In this guide
The Original Kettle Premium 22 is the patio buy. The Jumbo Joe Premium 22 is the one that rides in a car a few times a season. The 14 inch Smokey Joe is the one that lives in the trunk. The base Original Kettle is the cheaper patio pick, and the patio section below lists exactly what the Premium adds so you can decide whether the gap is worth paying. The thing that will not decide any of this is grate size.
What does not separate the 22-inch models
Three of the four are the same grill from the grate up. Weber built one 22 inch bowl and then spent a while arguing with itself about what to bolt it to. The Original Kettle, the Original Kettle Premium and the Jumbo Joe Premium all cook on that bowl at 363 square inches apiece. None of them has a warming rack, so 363 is the whole cooking surface and not a headline with a shelf folded into it. The Smokey Joe is the outlier at a 14 inch bowl and 147 square inches, less than half the grate of the other three.
The published warranty terms also match at the headline level: 10 years on the bowl and lid against rust-through and burn-through, 5 years on listed cleaning-system and plastic components, and 2 years on the remaining parts. Read the terms for the exact model rather than using boilerplate to infer which cleaning hardware is installed.
The calls below rest on assembled dimensions, handles and wheels, which is how a portability decision actually gets made. Bulk decides the load, and handles decide the carry.
The decision is where the kettle will live and how it will move, not which of the three 22-inch grates is larger.
Which kettle should stay on the patio?
The Original Kettle Premium. It shares its bowl, grate size and nearly its whole footprint with the base kettle. Both stand 22.5 inches wide and 39.5 inches tall with the lid closed. The Premium runs 27 inches deep against the base model's 25, and both roll on two wheels.
The Premium earns the gap with three parts: a hinged plated-steel grate, a built-in lid thermometer and an enclosed high-capacity ash catcher. The hinge makes adding charcoal during a long cook easier. The enclosed catcher changes cleanup, especially in a breezy location. The base kettle has neither the dial nor the enclosed catcher. Compare the actual cleaning hardware listed for each model; warranty boilerplate is not a feature list.
Buy the base kettle instead if you cook short and direct and read temperature off a probe. A dome dial sits in the lid and reports the temperature of the air up there, which is not where the food is. Anyone cooking low and slow over charcoal ends up buying a probe regardless. I would not pay extra for a dial I already plan to ignore. The Original Kettle review covers the base model on its own terms, and the Original Kettle vs Premium comparison prices the gap.
Skip both if the grill has to move. They stand 39.5 inches tall, neither has a carry handle, and two wheels are for crossing a patio, not for loading a car.
Which kettle travels by car?
The Jumbo Joe Premium 22. It uses the same 22 inch bowl and 363 square inches as the Original Kettles, so portability does not cost grate area. The hardware changes to two handles and a lid hook that parks the lid on the side of the bowl while you cook. That keeps a hot lid off grass or another unsafe surface. Vent layouts differ across the line, so follow the manual for the model in front of you rather than counting the word “damper” on a product card.
It is not much smaller, though. 22 inches wide, 38.6 inches tall, 24.8 deep with the lid closed, which lands within an inch of the base kettle on every axis, and it rolls on the same two wheels. Portable here means it has handles. It does not mean it is small. This is a grill that travels by car and gets carried at both ends of the trip. It is not a grill that vanishes into a trunk. Whether one person can lift it into a hatchback alone is a question to answer at a store, with your own hands on the handles.
Skip it if the grill never leaves the patio. The Jumbo Joe Premium has an ash catcher and no thermometer. The Kettle Premium has the enclosed high capacity catcher and the built-in dial. Parked in one spot, the Kettle Premium is the better equipped grill for the same 363 square inches. The Jumbo Joe Premium review goes deeper, and the Jumbo Joe vs Smokey Joe comparison settles portable against portable.
Which kettle lives in the trunk?
The Smokey Joe, and it is the only one of the four built for the job. 14.2 inches wide, 17 inches tall, 16.5 deep with the lid closed, against a Jumbo Joe Premium that stands 38.6 inches tall. That is the whole argument, and it fits on one line. The Tuck-N-Carry lid lock holds the lid shut for the ride and doubles as a lid holder at the other end. One handle, lid and bowl dampers, an ash catcher, and no wheels at all. No wheels is the point. This one gets picked up.
The cost is the grate. At 147 square inches, food that fits on a 22-inch kettle may require smaller portions or multiple rounds. Lay out the food from a typical cook before deciding that the compact grill can replace a full-size one.
The Smokey Joe review covers the rest. If the trunk grill's real job is breakfast on a flat top, that is a different tool, and it is covered in the Blackstone On the Go 22 review.
What owning a kettle asks of you
A kettle is cheap to buy and it is not free to run. Charcoal is the running cost, and the running cost does not stop. Every cook starts with fuel you paid for and ends with ash somebody has to move.
A chimney starter is a simple way to light charcoal without pouring fluid onto the fuel. Follow its directions, use it outdoors on a noncombustible surface, and wear suitable heat protection when the coals are ready to pour.
Ash is the recurring chore. On the Original Kettle line, the cleaning sweep moves ash and the catcher underneath is the part you empty, which is why the Premium's enclosed catcher matters. Treat every coal as live until it is completely cold and follow Weber's disposal guidance; never move warm ash into a garage or combustible container.
Storage is a height problem. Both Original Kettles stand 39.5 inches tall with the lid closed and the Jumbo Joe Premium stands 38.6, so none of them slides under a low bench. The Smokey Joe at 17 inches is easier to shelve. Keep charcoal sealed and dry; damp fuel can light slowly and burn unpredictably.
The shortlist by scenario
Stays on the patio: the Original Kettle Premium, with the base Original Kettle as the cheaper pick if the hinge, the dial and the enclosed catcher do not earn their gap for you. Travels sometimes: the Jumbo Joe Premium, the same 363 square inches on a frame with two handles. Lives in the trunk: the Smokey Joe, the only one of the four you would actually lift into a car.
All four sit in charcoal grills. The two head-to-heads, Original Kettle vs Premium and Jumbo Joe vs Smokey Joe, settle the two closest calls.