Related: Best Gas Grills for Small Patios and Balconies
I have cooked on more propane gas grills than I can count, and the ones that fail all fail the same way. The igniter dies in season one. The hot spot shows up on the first cook, always in the same back corner. The side table turns out to be smaller than a dinner plate. None of that goes on the box.
So when friends ask me which propane gas grill to buy, I do not hand them a spec sheet. I ask three questions: how many people are you feeding, where does the grill live, and do you want one heat zone or three. The answers pick the grill for you. What follows is the short list I hand out, three grills at three sizes, plus the one bottle of cleaner that keeps any of them from turning into a grease trap.
This is a guide, not a scoreboard. I am not going to tell you the 5-burner beats the portable, because they are built for different cooks. A five-burner at 61,000 BTU is a party machine that eats a whole corner of a patio. A single-burner portable is a tailgate grill that lives in a closet and feeds two people. Buying the bigger one because it looks serious is how people end up with an expensive cover for a grill they use four times a year.
Best for Small Spaces: Charbroil Portable Convective 1-Burner Propane Gas Grill
One burner. That is the whole story, and you should decide up front whether you can live with it. With a single burner there is no sear zone and no hold zone, just one temperature across the grate. You cook in batches, you move food with tongs, and you learn where the middle runs hotter than the edges. For burgers for two, chicken thighs, sausages, and a couple of steaks, that is fine. For a brisket, it is not.
The convective part of the name is the interesting bit. The design is meant to move heat around inside the lid rather than let it stack straight up off one burner, which is the usual weakness of a one-burner box. It will not turn a single burner into three, but it can narrow the gap between the middle of the grate and the edges.
What makes this one worth owning is where it goes. It is a portable propane grill, so it fits a balcony, a tailgate, a campsite, or the trunk of a car. If you rent, or your building bans full-size grills, or you just do not have the patio, this is the category that actually gets used. One thing to check before you commit: the igniter. A single-burner portable with a weak igniter is a paperweight, and on small grills the igniter is almost always the first part to go. If it feels flimsy out of the box, send it back inside the return window.
Best for a Crowd: Royal Gourmet GA5401T 5-Burner
Five main burners, a side burner, stainless steel, and 61,000 BTU of output. Burner count is the spec I care about most, because burner count is heat zones, and heat zones are cooking. Five burners across a wide body means you can run one end hot for steaks, the middle moderate for chicken, and the far end low to hold finished food while you work. That is a real technique, and it is the reason to buy a grill this size.
The side burner is not a gimmick. It is where the sauce warms without taking stovetop space, where a cast iron pan of onions goes, and where a griddle insert earns its keep for smash burgers and breakfast. If you have ever tried to sear and sauce on the same grate, you know why a side burner matters.
Sixty-one thousand BTU spread across five burners is a different animal than the same number on three. You get more even coverage, and you get a faster recovery when you open the lid, which is the most honest spec on any grill and the one nobody prints. The trade is size and fuel. This is a lot of grill, it wants a real patio, and it will drink propane when you run all five burners wide open. Stainless also means you clean it, because stainless that sits dirty in humidity does not stay stainless.
Buy this if you host. Twenty burgers at once, a full grate of chicken, a party where people eat in waves. Do not buy it to cook two pork chops on a Tuesday.
Best Middle Ground: Kenmore 3-Burner Propane BBQ Grill
Three burners is the smallest layout where two-zone cooking stops being a compromise. Left burner for the sear, right burner low for the finish, middle burner off as a buffer between them. That is how you cook a thick ribeye without torching the outside, and it is how you keep a batch of chicken from going up in flames. At 30,000 BTU it is a moderate grill, not a hot rod. It will sear, but if you load the whole grate with cold steaks, recovery will be slow and you will notice it.
The cast iron cooking grates are the upgrade that matters at this size. Cast iron holds heat and gives you a harder sear than thin stamped steel, and it does not care about a stray drip the way a lightweight grate does. Treat it like cast iron anywhere else: keep it dry, keep it oiled, do not leave it out in the rain, and it will outlast the cart it sits on.
The practical details are the reason this one lands in the middle of the list. Folding side tables mean you get prep space when you need it and your patio back when you do not, and folding tables on a mid-size grill are usually the first thing a manufacturer cheaps out on. Wheels mean you can move it to the shade or roll it into the garage for a storm. Tool hooks mean your spatula is not on the ground. Azure blue is a look, and it is a nice change from the wall of black lids.
This is the grill for four people, a small yard, and a normal weeknight. It is also the one I would hand a first-time gas grill owner.
