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This Weber test is rated with the Captain Barbecue BAT equipment rating system. The French origin of the word barbecue lends itself perfectly to this, i.e. grilling the whole animal over fire from barbe (beard) to queue (tail). Good features get up to two beards (BB), bad ones up to two tails (TT) and average (A) is in between.

The Weber test - wonderful roasting with the ambience of a washing machine

Classic Weber kettle

The original and often-copied Weber kettle grill, invented in 1951 by George Stephen (often copied because no patent was registered on the kettle shape), has remained one of the favourite kettle barbecues of all time. As an oven it is outstanding, as a grill it does not rate at all.

First impression T, and later B

When I unpacked and built this barbecue for the Weber test here in my bushveld boma, it looked as if a tiny alien space ship landed between the thorn trees. Some zebras were frightened of it. The squat orb of a Weber with its enamelled metal in muted black on aluminium legs always makes a slightly weird, science-fiction impression - even if you have been using it for years.

Weber test atmosphere TT

If you want the flickering flames of the primordial camp fire to suffuse the atmosphere of your barbecue, reminding everyone of the safety of the cave, the perfume of fresh wood smoke and the happy companionship of a robust feast while all about the savage beasts howl in the darkening wilderness, then the Weber is not for you. It has no more ambience than a washing machine in the garden. Or, for that matter, a tumble drier.

Weber test performance as a kettle oven BB

A kettle barbecue is an enclosed oven, heated by means of an internal wood or charcoal fire. In common with traditional pizza ovens and Indian tandoors, it achieves an unique combination of fundamental cooking methods – it bakes, roasts and smokes simultaneously for a delicious result that just cannot be achieved any other way. Purpose is important in assessing a product like this because it can be used in different ways. However its primary purpose is to be a kettle barbecue and as a kettle barbecue, the 57 cm Weber is absolutely superb. It is very effective, both in generating a good hot oven and in achieving a delicate balance between the baking, roasting, smoking elements involved in the cooking process. Of course, a skilled barbecue chef can manipulate these elements in various ways to achieve a particular result, but the thing about the Weber is that an excellent result is achieved with no manipulation at all. An outright novice can buy one, fire it up using good quality briquettes and then, by following the extremely simple instructions in the booklet that accompanies the unit, produce a stunning roast meal on the very first attempt. If you read the instructions, it is idiot-proof, which is unusual in barbecue. Clearly there is some subtle and cunning design technology involved that eludes me.

Weber test performance as a grill TT

It is a pity to attempt to use this magnificent device for grilling. As Weber suggest, you can do this by taking the lid off and covering the lower grid with a bed of coals. That is true, but it is undistinguished and totally ordinary in its performance as a grill. The Holy Grail of grill, the adjustable grid, does not exist with the Weber kettle. You could do as well using a large flowerpot or a sawn-off metal drum (in fact, a sawn of metal drum works very well and is a lot cheaper).

Reliability & quality BB

The Weber is made from low carbon steel covered with a high quality porcelain enamel. If you look after a Weber by cleaning it after every use and storing it under shelter, then your children will inherit it from you and if they also look after it, their children will inherit it from them. If you are an ordinary human being and never clean the Weber and leave it outside in the blazing sun of summer and the freezing snows of winter, then you will buy new internal grids from time to time, but will otherwise have perfectly good use from it for at least fifteen years. A Weber is very, very tough and because any external metal that is not aluminium is enamelled, it does not rust. Mine was dented by a passing rhino, but only developed a slight crack in the enamel when I panel-beated it.

Weber test of time. Pic by Chris

Having started off with a damn nearly perfect kettle, Weber has suffered the problem over the years that any innovation carries the risk of departing from perfection. As a result, not much has changed and the Weber you buy today is fundamentally the same as the one bought years ago. The only material change relates to the provision of a complex ash basket and related fittings now found under the bowl of a modern Weber. Old Webers did not have this and instead had a shallow aluminium plate suspended between the legs into which coals and ash fell during use.

The problem with the old system was that ash could and would blow out of the plate in the slightest breeze, but man, the Weber worked very well and in particular was capable of developing a really high temperature – useful when cooking something large, like a turkey or leg of lamb.

The modern ash basket has solved the problem of ash blowing around – useful in confined spaces and in keeping with modern trends towards convenience etc., but unfortunately the device has a marked dampening effect on temperature generation and consequently on cooking times. Presumably this is something to do with restricted airflow through the bottom air /ash vents. The solution is to remember to remove the ash basket entirely when you want high temperatures, but even when you do this it still seems as though the older models work better.

The only other weakness relates to the somewhat loose fitting of the legs into the tubes attached to the base of the unit. The legs tend to fall out if you lift the Weber to move it and can also do so if you wheel it over an uneven surface. It is definitely not a rabbit, it is a shaky tortoise. Having said this, the legs work perfectly well when the Weber is stationary.

Weber test fuel

It uses stinking, disgusting charcoal briquettes. It only works well with this loathsome fuel - so make sure you have burnt out all the glue and chemicals and that the briquettes are gray and ready before you start cooking. I did the Weber test wearing my gas mask until they were gray.

Skills level required to use the Weber kettle

Suitable for novices. If you can read and follow simple instructions, you are ready to do your own Weber test.

Skills level that the Weber kettle will satisfy

The most expert barbecue chef. The fact that its basic cooking performance is excellent does not detract from its flexibility in permitting manipulation of factors to produce new or unusual results.

Size & practicality

The 57 cm Weber is suitable for most ordinary family or entertaining situations. Is suitable for cooking the main course for anything from 2 to 12 persons.

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