Weber Master-Touch 57cm Review: Is It Worth £50 More Than the Kettle?
The Master-Touch is the same 57 cm bowl as Weber’s Original Kettle, with a better grate, a place to hang the lid and a stainless cleaning system. Weber lists it at £50 more than the Kettle; independent dealers cut that gap further. A UK tester liked the barbecue and fought to light it. Owners mostly love it. And the lid thermometer tells you less than you might think.
Where the reviews line up
The evidence comes from three places: a hands-on test by Trusted Reviews of an earlier UK Master-Touch, backed by a July 2026 test of the current 57 cm by Tom’s Guide; the owners on the Weber Kettle Club forum, who have tested Weber lid thermometers against their own probes; and the buyer ratings at BBQ World and Weber UK, 219 of them between the two. They agree on the cooking and on the thermometer.
Three things come up everywhere. It cooks the way a Weber kettle always has. Tom’s Guide got past 250 °C from a single layer of charcoal and rates it for searing and the occasional smoke. The extras are about convenience, not heat. The hinged GBS grate lets you add charcoal mid-cook and swap in a pizza stone or wok; the Tuck-Away holder gives the hot lid somewhere to go. And buyers are very happy: 4.8/5 from 173 at BBQ World and 4.9/5 from 46 at Weber UK.
The warnings line up too. The lid thermometer reads the air at the top of the dome, not your food — Tom’s Guide says buy a probe, and forum owners report readings tens of degrees away from grate level. Trusted Reviews found it hard to light with ordinary charcoal and called assembly “a little tricky”. And the cover is not in the box: Weber’s 57 cm Premium cover is another £68.99.
The buying decision is the price gap. At Weber’s own prices the Master-Touch is £289 and the Original Kettle £239, so the grate, lid holder and stainless One-Touch cost £50 — and the Kettle is out of stock at Weber today. At the £226.99 we found at a Weber dealer, the Master-Touch costs less than the Kettle does at Weber. If you are paying anywhere near that, buy the Master-Touch.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- Trusted ReviewsUK hands-on test of an earlier Master-Touch with Char-Baskets. Undated; quotes £269.99.
- Weber Kettle ClubOwners’ forum: a 10-post thread on how accurate Weber lid thermometers are.
- BBQ World & Weber UK4.8/5 from 173 and 4.9/5 from 46 on this code — on pages that sell it.
Before the review: which Master-Touch?
This page is about Weber UK code 14701004, the black 57 cm Master-Touch GBS E-5750. Weber’s UK page now calls it simply the “57cm Master-Touch Charcoal Barbecue”, at the same code. Three things you will see elsewhere are different. The US 2024 Master-Touch has a hinged lid; Weber’s UK page lists a Tuck-Away lid holder instead, not a hinge. Older UK versions came with two Char-Baskets; Weber UK now lists Char-Rails, and one dealer says baskets are sold separately. And the coloured C-5750 and the Premium E-5770 are different barbecues at different prices.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Master-Touch GBS E-5750, black, code 14701004 | Weber UK and three UK dealers agree on the code |
| Grate and cooking area | 57 cm diameter · 2,342 cm² | Weber UK. The Original Kettle is the same 2,342 cm² |
| Cooking grate | Hinged Gourmet BBQ System (GBS) grate with lift-out centre | Weber UK; the Kettle has a plain plated grate |
| Lid | Tuck-Away lid holder, lid handle with heat shield, built-in thermometer | Weber UK. Not a hinged lid in the UK |
| Charcoal management | Char-Rails included; Char-Baskets not listed | Weber UK lists rails; WowBBQ says baskets sold separately |
| Ash | Stainless One-Touch cleaning, removable aluminium ash catcher | Weber UK |
| Dimensions | Lid closed 107 × 65 × 72 cm · lid open 118 × 65 × 76 cm (H × W × D) | Weber UK |
| Weight | 21 kg (Weber UK) · 17 kg (WowBBQ) | The two disagree; Weber’s Kettle page gives 16.3 kg for the Kettle |
| Cover | Not included. Weber Premium cover 7143 is £68.99 | Weber UK, fits 57 cm Master-Touch and Kettle |
| Guarantee | Bowl and lid 10 years · One-Touch 5 years · plastic parts 5 years · everything else 2 years | Weber UK; BBQ World repeats it |
| Price | £289 at Weber UK (was £299) · £226.99 at WowBBQ (in stock) · £229 at Gates and £207 at BBQ World (both unavailable) | Checked 7 October 2026 |
Trusted Reviews
This is the only UK editorial test we found, and it is of an older version: Trusted Reviews quotes £269.99 and says the barbecue came with two Char-Baskets, which the current UK listing no longer does. Its verdict is lukewarm: “A decent kettle barbecue but we found it too difficult to light.” It liked the large capacity, the air vents, the GBS grate and the lid loop at the back, and the tester found the barbecue lit far more easily with instant-light charcoal. Assembly took about 30 minutes and was “a little tricky”.
