Vents control the fire; the lid turns a grill into an oven · review
The Master-Touch in Deep Ocean Blue, whose listing also names taller legs and char-basket fuel holders.
What we would actually buy The same Master-Touch in Deep Ocean Blue for twenty dollars more — and its listing names two things the black one does not: taller legs and char-basket fuel holders. Either it has more, or the two pages disagree.
The two Master-Touch listings on this shelf are $289 in black and $309 in Deep Ocean Blue, and the obvious reading is that you are paying twenty dollars for a color.
Except that this description adds taller legs and char-basket fuel holders, and the black listing names neither.
Char-baskets matter. They are two wire baskets that hold the briquettes in a defined pile instead of letting them spread across the whole bowl floor — which is how you build a two-zone fire: hot coals on one side, nothing on the other, so you can sear over the first and finish over the second without the lid blowing the temperature around. It is the single most useful thing you can do on a kettle, and doing it without baskets means pushing hot coals with a poker.
Taller legs raise the working height, which on a 42-inch kettle is already the tallest on this shelf.
So either this version genuinely has two features the black one lacks, or the two pages describe the same grill unequally. On a $309 purchase that is worth asking before buying.
Five one-line bullets here, against six detailed ones on the black Master-Touch.
Missing from this page but published on that one: “3 air vents which are regulated by 3 arched, swiveling damper blades” — the only airflow figure anywhere on this shelf; the One-Touch cleaning system with its high-capacity removable ash catcher; the warming rack; and “two premium, eight inch, rubber-molded wheels”.
The grill is almost certainly the same in all those respects. The page simply does not say so. Read the black listing for the specification and this one for its two extras.
Porcelain enamel is glass fused to steel at high temperature, and the pigment sits in the glass rather than on it. That is why Weber can say across this shelf that the finish will resist rust and won’t peel — there is no paint layer to come off.
So a blue kettle is the same object as a black one, built the same way.
The only practical difference: a chip shows bare grey steel either way, and either way it wants touching up before wet ash gets to the metal. Wet ash is alkaline and eats steel — it is what holes a cheap kettle from the inside.
Holds up to 13 burgers made with a Weber burger press.
The same figure Weber prints on the $98 Jumbo Joe, the $149 Original Kettle, the $219 Premium and the $289 Master-Touch.
Five listings, one capacity, a $211 spread. The money buys mechanisms.
No weight, where the black Master-Touch is 16,896 g. No warranty — only the $149 Original Kettle publishes one on this shelf, ten years limited. No vent count. No cooking area in square inches.
On sale at around $310 on the American Amazon store at the time of checking.
Prices and availability are what Keepa reported on the date this page was updated; both move.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 4 October 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.
| Diameter | 22 in |
|---|---|
| Color | Deep Ocean Blue — the only kettle on this shelf that is not black |
| Legs | Taller legs, stated in the description |
| Charcoal baskets | Char-basket fuel holders, for arranging briquettes — stated in the description |
| Lid parking | Tuck-Away lid holder on the side |
| Grate | Hinged and GBS-compatible, for adding charcoal while grilling |
| Inserts available | Wok and griddle, bought separately |
| Thermometer | Built-in lid thermometer |
| Stated capacity | Up to 13 burgers made with a Weber burger press |
| Storage | Tool hooks |
| Overall dimensions | 610 × 749 × 1067 mm (24 × 29.5 × 42 in) — about 42 in tall |
| Published bullets | Five, each one line — against six detailed ones on the black Master-Touch |
| Air vents | Not published here, where the black Master-Touch publishes three |
| Weight | Not published by the maker |
| Warranty | Not published by the maker |
| Amazon reference | B07ZL9F4J8 |
| EAN | 0077924148637 |
Not according to its own description, which is the interesting part. The two listings sit twenty dollars apart on this shelf — $289 black, $309 Deep Ocean Blue — and this one adds a sentence the black page does not have: "Equipped with a tuck-away lid holder for convenient lid placement, taller legs, & char-basket fuel holders for easily arranging briquettes." Char-baskets are genuinely useful: two wire baskets that hold the coals in a defined pile, which is how you set up a two-zone fire for anything you want to cook indirectly. Taller legs raise the working height. So either this version has two things the black one lacks, or the two pages describe the same grill unequally. Worth asking Weber before paying the twenty dollars for a color.
Not the cooking, and not the durability. Porcelain enamel is glass fused to steel at high temperature, and the pigment is in the glass rather than on top of it, which is why Weber can claim across this shelf that the finish will "resist rust and won’t peel". A blue kettle is the same construction as a black one. The only physical difference worth a thought is that a dark body absorbs a little more solar heat sitting in the sun, which is irrelevant next to a bed of burning charcoal. What the color does mean is that chips show differently — a chip in black enamel shows bare grey steel against black, a chip in blue shows it against blue, and either way it wants touching up before wet ash gets at the metal.
Because listings are written per item rather than per product, and it is worth knowing which details you are losing. The black Master-Touch publishes six detailed bullets including the figure that makes it distinctive — "3 air vents which are regulated by 3 arched, swiveling damper blades" — plus the One-Touch ash system, the warming rack and "two premium, eight inch, rubber-molded wheels". This page publishes five one-line bullets and names none of those. The grill is almost certainly identical in those respects; the page simply does not say. If you are comparing them, read the black listing for the specification and this one for the two extras it names. On a $309 purchase, ask rather than assume.
Close prices, same category: comparable cookware and knives. We keep only the specifications all of them publish, because a column with gaps compares nothing.
| Model | Price | Weight | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weber 14516001 Master-Touch Deep Ocean Blue | $310 | Not published by the maker | Not published by the maker |
| Weber 14501001 Master-Touch | $290 | 16896 g (596 oz) | Not published by the maker |
| Napoleon PRO22K-LEG-3 | $390 | 28123 g (992 oz) — the heaviest on this shelf, 1.7× the Master-Touch | Not published by the maker |
| Weber 14401001 Original Kettle Premium | $220 | 14651 g (516.8 oz) | Not published by the maker — the $149 Original Kettle publishes ten years |
Someone who wants the Master-Touch and does not want a black grill
Listed because the add-on names this pan as a fit.
Amazon reports what buyers took in the month before this page was last checked: at least 100.
The figure is a floor, rounded by Amazon, and read through Keepa — it says what buyers picked, not what a maker claims.
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for cookware and kitchen knives and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
18 in kettle charcoal grill, stated for 1–4 people, with wheels, handles and a built-in ash collector, assembled by one person in 15 minutes
An 18-inch kettle for fifty-three dollars, assembled in a stated fifteen minutes by one person.
Best for: A first kettle, a gift, or a small household that grills for two
22 in charcoal kettle with 354 sq in of cooking space, a porcelain-enamelled lid and bowl, adjustable air dampers, a removable ash catcher and a storage rack
A 22-inch porcelain-enamelled kettle with 354 published square inches, at twenty-three cents a square inch.
Best for: The most cooking area per dollar on this shelf, if you can live without the lid hook
≈ $80
22 in charcoal kettle with hinged cast iron grids adjustable to three heights, a Vortex heat management system, a Smoke Stack Chimney, a stainless steel extension ring with rotisserie spit ports and temperature probe doors, an offset hinged lid and chrome-plated cooking grids
The only kettle here with grids at three heights, probe doors and rotisserie ports, at 28 kg (61.7 lb).
Best for: A charcoal cook who smokes with a probe, roasts on a spit, and wants to move the grid rather than the coals
≈ $390
Prices quoted in these summaries are dated readings. The live price is shown next to each product.
