How the Five Compare on the Numbers
A portable gas grill is described by two figures, total BTUs and cooking area, and almost nobody publishes both. Coleman publishes 20,000 BTUs and 285 square inches. Cuisinart publishes 20,000 BTUs and no cooking area at all. Charbroil publishes 200 square inches and no BTU figure anywhere in its listing. Megamaster and Royal Gourmet publish both, at 11,000 over 360 square inches and 10,000 over 285.
Weight is the figure every one of them publishes, and it separates them cleanly. Megamaster is the lightest here at 14.42 lb and Coleman the heaviest at 46.67 lb, which is not really the same category of object: the Coleman is a stand-up grill on wheels with quick-fold legs, and the other four are tabletop boxes with legs that fold flat underneath them.
The gap the table cannot fill is the relationship between those two headline figures. A grill that spreads 11,000 BTUs across 360 square inches and a grill that puts 20,000 across 285 will not sear the same way, but no maker publishes a temperature the grill reaches, a preheat time, or a figure for heat across the grate. Charbroil, which publishes no BTU at all, cannot be placed on that scale.
Two Figures, and Nobody Publishes Both Well
The Charbroil Publishes No Power Figure
Charbroil’s listing runs to six bullets and never states a BTU output. It describes a convective cooking system with the power of propane, a piezo igniter, porcelain coated grates and 200 square inches of cooking space. For a single burner grill running on a 16.4 oz disposable cylinder, that omission is the most important thing about the listing, because output is what separates a grill from a warming tray.
It is also the only grill here designed around disposable cylinders rather than a refillable tank, and the listing says the cylinder is sold separately. That makes it the most genuinely portable of the five in the sense of carrying no fuel infrastructure, and the most expensive to run per cook. Its published dimensions are corroborated by its own size field, 24.75 by 14.7 by 14 inches, which no other listing here does.
The Cuisinart Publishes No Cooking Area
Cuisinart states two stainless steel burners at 10,000 BTU each and never says how big the grate is. It is the only grill here with independent control knobs on separate burners, which it correctly points out lets you build a hot zone and a cool zone, and that is a capability none of the three single burner grills has at any output. Setup is stated at under 10 minutes with no tools.
Without a cooking area figure, though, you cannot know whether those two zones are usefully sized. Its published dimensions are 19 by 21.5 by 14.7 inches, which is a smaller box than the Megamaster’s 19.69 by 28.43, and the Megamaster claims 360 square inches from a single burner. The Cuisinart may well have less grate and twice the output, but the listing does not let you check.
One Burner, Two Burners, Three
Why Burner Count Is Not Output
Coleman puts 20,000 BTUs across three adjustable burners and Cuisinart puts the same 20,000 across two at 10,000 each. Same total, different granularity: three zones against two. Megamaster runs a single burner at 11,000, which is more than either individual Cuisinart burner, and Royal Gourmet a single U shaped burner at 10,000, matching one Cuisinart burner exactly.
The practical difference is what you can do with part of the grill. A single burner grill is one temperature, hot in the middle and cooler at the edges, and you manage food by moving it. Multiple burners let you turn a section down and park cooked food there. Coleman is the only grill here that pairs multiple burners with a published cooking area, so it is the only one where zone size is knowable.
The U Shaped Burner
Royal Gourmet describes a stainless tubular burner in a U shape, stated to spread heat fast and evenly across a single zone. That geometry is the standard answer to a single burner’s hot spot, and Royal Gourmet is also the only grill here that tells you how its area breaks down: 285 square inches total, of which 214 is the cooking grate and 71 is the warming rack above it.
That breakdown is worth more than it looks. Coleman also claims 285 square inches and publishes no rack, so its 285 is probably all grate, while Royal Gourmet’s usable grilling surface is 214. Megamaster claims 360 square inches with a warming rack included and never separates the two, so its grate is smaller than 360 by an unstated amount.
Portability Is Not One Property
Stand-Up on Wheels Against Tabletop
The Coleman is a different machine from the rest. It stands on its own quick-fold legs with wheels, which means it needs no table, and it weighs 46.67 lb, which is more than double any other grill here. Its published dimension fields, 18.5 by 32.1 by 15.45 inches, describe the folded body rather than the standing grill, so the height you cook at is not in the data at all.
The four tabletop grills all need a surface. Megamaster at 14.42 lb, Royal Gourmet at 17.8 lb, Charbroil at 19.5 lb and Cuisinart at 22 lb are all liftable one handed, and three of the four state a locking or latching lid so the grill travels closed. Charbroil is the only one of the five that publishes nothing about folding legs or a carry handle.
The Two Grills That Look Like One Grill
One listing was left off this page. Masterbuilt’s portable propane grill states 288 square inches, a 10,000 BTU stainless U shaped burner, folding legs, a locking lid and a chrome coated warming rack, and it publishes a weight of 17.8 lb, exactly the Royal Gourmet figure. The two also share a 27.36 inch dimension. On published data they appear to be the same grill under two brands.
The one difference worth knowing is the grate. Royal Gourmet states a chrome coated cooking grate with a chrome coated warming rack, and Masterbuilt states stainless steel cooking grates with a chrome coated rack. Royal Gourmet was kept here because it publishes the area breakdown; if you prefer a stainless grate to a chrome coated one, the Masterbuilt listing is the same grill saying so.
Which One Fits Your Kitchen
The tailgater with no table. Coleman RoadTrip 285, the only grill here that stands on its own legs with wheels. Three adjustable burners across 20,000 BTUs and 285 square inches, with an integrated thermometer and push button ignition. It weighs 46.67 lb, more than double anything else here.
The cook who wants two heat zones. Cuisinart, two stainless burners at 10,000 BTU each with independent knobs, stainless grates, an integrated thermometer and twist start ignition. It sets up in under 10 minutes at 22 lb, and it never publishes a cooking area figure.
The one carrying it furthest. Megamaster at 14.42 lb, the lightest here, with 11,000 BTUs and a stated 360 square inches including a warming rack. Foldable legs, a locking lid and a porcelain steel firebox, but no thermometer or ignition detail published.
The cook who wants to know what the grate actually is. Royal Gourmet GT1001, the only listing that separates 214 square inches of cooking grate from 71 of warming rack. A 10,000 BTU U shaped stainless burner, a lid mounted gauge and a removable grease tray, at 17.8 lb.
The camper using disposable cylinders. Charbroil, built around a 16.4 oz LP cylinder sold separately, with porcelain coated grates, a piezo igniter and 200 square inches. Its published size is confirmed by its own size field, and it states no BTU output anywhere.
What We Could Not Verify
These are the makers’ own published figures. The following were looked for and not found.
- Charbroil publishes no BTU output at all, so its heat cannot be compared with any other grill here.
- Cuisinart publishes no cooking area, so its two 10,000 BTU zones cannot be sized.
- Only Royal Gourmet separates grate area from warming rack area, so the other stated areas are not like for like.
- No maker publishes a grate temperature, a preheat time or any figure for evenness of heat.
- Coleman publishes no standing height, only folded dimension fields, so the working height is unknown.
- No maker publishes grate bar spacing or thickness, which decides whether small food falls through.