A newer US test backs up the cooking. Tom’s Guide cooked on the current 22-inch (57 cm) Master-Touch in July 2026, a US version with a hinged lid. It got past 250 °C from one layer of charcoal, liked it for searing, and listed flimsy wheels and limited grill space as the downsides. It took about 45 minutes to build, 10 to 15 minutes for a quick clean, and the reviewer recommends separate food probes rather than relying on the lid thermometer (tomsguide.com).
Watch: Weber Master Touch GBS 5750 Charcoal BBQ Grill Review
A review of the GBS 5750 itself — the closest match to the UK model on this page.
Watch on YouTube ↗Weber Kettle Club
This is an owners’ forum for Weber collectors and enthusiasts, not a testing lab, and the thread is about Weber lid thermometers generally rather than the Master-Touch alone. It is still the most useful thing we found on the question. The original poster put his Weber lid thermometer in boiling water and it read 212 °F (100 °C) every time. So the dial itself can be accurate.
The problem is where it sits. Members point out that it measures the air at the top of the dome, not at the grate where your food is. One owner tested two Weber lid thermometers side by side in the same evenly heated box and found them almost 30 °F (about 17 °C) apart. Another says that with the thermometer directly above his grate probe, the two readings are usually less than 50 °F (about 28 °C) apart. The forum’s practical advice: use the dial to see whether the barbecue is steady, and a probe to tell you when the food is done.
Watch: Which Weber Kettle to Buy? Original vs Premium vs Master Touch
A side-by-side of the Original Kettle, Premium and Master-Touch. Probably US versions, so expect the hinged-lid Master-Touch and US prices.
Watch on YouTube ↗BBQ World and Weber UK
Treat these as what they are: ratings collected by the businesses that sell the barbecue. The BBQ World reviews are collected through Reviews.co.uk after purchase, so they come from buyers, but many are about the shop rather than the barbecue. Recent ones praise good packaging, delivery, and the build: “Easy and quick to assemble. Used it the same day.”
Weber’s own UK page has fewer reviews but they are about cooking. The one Weber shows first: “Master touch handles everything with ease. Long smokes for brisket, indirect, direct, hot and fast.” For comparison, Weber’s UK page for the Original Kettle shows 4.6/5 from 21 reviews. Neither pool says much about the thermometer or the lighting problem Trusted Reviews had.
Watch: Grill Spotlight: Weber Kettle Master-Touch 22" Charcoal Grill (Unboxing, Setup, & Review)
Unboxing and build of the US 22-inch Master-Touch, which has a hinged lid rather than the UK Tuck-Away holder. Useful for seeing what assembly involves.
Watch on YouTube ↗What the Master-Touch adds over the Original Kettle
Both are the same 57 cm porcelain-enamelled bowl with 2,342 cm² of cooking area, a lid thermometer, One-Touch ash cleaning and two wheels, and both carry the same guarantee terms. Weber UK lists the Original Kettle E-5710 at £239 (out of stock when we checked) and the Master-Touch at £289, a gap of £50 (£60 against the Master-Touch’s previous £299). For that you get:
- The hinged GBS grate. One side lifts to add charcoal during a long cook, and the centre lifts out for Weber’s pizza stone, wok or griddle inserts, sold separately. The Kettle has a plain plated steel grate.
- The Tuck-Away lid holder. A place to hang the hot lid on the side of the bowl instead of putting it on the patio. The Kettle has an angled lid hook.
