Weber Original Kettle vs Original Kettle Premium: Is the Upgrade Worth It?

Our pick

Weber Kettle Premium

4.7★ · 12,968 ratings

• You grill every week and hate sweeping ash off the patio
• You want a hinged grate so you can add coals mid-cook
• You like a lid thermometer as a rough guide

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Weber Original Kettle

4.8★ · 10,226 ratings

• You grill a handful of times a year
• Your grill sits on grass or gravel where loose ash doesn't matter
• You already own a probe thermometer

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VS

Put the two side by side and you’d struggle to tell them apart. Same black 22-inch bowl, same lid, same three legs. Yet the Premium is the #1 charcoal grill on Amazon while the plain Original Kettle sits at #6. The difference lives under the bowl, and it decides how much ash ends up on your patio.

Side by side

	Original Kettle	Kettle Premium
Rating	4.8★ (10,226)	4.7★ (12,968)
Grate	22 in plated steel	22 in plated steel, hinged
Ash catcher	Open aluminized pan	Enclosed, removable bucket
Lid thermometer	No	Yes
Warranty	10 years	10 years

The deciding difference: ash

The Original Kettle drops ash into a shallow open pan hanging between the legs. On a breezy day some of it goes wherever the wind does. The Premium catches it in a closed, high-capacity bucket with a handle that comes off for emptying. Smoked BBQ Source called this the main reason to step up, and owners back it with numbers: 94% of the Premium’s 192 cleaning mentions are positive, against 82% of 90 for the Original.

If you grill once a month on a lawn, that gap barely matters. If you grill twice a week on a deck, it’s the whole decision.

Where else they differ

The grate. The Premium’s is hinged at the sides, so you can lift a flap and drop in fresh coals during a long cook like a turkey or ribs. On the Original you have to lift the whole hot grate, food and all.

The thermometer. Only the Premium has one in the lid. Don’t lean on it too hard. It sits high above the food and reads the dome air, so a cheap probe at the grate tells you far more.

Weight and setup. The Premium weighs 32.3 lb. The Original’s listing claims 1.5 kg, which can’t be right for a steel kettle, so ignore that figure.

What owners say

Both have unusually happy owners. On the Premium, 191 of 194 cooking-performance mentions are positive, which is about as close to unanimous as grill reviews get. Assembly is its weak topic, with 123 of 458 mentions negative.

The Original’s owners love using it too: only 3 of 104 enjoyment mentions are negative. Its sore spot is durability, at 70 negative out of 231. Many of those describe dents and damage on arrival rather than parts wearing out.

Our pick

Get the Premium. The enclosed ash catcher and hinged grate make a real difference every single time you cook, and the bowl you’re paying for is identical. Save with the Original only if you’ll grill a few weekends a year.

Where they differ

Spec	Weber Kettle Premium	Weber Original Kettle
Amazon rating	4.7★ (12,968)	4.8★ (10,226)
Grate diameter	22 in (plated steel, hinged)	22 in (plated steel)
Ash system	One-Touch with enclosed, removable ash catcher	One-Touch with open aluminized ash catcher
Thermometer	Built-in lid thermometer	None
Dimensions	22.5 x 22.5 x 27 in (listing)	25 x 25 x 39.5 in
Weight	32.3 lb	—
Model	14401001	741001
Cooking area	—	363 sq in (about 13 burgers)
Price	Check price	Check price

What owners say about the Weber Kettle Premium

Topics mentioned most in Amazon reviews, split into positive and negative mentions. Snapshot taken October 28, 2026.

Assembly73% 👍

Value for money83% 👍

Build quality71% 👍

Ease of use72% 👍

Cooking performance98% 👍

Ease of cleaning94% 👍

Appearance93% 👍

Heat control81% 👍

Owners rave about how it cooks: 191 of 194 cooking-performance mentions are positive, and 94% of cleaning mentions praise the enclosed ash catcher. Assembly is the sore spot, with 123 of 458 mentions negative, and about one in five heat-control mentions report trouble holding a steady temperature.

What owners say about the Weber Original Kettle

Topics mentioned most in Amazon reviews, split into positive and negative mentions. Snapshot taken October 28, 2026.

Assembly87% 👍

Functionality93% 👍

Build quality73% 👍

Size84% 👍

Ease of use91% 👍

Enjoyment97% 👍

Ease of cleaning82% 👍

Durability70% 👍

The cheapest Weber kettle still scores 4.8 stars: 93% of functionality mentions are positive and only 3 of 104 enjoyment mentions are complaints. Durability is the split topic at 70 negative out of 231, and several of those are about parts dented in shipping. The listing's 1.5 kg weight is clearly wrong.

FAQ

Do both Weber kettles cook the same?

Yes. They share the same 22-inch porcelain-enameled bowl and lid, and the same plated steel grate size. Weber rates both at 13 burgers. The differences are cleanup and convenience parts.

Is the Weber kettle lid thermometer accurate?

Not very, for the food. Smoked BBQ Source points out that it sits high in the dome, far from the grate, so it reads the air up there. Use it to spot trends and a probe thermometer for the meat.

What warranty do Weber kettles have?

Both listings show a 10-year limited warranty on the Original Kettle and the Kettle Premium.

Can you smoke on a Weber kettle?

Yes, on either one. Pile the coals on one side, put the meat on the other and use the vents to hold a low temperature. The Premium's hinged grate makes topping up coals during a long smoke much easier.

Ready to buy?

• Our pickWeber Kettle Premium4.7★ · 12,968 ratings
  Check price on Amazon
• Weber Original Kettle4.8★ · 10,226 ratings
  Check price on Amazon

Prices and stock change often, so the button shows today’s price on Amazon.com.

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How we put this together

We compared manufacturer specs and Amazon listing details, read the patterns in Amazon owner reviews (we refresh this snapshot regularly), and scored each product with our published rubric. We have not tested these units hands-on. When we do, the page will say so. Prices change constantly, so we link to the live price instead of quoting one.