Weber Master Touch Review: Expert Tested [2024]

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Tested by Catherine Ward and Annamarie Higley Charcoal Bbq Grill And Smoker Trolley

Discover the ultimate charcoal grill upgrade with color options and clever add-ons. Here's everything you need to know about the Weber Master Touch grill.

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Weber grills are a well-recognized name by grilling enthusiasts. While the brand has a range of high-performance gas grills, it’s even better known for charcoal grills. The original Weber kettle grill came on the market in the 1950s. With its dome shape, it has become an iconic, easily recognizable design. Over the years, significant upgrades have been made while still sticking with the same design. One model that has it all? The Weber Master Touch Charcoal Grill.

This top grill earned its spot during our testing of the best Weber grills for a variety of reasons. Taste of Home Test Kitchen grilling expert Catherine Ward led the testing, finding that this grill was very easy to use. She also loved how well it maintained temperature, all of the color options available and the extra clever features that can be added on before purchasing the grill. Here’s everything we learned about this top charcoal grill while testing.

This grill is everything charcoal grillers love about Weber’s Original Kettle Grill but with a fantastic list of helpful upgrades. You can customize the ultimate design as a grilling gift for yourself, making the ideal build for your needs. The grill has three main components in its design: the legs with two wheels, the body and the lid. While customizing, you can choose from eight different colors, including options such as burnt orange, deep ocean blue and ivory, as well as choosing from two different trim colors. You have the option to upgrade the cooking grate to durable stainless steel and even add different wheels and an additional hook for all of your grilling tools.

Traditional charcoal grilling with an array of convenient features and color options.

As with other Weber charcoal grills, the Master Touch is constructed from steel with a porcelain-enamel coating on the body and the lid. This helps to prevent cracking and rusting for long-term use. The grill has a built-in thermometer on the top of the lid so you can easily check the temperature inside at a glance, along with an ash catcher for easy cleaning. Inside, there is a semi-circle elevated rack to use for warming or cooking more delicate items away from the heat of the coals, along with a cradle bar to hold the lid when you take it off to check on the food. The main grate is hinged, and the center is removable, making it easy to spread coals or add more as needed while cooking. With a total cooking area of 443 square inches, there’s plenty of room to make use of Weber grilling accessories as well, such as a cast-iron griddle for prepping breakfast or a rotisserie ring kit for the perfect cook on a juicy chicken.

This grill was put to the test by the Taste of Home Test Kitchen, evaluating for ease of assembly, performance while in use and ease of cleaning. Assembly for this grill was relatively straightforward, but there were a few pieces that proved to be difficult to click together along the way. Once assembled, it was evident that the grill is well-built, with a snugly fitting lid that didn’t slide off while moving the grill or leak smoke while cooking.

Test Kitchen pro Catherine Ward evaluated the grill’s performance by prepping steak, chicken and ribs. She found that it was easy to light the grill and simple to manage and control the temperature by adjusting the vents. It took less than 10 minutes to get up to the proper temperature. A whole cut-up chicken was cooked for one hour at 350 degrees to produce crisp, nicely browned skin with grill marks, and there was no need to refill the char baskets during this time. A rack of baby back ribs was cooked at 275 degrees for three hours, and the grill maintained temperature for 2 hours and 45 minutes. After a few coals were added when the temperature dropped slightly, the grill quickly heated back up. Overall, the low and slow cook provided ribs with light grill marks and a tender texture. It took a total cook time of six minutes to cook a 1 1/2-inch thick steak at 450 degrees, with a one-minute sear on each side and four minutes of covered cook time. Catherine loved the result of the steak, with crisp fat and edges and defined grill marks.

After grilling, the ash catcher was emptied and it was easy to clean the grill with a grill brush.

ANNAMARIE HIGLEY/TASTE OF HOME

To really stretch the Master Touch’s legs, it went home with Product Testing Manager Annamarie Higley for further evaluation. Annamarie has since used the grill three times to cook brats, hot dogs, chicken Parmesan burgers and a take-and-bake pizza.

ANNAMARIE HIGLEY/TASTE OF HOME

“The Weber Master Touch is a very high-quality and attractive grill. It’s lightweight while also substantial,” Annamarie says. “The wheels are ultra-convenient, especially on our back deck, which is close quarters and sometimes needs rearranging when we host.”

Annamarie particularly loves this grill’s smart features. “The adjustable kettle basin makes temperature control remarkably easy. The detachable ash catcher holds a ton of ashes and makes for easy, minimal cleanup. And the cooling rack is a great feature that keeps cooked food warm while you cook additional food. This is ideal for larger-scale cooking but even for just me and my boyfriend. We don’t always eat the same entrees, meaning our foods might not have the same cooking time. This way, we can still eat a hot meal together.” She also loves the lid holder, which saves space on her small duplex deck.

ANNAMARIE HIGLEY/TASTE OF HOME

Annamarie found that the grill could be a bit tricky to clean. “The food bits came right off, even after being caked on for a few days,” she says. “However, the inner grates, which lift out so users can load the charcoal, popped out of place a couple of times during tougher scrubbing, which was frustrating. As a workaround, I fully removed the inner grates to clean the more stable outer grates, then cleaned the inner grates separately while they were detached from the grill.”

Beyond that, her only complaint is personal: “Man, do I wish we’d gotten a colored model!  The burnt orange and spring green are to die for. I love that Weber chose to offer such poppy color options.”

The Taste of Home Test Kitchen tested this Weber Master Touch grill, along with other Weber grill models, with grilling expert Catherine Ward taking the lead. The grill was thoroughly evaluated for assembly, performance, design and ease of cleaning.

I am a writer specializing in food and lifestyle, with a specific passion for outdoor cooking and grilling. While I love to keep my eye on the latest food trends and kitchen gadgets, I focus on established products so I can recommend items that are worth the investment and will last, including pizza ovens, fire pits, grills and smokers.

The original Weber grill is the ideal charcoal grill for beginners, but the Weber Master Touch is the ultimate upgrade. This is for the grilling enthusiast who wants to customize their grilling experience and even match the exterior color of the grill to their backyard, patio or deck. It functions just the same as the original kettle grill but makes grilling that much more fun with convenient features.

Weber’s gas grills are great options for someone who wants quick and easy convenience, but they don’t have the same options for customization and this grill does.

Weber understands that its users love to grill with charcoal, and they love the design of the Original Kettle grill. This Master Touch version simply offers an upgrade to make grilling even better. With excellent heat retention, great performance, ease of use and cleaning as good as a standard kettle grill, it’s already a great choice. The options for different colors, upgrades and tool add-ons make it even more appealing.

Traditional charcoal grilling with an array of convenient features and color options.

Love the idea of being able to build a grill to suit your needs and match your style? The Weber Master Touch Charcoal Grill can be found at Amazon, Walmart or BBQ Guys for $299. You can also buy it directly from Weber, with the option for additional upgrades.

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