Choosing a propane gas grill is mostly a decision about burners: how many there are, where they sit, and whether any of them is aimed at something other than the grate under your food. The six models in this roundup run from a three-burner stainless cart to a five-burner Baron with a side burner and a rear rotisserie burner, and every one of them is a currently listed model rather than a discontinued floor unit. The spec sheets overlap enough to be confusing, so this guide separates the features that change how a grill cooks from the ones that only change how it looks on the patio: burner count and burner layout, dedicated sear or broil zones, side burner and side shelf configuration, grate material, and the cleanup hardware you will touch after every cook.
If you are shopping for propane gas grills and you already know how you cook, the short version is that burner count should follow the number of people you feed and the size of the food you cook, not the size of the price tag. A four-burner grill with a well-placed broil zone will beat a five-burner grill with a cold front edge. The rest of this guide works through those trade-offs model by model.
Related: Grate Care, Burner Cleaning, and Cover Discipline: Keeping a Gas Grill Alive
Quick answer
The Broil King 675144 Baron 590 Pro Shadow 5-Burner is the strongest fit for cooks who want maximum burner capacity and rotisserie capability in one cart, because its listing pairs five main burners with a side burner and a rear rotisserie burner. Choose the Monument Grills Mesa II 410FBZ instead when you want four burners, foldable side shelves, and a fast-heat broil zone in a package that is easier to fit on a small patio and quicker to assemble.
Propane gas grills worth comparing
Each card below matches the product name, image, and retailer link to the same listing, so you can confirm what you are buying before you commit.
Broil King 675144 Baron 590 Pro Shadow 5-Burner Pellet Ready Propane Gas Grill in Black with Side Burner and Rear Rotisserie Burner
The largest grill in this group: five main burners in a black cart, listed with a side burner and a rear rotisserie burner, and carrying Broil King's pellet-ready designation in the model name.
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Monument Grills 4 Burner Propane Gas Grill with Advanced Broil Zone, Stainless Steel Outdoor Mesa 2 Barbecue Grill, Foldable Side Shelves, 500°F in 5 Mins, Fast Assembly, Mesa II 410FBZ
A four-burner stainless steel grill listed with an advanced broil zone, foldable side shelves, a manufacturer-stated 500 degrees Fahrenheit in five minutes, and fast assembly.
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Broil King 674144 Baron 490 Pro Shadow 4-Burner Pellet Ready Propane Gas Grill in Black with Side Burner and Rear Rotisserie Burner
The same black Baron package with one fewer main burner: four burners, a side burner, and a rear rotisserie burner, also labeled pellet ready in the model name.
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Monument Grills 4 Burner Propane Gas Grill, Stainless Steel Outdoor Patio Barbecue Grill, with Broil Zone Fast Heating, Knob Control, and Easy Cleanup, M410MBZ
A four-burner stainless steel patio grill listed with a broil zone for fast heating, knob controls, and easy cleanup.
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3-Burner Propane Gas Grill with Side Burner, 34,000 BTU Stainless Steel BBQ Grill, Heavy-Duty Porcelain-Enameled Grates for Patio and Outdoor Cooking
A three-burner stainless steel grill listed at 34,000 BTU with a side burner and heavy-duty porcelain-enameled cooking grates.
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Aoxun 4-Burner Propane Gas Grill with Side Burner, 49000 BTU Gas Grill
A four-burner propane grill listed at 49,000 BTU with a side burner, positioned as the budget end of the four-burner field.
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How these products were compared
This guide compares burner count and burner layout, the presence of a dedicated sear or broil zone, side burner and side shelf configuration, the body and grate materials named in each listing, and the assembly and cleanup features the manufacturer advertises. Product names, images, and retailer links are matched by product identifier so that every card points to the product shown.
These are specification comparisons rather than hands-on reviews. Everything described here comes from the product listings themselves, which means a preheat claim such as 500 degrees Fahrenheit in five minutes is the manufacturer's figure, not a measurement taken on a windy afternoon in the backyard. A grill earns a full write-up only after several real cooks in real weather, and that is a different kind of article. What follows is the part you can verify before you buy: what each model is built with, and which cooking style each configuration actually suits.
Use the retailer link on each card to confirm the current price, availability, and return terms, since those details move around more often than the hardware does.
How to choose the right propane gas grill
Start with burner count and be honest about it. A three-burner grill like the 34,000 BTU stainless model in this group handles dinner for a family and gives you a workable hot side and cool side. Four burners add a second zone and more grate depth, which is what you want if you routinely cook for six or more people or if you like to run a hot sear station on one end while vegetables and chicken finish on the other. Five burners, as on the Baron 590 Pro Shadow, buy you either more simultaneous zones or more total grate area, and they also consume propane faster and take up more patio.
Then look at what the extra burner is pointed at. A broil zone, as listed on both Monument models here, is a dedicated high-heat area rather than just another burner, and it is the feature that decides whether you can finish a steak with a crust or melt cheese on a burger without moving the whole cook to the top rack. A rear rotisserie burner, as listed on both Baron models, is a different tool entirely: it is for turning whole chickens and roasts on a spit with the lid down, and if you never plan to use a rotisserie, you are paying for capability you will not touch.
