Advantages and disadvantages of the kettle grill

Additional author: Claudia Ollmann

The emergence of the Kettle grills

• The origin of the kettle grill goes back to 1956 when the American George, who lives in Chicago Stephen decided to design a grill that didn't keep the frying fat dripping into the charcoal can.
• Stephen also wanted to be able to grill larger pieces of meat such as whole roasts.
• Stephen worked in a metal processing company that manufactured ship buoys, which is why he came up with the idea of ​​designing the kettle grill that is widely used today.

The structure of the spherical grill

Generally, of course, this grill has the shape of a sphere; however, the secret of success lies within.

• The grill consists of two spherical halves of almost the same size, the upper one being foldable.
• The coal grate is located in the lower half of the sphere, so that the coal does not lie directly on the bottom of the grill, but there is still an area filled with air under it. In this way, the coals get even more oxygen from below, which means that the heat is generated more quickly and lasts longer.
• The grillage above is usually height-adjustable so that you can adjust the distance to the embers according to the food you are grilling.
• The frying fat does not drip into the coals, but into a special collecting bowl, which is located between the grill and the coal grate. This prevents the fat from igniting and prevents unhealthy smoke from developing.
• There are ventilation holes in the upper ball, which you can open more or less as needed. This is a good way of influencing the heat development inside the kettle grill.
• A kettle grill stands on three legs, which enable it to stand securely even in rough terrain. In order to be able to reach any place, two of its legs are provided with rollers.

The advantages of a kettle grill

• With a kettle grill you can generate the required heat much faster than with other types of grilling.
• You can even cook whole roasts effortlessly in this grill. These stay juicy and get a pleasant smoky taste by adding certain smoked woods to the charcoal
• Since no fat drips into the coals, they cannot ignite. This also avoids harmful vapors.
• You can regulate the air supply individually and thus influence the temperature in the kettle grill.
• One of the advantages of a kettle grill is that such a device can be set up and ready for use anywhere.
• You can greatly influence and increase the humidity by adding water to the drip tray. This will make your meat even juicier and more tender.

There are hardly any disadvantages

• A disadvantage may be the heavy weight of such a grill. However, this should not cause any major problems, as the device is easy to move over two rollers.
• The size of the kettle grill, if you really want to cook whole roasts, is enormous. You must therefore have a way of storing the grill when it is "not in use". It is also not cheap to buy.
• Apart from that, however, the advantages of such a device outweigh the advantages.