Kenmore 4-Burner Gas Grill With Side Searing Burner Review: Utilitarian Bones, Serious Searing Power

The Kenmore 4-Burner Gas Grill with Side Searing Burner runs $599.99 and pulls off the one trick my beloved Weber Spirit never could: its dedicated side burner throws enough concentrated heat to put a delicious char on a steak. I keep both grills on my patio, and they each do a different job. This Kenmore is the utilitarian, no-frills stainless option that nails the fundamentals and skips the premium polish to stay under $600.

 

 Here is how it has held up next to a grill I already loved.

The Side Searing Burner At This Price Is A Big Win

That side burner is the whole pitch. It puts out 12,000 BTUs in a tight, concentrated zone, which is exactly what you need to get a hard, dark crust on a ribeye or a smashburger. My Weber Spirit is a better grill in almost every other way, but even with it's boosted "Sear Zone" feature, its burners spread their heat too evenly to sear like this. The Kenmore's concentrated side zone is the difference between an ok steak and a perfectly charred one.

The four main burners handle everything else. They push 40,000 BTUs across 606 square inches, enough room to keep a low-and-slow zone going on one end while the other end runs hot. The 6mm stainless steel grates are heavier than I expected at this price, and they hold temperature well enough that the lid recovers fast after you open it. For feeding a crowd when the guys come over, a big main surface plus a dedicated searing station covers most of what I cook.

Utilitarian Bones, Built Almost Entirely From Stainless

Kenmore built this grill out of the stuff that lasts. The body, the grates, the warming rack, and the control knobs are all stainless steel, the kind of build that holds up for years with a cover and the occasional cleaning. Kenmore warranties the burners - the part most likely to wear out - for 5 years, and the rest of the parts for one, so this is a grill you maintain, not one you forget about.

What you give up at this price is refinement. The Weber Spirit has a more temperature-stable cooking cavity, nicer grates, and frankly more style - it just looks more expensive. The Kenmore is plainer and more utilitarian, but it still looks sharp on the patio, and the parts you touch every cook - the grates, the control knobs, the lid handle - feel solid rather than flimsy.

Assembly Was A Mixed Bag - Wiring Was Frustrating Design Flaw

Plan on one to two hours with a buddy to put this together. Most of it is straightforward bolt-this-to-that work, but two things slowed us down. The wiring is the real headache - you assemble the harness by plugging in individual wires by hand, and the ignition module sits halfway down the cabinet, so you spend a chunk of the build hunched over reaching into the cart. A longer screwdriver would have made the hard-to-reach screws a lot easier, and Kenmore does not include one.

Credit where it is due, though: they put the ignition battery in the box. That sounds minor until you remember the alternative is finishing assembly, getting ready to cook, and realizing you have to run to the store before you can light the thing. We fired it up the same afternoon.

I Really Like This Grill But It Isn't Perfect - Buy The One That's Right For Your Needs

The more grill reviews I do and the more time I spend talking with designers the more I realize just how different each grill is as well as why one grill might be only $300 and the next grill is 4x that price. The simple reality is that each of the gas grills we look at has a different balance of features designed to attract a different buyer. That means you need to look at what's important to you ... this is just like buying a car, a GMC and a Hyundai truck are both going to get you there but each guy wants something a little bit different and that's why there are litteraly dozens of different grill manufacturers producing pretty good products these days at price points ranging from $100 to $10,000+.

Here is how I would make the call. If you want the most refined grill - the most stable temperatures, the nicest grates, the one that looks like it cost a grand - a Weber or Napoleon is worth the extra money, and I would point you to my Weber Spirit EP-435 review to see why I still love that one. But if you want a stainless grill that gets the fundamentals right and adds a searing burner most competitors skip, all for under $600, the Kenmore is a fantastic upgrade for the guy stepping up his grill game this summer.

One tip from my own cooking: treat the side burner as a finishing station. Bring the steak up slow with a reverse sear on the main grates, then move it to the 12,000-BTU side burner for the last 90 seconds a side. That is the move the Weber cannot pull off, and it is the reason both grills live on my patio. If you are building out the rest of the setup, it slots right into the backyard BBQ arsenal I put together. When you are ready, Lowe's will let you order it online and pick it up today or have it delivered.