Weber 1481001 Performer Platinum Charcoal Grill, Black

Awesome grill
The grill was very easy to assemble. It took less than an hour and it was ready to go. It's very easy to use. You just put charcoal in the baskets, push the button on the gas ignitor, let the coals get cooking for about 5 minutes or so, turn off the gas and let the coals get up to temp. Then add your meat and cook. The work surface is plenty big enough to place platters, etc. I can't find a single negative about this grill.

UPDATE 4/1/13
I have used the grill upwards of a dozen times and it is still functioning flawlessly. One thing I really like is that when I am done cooking, I just close the top and bottom vents and the charcoal extinguishes. This allows me to reuse some of the charcoal the next time I grill.
Here is what I have found as far as time it takes to get from ignition to cooking. I turn on the flames and let them go for about 5 minutes to get the charcoal started. I then let cover the grill and let the charcoal sit for about 20-25 minutes to get up...
Awesome!!!!!!!
Because I have moved a lot, I have probably gone through close to 8 Weber ONE-TOUCH Silver charcoal grills but have always been happy with them. Recently, I purchased my first house so i decided to go all out by ordering a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker 22.5 and this Weber Performer Platinum. I must say, the Weber Performer has exceeded my expectations! Here are a few positives:

1. Never before have I had such easy coal ignition. This is enough reason to give praise to the Performer Platinum.
2. The table-top is spacious and is great for prepping or beer placement.
3. The storage space provides one convenient location for coals, woods, and other stuff.

Negatives:
1. Missing the beer refrigerator :)

If you can afford it, my recommendation would be to spend the extra money for the Platinum. Now that I have purchased this grill, there's no going back to the ONE-TOUCH. Hope this review helps.
Tips you need to know
I've had this grill for a few weeks now and have used it ten times. I love it. But there are a few things that might be helpful to know:

1. I'm a grill newbie and debated for a LONG time about whether to get gas or charcoal. I wanted something hassle free so that I would use it frequently (I'm lazy) and all my friends said I needed a gas grill. But I couldn't resist the charcoal grill flavor and bought this instead. Wow, it is easy to use and easy to clean! I don't regret not getting a gas grill at all.

2. That said, gas is definitely easier if you don't want to think about grilling. To use charcoal I got online and studied two stage heating and where to place coals etc. This is pretty interesting and I enjoyed learning about cooking with charcoal. Note that although this grill makes it easy to cook with charcoal, learning to cook properly takes some studying to do it right and have amazing steaks (and once you learn the basics it becomes second nature). If you...
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