provide direct and indirect heat zones for our grill.
This enabled us to prepare different types of food at the same time while maintaining control over the cooking temperatures. We were able to cook our steak over direct heat while our grilled vegetables completed cooking over indirect heat, which meant our whole dinner was ready at the same time and presented hot, hot, hot!
When leaving your grill outdoors in the weather, keep it covered. While your charcoal canister is weatherproof, your grill is not. Without a cover, you risk damage from rain or other weather, and you want to preserve your grill performing at its best for years to come.
With its integrated ash-catcher and One-Touch cleaning mechanism, the Performer Deluxe is very simple to clean.
Fair warning: the ash-catcher may be difficult to remove at times, but with a little squeezing of the handle, it should come loose.
Weber Performer Deluxe
The Weber Performer series has a multitude of added features as well as a ten-year guarantee. The Weber Performer, Performer Premium, and Performer Deluxe all come equipped with the Weber Gourmet BBQ system.
So whats the difference?
The CharBin, detachable timer, and electronic gas ignition for rapid lighting are not included with the regular Performer. It also has a much smaller work area.
With its cart design rather than a fold-down work table, the Performer Premium provides a greater work area than the GBS. Unfortunately, the Performer Premium lacks the Touch-N-Go ignition.
The Performer Deluxe is the only model with all of the features listed above, including the electronic gas ignition. It is also the only model that comes with a Gourmet System Sear Grate Accessory.
Should You Buy the Weber Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill?
With the exception of a few minor problems with the lid thermometer and detachable cooking timer, we found the Weber Performer Deluxe Charcoal Grill to be a high-quality device that is well worth the price. We liked how simple it was to use and were amazed by all of its unique features. This is a charcoal grill that we can suggest to everybody, from novice to professional griller. It’s worth to check How to setup a Kettle charcoal grill for smoking
