Personally, I use a Weber 22" charcoal kettle. I have tried gas grills, but always go back to Weber kettle. I have recently thought about purchasing a pellet grill for convenience, but I think I am going to stick with my Weber. I can grill a steak or smoke most anything with relative ease.
I was just wondering with all the home chefs we have what do you prefer to use when cooking outside?
Kamado grills are the alpha and omega in my book.
These are the “egg” style grills, but you don’t have to dump a small fortune on a Big Green Egg for the benefits. The lower-end ones are just as good, IMO.
The insulated shell and great air control lets you cook very precisely. Once I dial it in, I can smoke a brisket at 225 for 10 hours without fussing with adding fuel or anything.
Conversely, it’s a snap to get up to 675 for cooking steak. Honestly, my home-cooked NY strip has absolutely ruined me on going to a restaurant for steak.
I love my Akorn, and it’s a pretty low-end grill for the style.
I have had more grilles than I can think of in the last 30 years. I’ve taken my kettle to NASCAR races, to weekend gatherings and left on my patio for years and years. An amazingly durable, easy to use grille that produces great smokes, steaks, burgers, chicken or whatever you’re cooking. Fantastic.
That said, there’s still prep and clean-up. Having a deck instead of a patio now, cleanup and use are a little more difficult.
There are oodles of gas grilles I’ve also had over the years and the quality on them seems to continually be going downhill. Never spent the money on a Weber gas grille that they ask. It’s insane, IMO.
After years of different devices, I’ve settled on a pellet grille. A pellet grille is easy enough to use that my wife can also grille without worry of burning holes in the deck… again.
No fumbling around with a fuel source, just check the hopper. I have Grille Grates installed in my Silverbac Alpha, which makes for excellent searing when grilling. That was my chief concern when buying a smoker, was getting high enough temps to make a good steak. The Grille Grate settles that concern nicely.
So, it’s the only thing I use now (at home). 1 grille/smoker on the deck. Where there once were 3 (Weber Kettle, gas grille and Smoke Vault cabinet smoker) there is now just 1 and I don’t miss the others (though I do still have them at the cabin up north).
EGG guy here. I always kinda thought pellet grills wasn’t really grilling…you plug it in and turn a dial. But as I’ve aged and got busier, it’s awfully easy and cuts a lot of the work out.
You know, you just get to a point where you want to eat good food and don’t really care how you look making it. ![]()
(Unlike fly fishing, where 50% is looking right while you’re doing it.)

Really happy with my Weber grill, Traeger smoker, and Blackstone flat top.
Chargrill 980. I’m more of a smoker guy. Love it.
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