Kenmore 2-Burner Gas Grill (Model #464722509) Review

My husband grills out all year long, so for our family, an outdoor grill is a necessity.  For his birthday, he wanted a new gas grill, as his old one had long since died and he had been cooking on a charcoal grill.  I know many people swear by a charcoal grill, but I just can't stand the taste of the food when it is cooked on charcoal.  It just tastes like gas to me, which is crazy because food cooked on a gas grill tastes great to me.

I went looking for a new gas grill at Kmart, at the beginning of summer.  I did not have a lot of money to spend, less than $ 200.00, and I wanted something that would have a side burner so he could cook a vegetable with the main meal.  I found the Kenmore 2 Burner Gas Grill, which was on sale, for around $ 160.00.  The display model looked a little wobbly, but I thought it was probably just the way it had been put together.  I wasn't crazy about the way it looked, but the next model up was over $ 100.00 more, so I settled on this one.

The Kenmore 2 Burner Gas Grillcame unassembled in the box.  I hated that my husband had to put it together himself since it was a birthday gift, but he's put several grills together in his lifetime and it's usually not that difficult.  BUT, this grill took him FOREVER to put together!  He spent an entire day trying to put this thing together and when he was finally finished, it just looked cheap.  Sadly, it wasn't even more sturdy than the display model that I had seen at Kmart.  I felt horrible!

The features of the Kenmore 2 Burner Gas Grill include:

• Gas powered side burner
• Small side work counter
• Drop down front panel that holds tools
• Large handle that lifts the top of the grill
• Little grooves on the side area that can hold utensils

I thought the idea of the drop down front panel was really neat, but it's made so poorly, we never use this feature.  Trying to open it is rather difficult, and it sticks to the body of the grill instead of opening smoothly.  The little grooves that are on the side work area are so small, no utensils will fit on them.  We usually just lay whatever cooking utensils we work with on top of that area instead.  While it may sound like this grill has a lot of nice features, in all honesty the features are no good if they don't work.  In fact, when my husband when to attach the side burner, it was such a pain to hook up, my husband never bothered to do it.  The side burner is there, it is attached to the grill, and it does stay covered up with a hard cover, but it has never been used and is not hooked up to the gas.

Out of all the grills we have ever owned, this Kenmore 2-Burner Gas Grill is the worst.  The body is poorly designed, it feels very unstable and wobbly, and the "features" that were part of the reason I selected this model are basically worthless.  The parts are either cheap plastic or very thin metal, and I've also noticed that the unit has already begun to rust even though we have kept it covered with an inexpensive grill cover.

As I mentioned, my husband does all the grilling in our family.  I have noticed that with the Kenmore 2-Burner Gas Grill it takes him longer to cook steaks, chicken, and anything on the grill.  He used to be able to cook chicken on the grill and it would be completely cooked in about 45 minutes (he slow cooks our food).  However, with this new gas grill, the chicken is never fully cooked and takes roughly an extra 15 - 20 minutes to be cooked all the way through.  Many times he has had to put the meat back on the grill to cook it for an extended period of time. 

I have regretted purchasing this grill since the day my husband put it together.  I guess it would be okay if you only cooked hamburgers every now and then on it, but it's just not good overall.  We don't have anywhere to store the grill, and keep it on the back deck under the awning.  We keep a grill cover on it, and try to always keep it covered, but even still the grill is already rusting, flaking, and showing signs of a lot of wear and tear.  The gas grill we had prior to this one was a unit we had for over five years! 

Bottom Line - If you are looking for a very basic gas grill, than this may be a good choice for you.  Keep in mind, however, that the build is very poor and unstable.  I paid a price of about $ 160.00 for the Kenmore 2-Burner Gas Grill, and that is an AWFUL deal.  I would only recommend purchasing this particular gas grill if you happened to find it on clearance for a price of closer to $ 100.00.  Otherwise, do yourself a favor and spend a little extra for the next model up.