Gas Grill with Side Burner: Expand Your Outdoor Kitchen for Every Season
A gas grill with a side burner gives you the freedom to prepare more of every meal without leaving the patio. From sizzling steaks and grilled vegetables to simmering sauces and seafood boils, an expanded cooking station keeps everything close at hand. As backyard gatherings fill the calendar, this season offers the perfect opportunity to improve your space while you'll benefit from it most. Better yet, those upgrades continue paying off through football weekends, holiday meals, and cool evenings around the fire.
American Made Grills builds luxury grills with unmatched power, handcrafted in the USA and available in both built-in and freestanding configurations. Pairing one with the right side cooking appliance creates a backyard kitchen designed for the way you cook today while leaving room to grow tomorrow.
Bring Every Part of the Meal Together Outdoors
Think about your last backyard cookout. The burgers were nearly finished, but the onions still needed a few more minutes. The barbecue sauce had to stay warm, someone asked for grilled mushrooms, and corn was boiling inside the house. Before long, the cook spent more time walking through the back door than enjoying the company gathered outside.
A well-designed outdoor kitchen keeps more of those tasks in one place. The main grill excels at preparing proteins and vegetables over direct or indirect heat. Still, many meals include sauces, side dishes, pasta, potatoes, or skillet recipes that benefit from their own cooking surface. Instead of asking one appliance to do every job, a separate burner creates another temperature zone dedicated to cookware.
That simple addition changes the flow of the evening. While steaks rest, vegetables can finish in a sauté pan nearby. A saucepan of homemade glaze stays warm without occupying valuable grill space. Corn reaches the table at the same time as burgers instead of several minutes later.
Cooking becomes more relaxed because every part of the meal works together. You spend less time moving between two kitchens and more time sharing the experience with family and friends.
How a Gas Grill with a Side Burner Makes Outdoor Meals More Enjoyable
A side burner works much like the range in your indoor kitchen, except it sits exactly where you need it. Its independently controlled flame allows you to prepare foods that simply are not suited for the main cooking grates.
During a typical family dinner, that flexibility quickly becomes apparent. Chicken may roast over the burners while fresh green beans sauté in a skillet. A small saucepan keeps garlic butter warm for grilled shrimp, and potatoes finish boiling nearby. Every dish is served together without interrupting the main course.
A side burner handles many everyday tasks with ease, including:
- Simmering barbecue sauces, glazes, beans, or chili
- Sautéing onions, mushrooms, peppers, shrimp, and seasonal vegetables
- Boiling corn, potatoes, pasta, or shellfish
- Preparing breakfast favorites in cast iron
- Warming side dishes before serving
- Heating toppings for burgers, tacos, or sandwiches
That extra cooking station also makes entertaining feel more natural. Guests stay part of the conversation while you continue preparing dinner, only a few feet away. Instead of disappearing inside to finish the meal, everything remains centered around the grill.
What Can You Cook on a Side Burner?
One of the greatest advantages of adding a side burner is its versatility. While the grill focuses on high-heat cooking, the burner opens the door to recipes that rely on cookware instead of grates.
Simmer Sauces with Better Timing
Few dishes finish cooking at the same moment. Barbecue sauce may be ready long before ribs come off the grill, while a glaze often needs a few final minutes to thicken.
Keeping those recipes on a low flame beside the grill lets you stir occasionally without leaving the patio. The sauce stays ready until it's time to serve, rather than cooling on the kitchen stove.
Sauté Fresh Vegetables
Fresh vegetables deserve the same attention as the main course.
Mushrooms, peppers, onions, zucchini, asparagus, and spinach all cook beautifully in a skillet. As a result, the grill remains available for meats while vegetables develop their own texture and flavor nearby.
Boil More Than Water
Corn on the cob remains a backyard favorite, but boiling extends well beyond one side dish.
A side burner works well for:
- Baby potatoes
- Pasta
- Lobster
- Shrimp
- Crab
- Clams
- Mussels
Preparing these foods outdoors keeps the entire meal moving in one direction instead of splitting preparation between the patio and the kitchen.
Prepare Breakfast Outside
Outdoor cooking doesn't stop after dinner.