Side burners are the quiet workhorse of a gas grill. They keep the grease and smoke out of the kitchen when you are simmering sauce, boiling corn, or running a griddle attachment, and they cost very little to add at purchase compared with buying a separate burner later. Side shelves matter just as much, but for a different reason: a shelf smaller than a sheet pan is a shelf you will never use. The foldable shelves on the Mesa II 410FBZ are the practical choice for a narrow patio or a balcony where the grill has to squeeze past a railing when it is not in use.
Grate material and cart design are the last two filters. Porcelain-enameled grates, like the heavy-duty set listed on the three-burner grill here, hold heat well and are forgiving about scraping, while stainless grates tend to tolerate high heat and repeated brushing. Neither is automatically better; both need to be cleaned after the cook, not the next morning. If you want to sort out fuel before hardware, the decision between a propane tank and a natural gas line is its own conversation: Propane vs Natural Gas: What Your Patio Actually Supports.
Broil King 675144 Baron 590 Pro Shadow 5-Burner
The Baron 590 Pro Shadow is the top of this particular pile because it stacks the most capability into one cart. It lists five main burners, a side burner for pots and griddle work, and a rear rotisserie burner for spit cooking with the lid closed, all in a black finish that hides smoke stains better than bare stainless. The model name also carries Broil King's pellet-ready designation, which tells you the brand built the cart around accessory compatibility rather than treating it as an afterthought.
The trade-off is straightforward. Five burners and two specialty burners mean a bigger footprint, more propane burned per hour, and a higher entry point than anything else in this guide. If your cooking is mostly burgers, chicken breasts, and vegetables on a weeknight, the extra zone count buys you very little, and the rotisserie burner only earns its keep if you actually plan to spin a bird or a roast. Buy it for the configuration you will use, not the configuration that looks good in a showroom lineup.
Alternatives to consider
The Broil King 674144 Baron 490 Pro Shadow 4-Burner is better suited to cooks who want the same black Baron body, side burner, and rear rotisserie burner but do not need a fifth main burner. It keeps the accessory layout and shaves a zone off the cooking surface, which is the right call for a household that rarely cooks for a crowd.
The Monument Grills Mesa II 410FBZ is a stronger fit when patio space is tight and assembly speed matters, because it pairs four burners with foldable side shelves and a fast-heat broil zone. The Monument Grills M410MBZ sits alongside it as the simpler four-burner stainless option, listed with a broil zone, knob controls, and easy cleanup rather than folding shelves and the faster assembly pitch.
The 3-Burner Propane Gas Grill with Side Burner, the Aoxun 4-Burner with Side Burner, and the rest of the field cover the value end of the range. The three-burner unit is the smallest cooking surface here but still includes a side burner and porcelain-enameled grates, which makes it a sensible first gas grill or a second grill for a cabin or rental. The Aoxun pairs four burners and a side burner at a listed 49,000 BTU, so it is the one to look at if four-zone cooking is the goal and budget is the constraint. Between those two, the decision comes down to whether you would rather have a smaller cooking surface with better grates or a larger one with more burners.
Day-to-day use and maintenance
A gas grill lives or dies on small habits. Preheat with the lid down for ten to fifteen minutes before the food goes on, then brush the grates while they are hot and the residue is still soft. After the cook, leave the burners on high for a few minutes with the lid closed to burn off drippings, then shut the gas off at the tank and let the grill cool before you scrape the drip tray or wipe the shelves. The drip tray is the part most owners forget, and it is the part that decides whether next weekend's cook smells like last weekend's grease.
The igniter is the other routine failure point. Keep the burner tubes clear of debris and spider webs, check that the electrode and the burner ports are clean, and if a burner lights unevenly, shut everything down and inspect before you try again. A grill that lights on the third or fourth click in September will be a grill you light with a long match by May.
Safety basics are not optional. Never operate a propane grill indoors, in a garage, or under an enclosed overhang, and never store a spare tank near a heat source. When you connect a tank, do a soapy water leak check at the connection, and keep the lid open when you first light a burner so gas cannot pool under a closed hood. Cover the grill once it is cool if it lives outside, and store the tank upright and valve-closed when the grill is out of service for the season.
Buying checklist
- Measure the patio or balcony footprint, including clearance in front of the lid and room for the side shelves to fold or swing.
- Pick your burner count based on how many people you normally feed, not on the largest cook you host once a year.
- Decide whether you will genuinely use a rear rotisserie burner or a side burner before you pay for either.
- Confirm that the exact model in the listing includes the features you want, since similarly named siblings can differ by a burner.
- Check the grate material and the drip tray design, because those two parts define how much maintenance you sign up for.
- Read the assembly and maintenance instructions before the box arrives, and confirm current retailer price, availability, and return terms on the card link.
Final recommendation
Choose the Broil King 675144 Baron 590 Pro Shadow 5-Burner when you want the most burner capacity in this group, plus a side burner and a rear rotisserie burner for spit cooking, and you have the patio space and propane appetite to match. Choose the Monument Grills Mesa II 410FBZ when four burners, foldable side shelves, a fast-heat broil zone, and quick assembly fit your space and your weeknight cooking better. If neither specialty burner applies to you, the three-burner stainless grill and the Aoxun four-burner cover the essentials at the value end, and the Baron 490 Pro Shadow splits the difference for anyone who wants the Baron layout with one less burner to feed.