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Kettle vs barrel barbecue: dome or a long grate

Updated: 23 October 2026

You have narrowed the twelve amazon.co.uk charcoal rows to a round kettle or an oil-drum grill, and every title still says large. A kettle vs barrel barbecue decision is not charcoal versus gas, and it is not a tour of every cart. Choose the kettle when dinner fits about 1,548 cm² under a domed lid. Choose a barrel when the printed grate is a long rectangle and the patio has the width. Cards and prices stay on the [charcoal barbecue comparison](/hub/grills-and-barbecues/charcoal-barbecue). Peter F. edits DIY and tools at Products Compared. Updated 23 October 2026. We did not lab-test smoke seal or wind. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have narrowed the twelve amazon.co.uk charcoal rows to a round kettle or an oil-drum grill, and every title still says large.

Our top picks

Weber Weber Compact kettle 47 cm

Best overall

Weber Weber Compact kettle 47 cm
9.0/10about £49.49
View offer
Weber Weber Original kettle 47 cm

Alternative

Weber Weber Original kettle 47 cm
9.0/10about £111.24
View offer
Big Smokey Big Smokey barrel barbecue

Alternative

Big Smokey Big Smokey barrel barbecue
8.8/10about £67.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.When the kettle is the one
  2. 2.When the barrel is the one
  3. 3.Dome or a long drum
  4. 4.The pick, with one condition

When the kettle is the one

The kettles here are the Weber Compact 47 cm at about £49.49, the Weber Original 47 cm at about £111.24, and HOMION at about £28.99. Both Webers print 1,548 cm². Weber UK’s Original page (model 1502192) states that area, about nine burgers and four to six people, with a lid thermometer. The Compact shares the grate without that gauge, at about 9 kg against the Original’s 8.94 kg. A domed lid makes a two-zone bank easy: coals on one side, empty grate on the other. HOMION is 3.5 kg, and UK reviews of a cracked rack and a dropping ash tray are a different bet from Weber enamel. Skip a kettle if you need a longer row or side shelves. Skip conditions sit on best charcoal barbecue.

When the barrel is the one

Big Smokey at about £67.99 is the barrel whose centimetres agree: a 71 × 35.3 cm main grate, a 72.3 × 13.5 cm warming rack, about 11.9 kg, and about 64 × 90 × 93 cm overall, with wheels and a sliding grill. That rectangle is the reason to accept drum width. BBC Good Food treats barrels as crowd cookers that use more fuel and storage, with coal sometimes easier to spread than in a dome. Campfire XL prints 58 × 42.5 cm in one place and disagrees on overall size elsewhere, at 3.2 stars with assembly complaints. It is not a clean default. DYUEE’s large title sits beside a 25 × 40 × 19 cm line and a 3.7 sample with paint and tray failures. Grillmaster360’s sketch of about 80 × 80 cm for a kettle and about 150 × 70 cm for a barrel with shelves is their sketch, not a tape of these ASINs. Measure the path from shed to patio before you order a drum.
Weber Weber Compact kettle 47 cm

Testsieger

Weber Weber Compact kettle 47 cm
9.0/10about £49.49
View offer

Dome or a long drum

A kettle bowl can hold a deeper coal bed under a circulating lid, which suits the sear-and-roast rhythm on how to use a charcoal barbecue. A horizontal barrel holds more food over a thinner bed and often gives a door or sliding grate so you can add fuel without dismantling dinner. That helps a crowd in a row. It does not make the barrel better at smoking without a criterion. Vertical smokers and kamados are outside this comparison. Smoke & Soil flags kettles as weaker in cold wind and on smokes past about eight hours. Those are editorial limits, not failures measured on the Compact. Folding side tables and a raising coal pan, on the CosmoGrill or House of Home pattern, are a third shape on the main table, not a tie-break here.

The pick, with one condition

Default to a 47 cm Weber kettle when Weber UK’s people-count for 1,548 cm² matches dinner and you will cook with the lid on. Take Big Smokey when you need a grate on the order of 71 × 35.3 cm, the 64 × 90 × 93 cm footprint fits, and you accept the wheel-side handle and the briquette note in UK reviews. Skip DYUEE until the small dimension line is explained. Skip Campfire if assembly reviews matter more than the footprint. Take HOMION only as a light, short-life kettle. A higher star rating on a cart does not overturn a patio that cannot take a drum’s width. Re-check the live amazon.co.uk dimensions before you pay.

Common questions

Is a kettle or a barrel the default for a UK patio?
A kettle is the usual default for everyday lid cooking on a small patio. A barrel earns the slot when the printed rectangular grate and the footprint both fit the party you actually host.
How many people is a 47 cm, 1,548 cm² kettle for?
Weber UK states about four to six people and nine burgers on the Original 47 cm page. That is the maker’s capacity line for this grate class, not a guarantee for every menu.
What grate does the Big Smokey actually print?
71 × 35.3 cm on the main grate and 72.3 × 13.5 cm on the warming rack in the saved listing. Use those figures, not the word large.
Do barrels smoke better, or do they just hold more food?
They hold more food on a longer grate and often make fuel top-ups easier. Better at smoking needs a criterion. This set does not include a dedicated vertical smoker test.
Why might a domed lid beat a drum for two-zone cooking?
A round bowl makes it easy to bank coals on one half and leave a cool half under the lid. A thin, even barrel bed is better at feeding a crowd in a row than at inventing a deep cool zone.
How wide are the barrels in this set, and will one fit a small patio?
Big Smokey’s overall line is about 64 × 90 × 93 cm. Campfire and DYUEE disagree with themselves on size, so measure only after you trust a line. If the path to the patio is tight, a 47 cm kettle is the safer default.
When do I stop comparing and look at a cart with a coal tray instead?
When you need side tables, a raising coal pan and cart mass on the CosmoGrill or House of Home pattern. That is a third shape on the main comparison, not a kettle-versus-barrel tie-break.

Related pages

Charcoal barbecue buying guide

Charcoal barbecue

Best charcoal barbecue: who each saved pick is for

How to use a charcoal barbecue without lighter fluid

Charcoal barbecue safety: where you must not light

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: fire safety outdoors (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. NHS: carbon monoxide poisoning (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. GOV.UK: smoke control areas (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. BSI: BS EN 1860-1:2024 solid-fuel barbecues (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. BSI: BS EN 1860-2:2023 barbecue charcoal (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Weber UK: how to use a charcoal barbecue (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. BBC Good Food: how to light a barbecue (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 22 October 2026)