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Kettle BBQ vs barrel barbecue

Updated: 23 October 2026

You have narrowed the fuel to charcoal and now the table offers two silhouettes: a round domed kettle and a long drum or hooded smoker. This kettle BBQ vs barrel barbecue page is the shape decision only, when the dome and two vents are enough, and when a long grate is the point. The Products Compared editorial team wrote it on 21 October 2026 from these listings and UK magazine size notes. We did not measure heat maps on these ASINs. Prices and full rows sit on the [barbecue comparison](/hub/grills-and-barbecues/barbecue). A qualifying purchase through our links can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have narrowed the fuel to charcoal and now the table offers two silhouettes: a round domed kettle and a long drum or hooded smoker.

Our top picks

Weber Weber Compact Kettle 47 cm

Best overall

Weber Weber Compact Kettle 47 cm
8.9/10about £49.49
View offer
Big Smokey Big Smokey barrel

Alternative

Big Smokey Big Smokey barrel
8.4/10about £67.99
View offer
HOMION HOMION kettle 43.5 cm

Best value

HOMION HOMION kettle 43.5 cm
7.9/10about £28.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What changes with the shape
  2. 2.The kettles in these listings
  3. 3.The barrels and hoods
  4. 4.When to pick which

What changes with the shape

A kettle is a round bowl with a domed lid and, on the Weber and HOMION rows here, dampers for air. That closed chamber is why charcoal advice treats a lid as basic kit: you can sear with the lid off and roast with it on. A barrel or oil-drum barbecue is a long hinge and a wide coal bed. BBC Good Food’s charcoal notes say even direct heat is sometimes easier to spread on a barrel than in a domed kettle, and they steer couples toward a compact kettle and bigger groups toward a drum. Treat those headcounts as a magazine sketch, not a count of burgers on these grills. Neither shape is just a smaller version of the other. The coal bed geometry changes how you place food and how you bank for indirect heat. An open box with no lid, such as the Amig AZKAR, is neither kettle nor barrel for this purpose. A UK review says there is no lid, so closed-lid kettle work is off the table. Decision order before shape sits on the charcoal barbecue buying guide.

The kettles in these listings

The kettles run HOMION at about 43.5 cm and £28.99 (3.5 kg, lid and cover in the included line), Weber Compact and Original at 47 cm with a shared 1,548 cm² bullet for four to six people, and the Premium at 57 cm with a 2,342 cm² bullet for six to eight at £239.00. Ignore fields that print 47 or 57 square centimetres; those are not grate areas. The Compact at £49.49, 4.5 from 377, is the volume leader. The Original at £111.24 adds a lid thermometer and One-Touch ash on the bullets. The Premium is the large-kettle step when the cook regularly outgrows 47 cm. UK reviews on the Original still disagree on capacity: one says four to five people, another runs out beyond two. A Good Food review of a different Weber Classic 57 cm called it enough for six. That article is not this Premium ASIN.
Weber Weber Compact Kettle 47 cm

Testsieger

Weber Weber Compact Kettle 47 cm
8.9/10about £49.49
View offer

The barrels and hoods

Big Smokey at £67.99, 4.4 from 173, is the barrel with the review sample you can lean on. The bullet claims a 71 × 35.3 cm porcelain-coated main grill and a warming rack about 72.3 × 13.5 cm, at 11.9 kg with two wheels. Reviewers feed sausages, burgers and chicken for six adults. The coal grate is wide enough that lump charcoal falls through, so briquettes are the workaround, and the push handle sits on the wheeled leg. The HOMION oil drum at £63.94, 9 kg, has no cooking-area field and a thinner, more troubled parts record. KEYO’s 29 inch spit listing prints 537 square inches at £133.99 with only six ratings, a long claim on a tiny sample. Hooded smokers, House Of Home XL, Campfire XL and Kendane, are a third silhouette: a cabinet or cart with shelves and, on House Of Home, a front coal drawer. They are not kettles and not simple drums. Point to them when you want side tables and a drawer, then stop. Assembly and melt risks belong on best charcoal barbecue, not in a shape essay.

When to pick which

Pick the kettle for a round bowl, two dampers, and a cook aimed at a couple or the four-to-six claim on the 47 cm Webers. Pick the Compact if a thermometer is optional, the Original if the gauge and ash system are why you spend more, and the Premium only when the 2,342 cm² claim matches how you host. Pick the barrel when the long grate is the job for about six. Big Smokey is the barrel to start from. Skip it if you only burn large lump that falls through that coal grate. A kettle can still feel cool at the edge of a crowded grate, and a barrel can run hot in the middle if the coal bed is uneven. Shape helps only if the lid seats and the grate survives the first cook.

Common questions

Is a kettle just a smaller barrel?
No. A kettle is a round bowl with a domed lid and a damper pair. A barrel is a long hinge and a wide bed. Capacity can overlap, but the coal layout and lid geometry differ.
Which shape holds heat for indirect cooking?
A lidded kettle with working vents is the classic closed chamber for indirect heat. A barrel with a closable lid can do the same job along a longer grate. An open grill with no lid cannot.
When is a barrel worse, even if the grate is longer?
When the coal grate drops your fuel, the handle makes the cart awkward to move, or the review sample is thin. Big Smokey’s lump problem and KEYO’s six ratings are the examples here.
Does a kettle have cool edges?
Magazine tests of other kettles sometimes report cooler spots toward the rim when the grate is packed. That is a reason barrels get credit for even beds, not a measurement we took on these ASINs.
Can the open Amig do the kettle job?
No. A UK review states there is no lid. It can sear outdoors for a couple. It cannot run closed-lid kettle heat.

Related pages

Barbecue for a small space

How to light a barbecue

Barbecue

Best charcoal barbecue UK: top pick and best value

Charcoal barbecue buying guide: lid, vents and grate

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures for these ASINs. Retrieved 22 October 2026.

  1. GOV.UK: smoke control area rules (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. GOV.UK: smoke control enforcement in England (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. GOV.UK: fire safety outdoors (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. BSI: BS EN 1860-1:2024 solid-fuel barbecues (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Weber UK: how to control charcoal temperature (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. Weber UK: charcoal kettle prices (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. The Guardian, 11 June 2026: best BBQs and grills tested (retrieved 22 October 2026)