- Char-Rails to bank charcoal to one side for indirect cooking. Weber UK lists these for the Master-Touch; they are not on the Kettle’s list.
- A stainless-steel One-Touch system and an aluminium ash catcher, as Weber UK describes them. The Kettle has One-Touch cleaning and an ash catcher too; Weber’s Kettle page does not say what they are made of.
Not added: more cooking space, more heat, or a longer guarantee. If you only grill burgers twice a summer the Kettle cooks the same. If you plan to cook slowly, add charcoal mid-cook, or use a pizza stone, the hinged grate earns its place.
Gas or charcoal?
If you are choosing between this and a gas barbecue such as the Weber Spirit E-310, the trade-off is time against cost. The Spirit is about £494 from Weber dealers, before a gas bottle, and Weber says a 5 kg Patio Gas bottle gives six to eight hours of grilling. It heats in about ten minutes and has three separately controlled burners. The Master-Touch costs roughly half as much, but each cook means 20 to 25 minutes waiting for charcoal in a chimney, then ash to empty.
Charcoal per cook (our sums). Weber’s guide for the 57 cm kettle is 30 to 35 briquettes for medium heat and 45 to 50 for high. Weber does not publish what one briquette weighs. If we assume about 30 g, that is roughly 0.9 to 1.5 kg a cook. At £17.99 for 8 kg of Weber briquettes (WowBBQ, 7 October 2026), that works out at about £2.00 to £3.40 a cook. Cheaper charcoal costs less; a long, slow smoke uses more. Treat it as a rough guide, not a measured figure.
Choose gas for quick weekday cooking. Choose charcoal for flavour and smoking, or if the budget is about £250 rather than £500.
Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- The classic Weber kettle cook: hot enough to sear, steady enough to smoke.
- The hinged GBS grate makes adding charcoal and using inserts easy.
- Somewhere to hang the lid.
- Stainless-steel One-Touch cleaning and a removable ash catcher.
- 10-year guarantee on the bowl and lid.
- Strong buyer ratings: 4.8/5 from 173 and 4.9/5 from 46.
- Often discounted: £226.99 at one dealer against Weber’s £289.
What people complain about
- Trusted Reviews found it hard to light with ordinary charcoal.
- Assembly took 30 to 45 minutes in the two editorial tests.
- The lid thermometer reads dome air, not grate temperature.
- The cover is extra: £68.99 from Weber.
- Char-Baskets are no longer listed in the box.
- Tom’s Guide found the wheels flimsy.
- Only 2 years on most parts other than the bowl, lid, One-Touch and plastics.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you want a charcoal barbecue that will last, you plan to cook slowly or indirectly sometimes, and you can buy it near £230. At that price it is the obvious 57 cm kettle to buy. Budget for a chimney starter, a probe thermometer and a cover.
Look elsewhere if you want food on the grill ten minutes after you get home (buy gas), or you only grill a few times a year and can get the Original Kettle for much less than the Master-Touch. Keep the patio clean afterwards with a Kärcher K4, and a Hozelock Auto Reel keeps a hose within reach of the barbecue.
What we could not check
- Weight. Weber UK says 21 kg; WowBBQ says 17 kg. We could not tell which is right.
- Grate-level thermometer accuracy on this model. No source measured the Master-Touch’s dial against a grate probe. The forum figures are for Weber lid thermometers in general.
- Whether Char-Baskets are in the box. Trusted Reviews’ older test unit had two. Weber UK now lists Char-Rails; one dealer says baskets are sold separately.
- Charcoal per cook. Weber does not publish a briquette weight, so our £2.00 to £3.40 figure uses an assumed 30 g per briquette.
- The Trusted Reviews test date. The review is undated; its price and Char-Baskets suggest an earlier version.
- An independent UK test of the current model. Tom’s Guide tested the US hinged-lid version. We found no UK test of code 14701004 as sold today.
- The videos. We confirmed each by its search listing, not by opening it. Two show US versions.
- Original Kettle price at dealers. We only checked Weber UK’s £239, which was out of stock.
Sources last checked 7 October 2026. Prices and what is in the box change — check the code 14701004 and the contents against the listing in front of you before ordering.