The Bottle That Keeps Any of Them Alive: Weber Exterior Grill Cleaner Spray
Most flare-ups are not a grate problem. They are a grease problem. Fat builds up on the firebox, the burner shields, and the underside of the lid, and then one hot day it decides to burn while your dinner is on the grate. Cleaning the inside of the grill is the cheapest flare-up control you can buy, and it costs less than a single ribeye.
This is an exterior cleaner spray for outdoor grills, so it is built for the hood, the cart, the side tables, and the stainless that collects fingerprints and weather. Spray it on, let it sit, wipe it off. It is not a substitute for scraping the grates and emptying the drip tray, and it will not fix a clogged burner tube. It is the thing that stops your grill from looking like a salvage yard by August, which matters more than people admit: a grill that looks terrible gets used less.
Whichever grill above you end up with, budget for a brush and a bottle of this. A grill that gets wiped down twice a month lasts years longer than the same grill that never does, and no warranty covers neglect.
How I evaluate a gas grill
The routine does not change, because the routine is the only way to compare anything. A dozen burgers spread left to right across the grate, all the same thickness, all put on at the same time. Then I watch which one finishes first. That is the hot spot, and every grill has one. The only question is how big it is and whether you can work around it.
Then a chicken, skin on, over a lit burner, to see what happens when fat starts dripping. Flare control is not a marketing feature, it is the difference between a grill and a fire pit with a lid. Then a long cook, because a grill that cannot hold 350 for an hour without babysitting is a grill you stop using.
The last question is the one that decides it: would I trust this thing with a forty dollar brisket. If the answer is no, the BTU number does not matter.
What the specs actually tell you
BTU is the most abused number in this category. A high BTU rating on a badly shaped firebox just means you burn more propane to get the same uneven heat. Burner count and burner layout tell you more, because they tell you how many heat zones you can actually run.
Cast iron grates hold heat. Thin steel grates dump it the second a cold steak lands. Stainless bodies survive weather if you clean them and rust if you do not. Side tables that fold are worth more than side tables that are big, because the folding ones let you fit the grill where you actually have room.
And the igniter. Every grill on this list will be judged by whether it lights on the first push in year three. A grill you have to light with a long match is a grill that sits under a cover.
Propane gas grill comparison
| Grill | Burners and fuel | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 Visit on Amazon →Charbroil Portable Convective 1-Burner |
1 burner, propane | Balconies, tailgates, cooking for two | $54.99 |
 Visit on Amazon →Kenmore 3-Burner Propane BBQ Grill |
3 burners, 30,000 BTU, propane | Small yards, first gas grill, four people | $399.99 |
 Visit on Amazon →Royal Gourmet GA5401T 5-Burner |
5 burners plus side burner, 61,000 BTU, propane | Parties, big patios, cooking in waves | $274.11 |
 Visit on Amazon →Weber Exterior Grill Cleaner Spray |
Not a grill, exterior cleaner | Any of the three grills above | $10.99 |
Should you buy the Royal Gourmet GA5401T 5-Burner?
If you host, yes. Five burners plus a side burner at 61,000 BTU gives you the one thing that separates a real grill from a hot box, which is heat zones. Sear on one end, hold on the other, sauce on the side burner, and stop juggling. It is a lot of grill and it wants a lot of patio, and it will burn through propane when you open it up. Buy it for the parties you actually throw. If that is twice a year, buy the Kenmore instead and put the difference into meat.
Should you buy the Kenmore 3-Burner?
Yes, and this is the one I would hand most people. Three burners at 30,000 BTU, cast iron grates, folding side tables, wheels, and tool hooks cover everything a normal week of grilling asks for. It is not going to sear four steaks at once the way a 61,000 BTU unit will, and recovery after a big lid-open will be slower. For four people and a small yard, none of that shows up on the plate.
Should you buy the Charbroil Portable 1-Burner?
Yes, if a full-size grill is not an option. Balcony, tailgate, campsite, tiny patio: this is the category that gets used, and a grill that gets used beats a grill that gets admired. One burner means one heat zone and cooking in batches, so go in knowing that. Check the igniter the day it arrives, and if it feels cheap, use the return window.
Should you buy the Weber Exterior Grill Cleaner Spray?
Yes, and it is the cheapest thing on this page. Grease buildup is what turns a good grill into a flare-up machine, and it is what makes a two-year-old grill look like a ten-year-old one. Spray the hood, the cart, and the side tables, wipe them down, and your grill stays something you want to walk out to on a Tuesday night.