Grilling in low-light conditions can be a hassle. I especially hated squinting at the grill or using my smartphone’s flashlight to “sort of” see how my food was coming along on the BBQ. It made my steak, sausages, or whatever I was grilling at the time hard to cook properly.
If you’re looking at the Weber Handle Grill ‘N Go Light because you need a light for your BBQ station, you’re in the right place. After thoroughly testing and using it in the dark, I know its features, installation process, benefits, and drawbacks. Let’s dive in.
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Weber Handle Grill ‘N Go Light Review
A hands-off grill light is the way to go if you want to satisfy your late-night BBQ cravings. I bought the Weber Handle Grill ‘N Go Light for my BBQ. My experience can help you decide if it’s the right light for you.
One thing to note before I dive in: the Grill ‘N Go Light is specifically designed to fit on Weber kettle grills, or any of their popular grill variety. If your BBQ charcoal grill is another brand, this Weber light might not fit properly on it.
Features and Benefits
Here are a couple of features worth talking about on the Weber Grill Light:
Two Part Installation
Weber’s method of attaching the light to the grill handle differs from what you’ll typically see. First, you have to install the clamp on the grill handle. Once that’s secure, you then attach the flashlight head to the clamp.
A benefit to this is that if you want to use the light to see something else around your grilling area, you can detach it from the clamp without needing to remove the clamp from the grill handle. Additionally, when you’re done grilling, you can just detach the light and store it inside, while keeping the clamp attached to the grill.
That said, this feature is not very functional because it took ten minutes for me to disconnect the flashlight head from the clamp the first time I used it. Even after doing it the first time, I still struggled to connect and disconnect the light. This is not practical for frequent grillers like me.
Even Light Distribution
The Grill ‘N Go Light is decently bright. It could be brighter, but it’s better than most lights I’ve tested. The light is a natural color, which is easy on my eyes. Additionally, the light spreads evenly across the grill, so I can fill the BBQ up with food and still see everything. For being a pretty small device, I was impressed by this.
User Experience
When I got my Weber Grill Light, it came with the batteries, which was nice. However, you need a smaller-than-average screwdriver to open the battery compartment. Luckily, another grill light I was testing came with a small screwdriver that worked for this.
Setting up the clamp was not a walk in the park either. I struggled with sliding on the flashlight and securing it to the clamp. It took too long for my liking, and detaching it was challenging. Overall, it felt clunky with the multiple parts I had to attach to the BBQ.
While Weber is the second brightest light I’ve tested, I wish it was more powerful. It does cast a wide net of light, which I found helpful.
Benefits and Drawbacks
There are some qualities I like and dislike about the Grill N’ Go Light. Here are the benefits:
- Compact and slim design
- Light spans wide and minimizes shadows on the grill
- Produces a natural light color that simulates sunlight.
- Clamp doesn’t sit too tightly on the handle, making it easy to slide
- Batteries are included
Here are some of the things I didn’t like:
- Could be brighter – it’s not the dimmest light I tested, but not the brightest
- Has a detachable flashlight head, which is very hard to disconnect from the clamp
- Need a tiny screwdriver to open the battery compartment, which isn’t included
Comparing the Weber Handle Grill ‘N Go
Here’s how the Weber Handle Light stacks up against the other grill lights I tested.
Weber Grill Light vs. Cave Tools and Chef Buddy
The Weber is way brighter than the 72-3101 Chef Buddy, but not quite as bright as the Cave Tools Barbecue Grill Light. Both Cave Tools and Weber distribute a pretty even spread of light onto the grilling surface, unlike Chef Buddy. In general, Weber illuminates well, but for the price, I’d go with Cave Tools.
As for the process of installing the batteries, Chef Buddy is the easiest to work with. You don’t need a screwdriver to open up the battery compartment. With Cave Tools and Weber, you can only change the batteries after removing the screws on the battery compartment. Not only does this take more time, but you also need a very small screwdriver to open it up.
Weber Grill Lights vs. Permasteel and Cuisinart
The Grill ‘N Go Light is brighter than the Permasteel PA-12002-AM Flexible Gooseneck Light and the Cuisinart CGL-555 Mount Grill Light. With Permasteel, you get two pieces per set, with eighteen LED bulbs in total. Yet, the intensity is not nearly as high as the Weber BBQ light.
On the other hand, Cuisinart follows closely behind Weber in terms of brightness. They both cast a wide net that could be brighter; however, they aren’t the dimmest I’ve used.
As for device installation, both Cuisinart and Permasteel are much easier to install and use. As I’ve mentioned, attaching and detaching the light from the Weber mount is time-consuming and difficult.
Who Should Get This
If you only plan to grill occasionally or intend to leave the Weber light on the BBQ, this light could work well for you. The brightness is decent, and you can see everything you cook on the grill, whether it’s the classic steak, or expertly broiling hotdogs, making it a solid option for late-night grill sessions.
For me, the biggest disadvantage of the Grill ‘N Go Light is how hard it is to take on and off the grill, so if you’re not planning on doing that very often, it makes sense to get this device.
Conclusion
The Weber Handle Grill ‘N Go Light works fine if you want a brighter grilling station and don’t plan on attaching and detaching the light very often. It’s budget-friendly, sturdy, and reliable, making it a decent grill light.
