Though this is a portable grill, it is terrific for at home use if you're single, or have a small balcony apartment. It takes very little space, and is easy to maneuver when cleaning time comes.I've used this gem for years. My apartments, on the whole, mandated the simplicity and efficiency offered up by the Smokey Joe.A great feature is the rounded top. This enables better smoking, as air and smoke circulates more fluidly.The downsides:The legs aren't as sturdy as they could be. Given time, a bit of bumping around and general abuse, and the screwed on legs might turn askew. If you notice this while the grill is hot, you've a problem. The solution is to keep them tight during non-use.The air intake at the bottom gets clogged with ashes. A key to good charcoal grilling is the manipulation of air flow. The intake might be open, but stopped up. If you are diligent to clean the ahes, you'll be OK.Because the grill is so close to the ground, you need to be careful. Unlike most of Weber's grill, this one os also apt to getting kicked over, run into by dogs, cars and children.I fully recommend Weber's Smokey Joe. Now, I'm hungry. Time to stir the coals and pop on a few brats.Anthony Trendl Weber 10020 Smokey Joe Silver Charcoal Grill, Black
I've had one of these little Smokey Joes for probably 15 years now. It definitely has some strong points, but also a few drawbacks.
Pros:
1. Durable. Mine's been outdoors in the weather for 15 years now. When I give it a good cleaning, it looks almost new.
2. Cooks well. I've grilled steaks, burgers, dogs, etc. It does a nice job on them all. And it doesn't use a whole lot of coal to do it. I've got a 22 1/2 weber too, but sometimes when cooking for only 2 of us, I use the smokey joe to save on coals.
3. It's small and does a nice job in a small space like apartment porch or patio.
Cons:
1. It's inconvenient as a Portable grill when traveling. It's got no carry handle or way to seal it up. Also, once you've grilled and need to go, there's nothing to do with the hot coals. You've got to seal all the vents and wait for them to be extinguished. Even then I'd be nervous about dumping them out or putting the grill in my trunk.
2. The legs get bent out of shape easily. I never abused mine, yet somehow they always are bent out of shape. Sure you can bend them back again, but later on its the same story.
If I were buying a small portable grill today, I would go with a rectangular grill like the Weber Go Anywhere grill. The legs fold up and snap over the cover. Then you just pick it up like a tool box by the top handle and go. If you choose a propane version you avoid the problem of dealing with the hot coals afterward.
The smaller sized Weber kettle comes through with all the quality and performance as it's larger big brothers. For hamburgers, medium steaks, shish-kabobs, and small family get-togethers, the Smokey Joe lives up to its' family name. Food is prepared to your liking in quick order and domed cover returns heat from charcoal to cook evenly and retained heat and adjustable vents on top and bottom greatly reduces flare-up. Best way to start charcoal with this unit, is with electric starter, and only drawback we found is accumulation of ash in bottom of grill after a few uses. Cleans up easily, and 14" grilling surface is able to meet most needs.
If you're short on space, cooking for only 2 people or grill only a couple of times a year, this will be the perfect grill! You'll get the same exceptional cooking results and flavors with Smokey Joe as you would with the larger Weber charcoal grills. This extremely durable grill is an outstanding value, and also makes an ideal "second grill" for those with larger Webers who wish to cook items using "direct-heat" and "indirect-heat" at the same time. Not only does Weber provide great recipes in the owners manual, they also have additional recipes on their Web site at www.weber.com! Love my Weber Smokey Joe and won't part with it or stop using it even though I also now have the "One-Touch Silver".
The Weber Smokey Joe is a great portable grill as far as cooking quality is concerned but there are a few issues.
First the good. You get a decent size grill area for an ultra-portable grill. It measures at 14 1/2 inches in diameter. Sure you probably can't do much with this grill if you are cooking indirect, but that's not what this grill is meant for. The grill cooks much like it's larger cousin - the Weber One-Touch. The porcelain enamel coating helps prevent rust. There's a vent damper on the bottom of the grill (as well as the top) so it's quite easy to control your temperature, much better then any other portable grill I've owned anyways. The ash-catcher works well enough to keep hot pieces of ember from falling to the ground.
As I mentioned before, there are a few caveats. My main complaint is that this grill has no lid-lock. This makes transportation a bit cumbersome, especially for a grill that is meant to be portable. You have to buy the Gold or Platinum version to get this functionality. I believe all portable grills should be easy to transport. I use a couple bungee cords to lock my lid down during transportation. Another small issue I had with mine is that one of the legs is a bit shorter then the other two, so my grill doesn't sit as evenly as it should. This isn't a big deal because Weber has great customer service, it's not that big of a deal anyways, it's just a little off. Finally the top grate doesn't fit very tightly so it wobbles around a bit - again a small issue. One other thing I should mention is that even though it has an ash catcher, it doesn't have any sort of One-Touch type of system, so you have to dump it to clean it (the vent damper doesn't quite do it). This isn't an issue at all for me because it's very light and easy to clean anyways but I thought I would mention that for those that might be curious.
All in all this is a great portable grill. For my wife and I this is a great grill to use even when we aren't going anywhere because it needs so little charcoal. Cooking on this grill definitely feels like I'm grilling on a baby version of my One-Touch. There are a few issues that keep this grill from getting a perfect score, but don't let these small issues keep you from buying this great grill. Personally I believe it's worth the $5.00 to go ahead and upgrade to the Gold so you can have the lid-lock, but it's not essential, like I said before a couple bungee cords do the trick if you need that functionality. Happy grilling! - Grill - Charcoal Grills - Charcoal - Weber Charcoal Grill'
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