Do You Actually Need an Expensive Grill?

What money actually buys

Spend more on a charcoal grill and you are mostly paying for heat retention, build quality and longevity, not for better food. A ceramic kamado holds temperature overnight and will last decades. A thin-steel budget grill will rust and warp in a few seasons. Both, on the day, will cook a steak that tastes the same, because the steak does not know what it is sitting over.

The exception is temperature stability on long cooks. A cooker that holds a steady heat for twelve hours with no fuss is worth real money to someone who smokes every weekend, and worth nothing to someone who grills burgers twice a summer.

Where your money is better spent

A two hundred pound kettle plus a chimney starter, an instant read thermometer, a bag of good lump and a bag of briquettes will produce dramatically better food than a five hundred pound grill with none of those. The accessories change how your food turns out. The grill mostly just holds the fire.

• A chimney starter, so you never taste lighter fluid again.
• A thermometer, because cooking meat is a temperature problem.
• Better charcoal, which improves flavour more than any grill upgrade.
• Charcoal baskets, for a reliable two-zone fire.

So who should spend more?

Buy an expensive cooker if you cook often enough that convenience and durability pay for themselves, if you smoke regularly and value a steady overnight fire, or if you simply want a beautiful object that will outlive you. Do not buy one believing it will make you a better cook. That comes from a thermometer and practice, both of which are cheap.