Many families enjoy breakfast on the patio during warmer months. Cast iron cookware makes it easy to prepare eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, breakfast sausage, or French toast while coffee brews nearby.
Those slower mornings often become some of the most memorable times spent outdoors.
Side Burners, Power Burners, and Infrared Burners Each Serve a Different Purpose
One of the biggest misconceptions about outdoor cooking is that every auxiliary burner performs the same job. In reality, each appliance is designed with a different goal in mind.
Understanding those differences helps you build an outdoor kitchen that matches your favorite recipes instead of simply adding more equipment.
Double Side Burners Deliver Everyday Flexibility
A double side burner functions much like a traditional cooktop. Two independently controlled burners allow different foods to cook at different temperatures, making meal preparation easier from start to finish.
For many families, this single appliance handles nearly everything beyond the grill itself.
One burner might simmer homemade barbecue sauce while the second cooks vegetables. During holiday meals, mashed potatoes can stay warm beside a saucepan of gravy. Weekend breakfasts become easier because two pans can cook side by side.
American Made Grills offers matching double side burners for the following series:
Each unit complements its corresponding grill series, creating a consistent appearance across the entire outdoor kitchen.
Power Burners Open the Door to Larger Recipes
Some meals call for cookware far larger than a standard saucepan.
A power burner creates a wider cooking surface designed for stockpots, seafood boils, woks, oversized cast iron, and outdoor frying. Instead of concentrating heat beneath a small pan, it distributes energy across cookware that demands greater capacity.
Imagine hosting a neighborhood seafood boil.
A large stockpot filled with water, shellfish, corn, potatoes, and sausage requires stable support and substantial heat. A dedicated power burner makes that style of cooking much more comfortable while keeping every part of the meal outdoors.
Power burners also perform well for:
- Wok cooking
- Frying fish
- Large batches of chili
- Homemade soups
- Holiday side dishes
- Outdoor canning projects
American Made Grills currently offers matching power burners for:
These appliances pair naturally with the corresponding grill series to create a coordinated cooking station.
Infrared Burners Create Restaurant-Style Searing
Infrared cooking serves an entirely different role.
Instead of heating cookware, infrared burners focus intense energy directly beneath the cooking grate. That concentrated heat develops rich caramelization and exceptional searing on steaks, chops, burgers, and seafood.
Many grill enthusiasts enjoy finishing thick steaks over infrared heat after slower cooking elsewhere on the grill. The result is a flavorful crust while maintaining the preferred internal temperature.
American Made Grills offers compatible drop-in infrared sear burners for select Estate, Hybrid, Alturi, and Atlas grills.
Rather than replacing a side or power burner, infrared technology adds another cooking option that expands what your grill can accomplish.
A simple way to think about each appliance is:
- Double side burner: Everyday pots, pans, sauces, vegetables, and side dishes
- Power burner: Large cookware, seafood boils, frying, wok cooking, and oversized recipes
- Infrared burner: High-temperature searing for steaks, burgers, chops, and seafood
Each one fills a different role, allowing your outdoor kitchen to reflect the meals you enjoy preparing most.
Match Your Cooking Style with the Right Outdoor Cooking Setup
Every backyard is different, and every family cooks a little differently. Instead of selecting appliances based on the largest specifications, think about the meals you prepare most often and the gatherings you enjoy hosting.
If weeknight dinners usually include burgers, chicken, vegetables, and a favorite side dish, a double side burner often adds all the flexibility you need. It keeps sauces warm, vegetables cooking, and side dishes nearby while the grill handles the main course.
Families who frequently entertain larger groups may benefit from a power burner. Large pots of seafood, homemade chili, or holiday favorites become much easier to prepare without moving back inside.
Meanwhile, steak lovers may appreciate adding an infrared sear burner that creates exceptional caramelization while a side burner handles vegetables or sauces.
As you plan your space, ask yourself a few practical questions:
- Which dishes still send me inside?
- What cookware do I use most often?
- How many people do I usually cook for?
- Do I prepare large batches several times each year?
- How much prep space should remain available beside the grill?
- Would another cooking station improve how meals come together?
Those answers often point toward the right combination of appliances.
Build More Cooking Flexibility with the Right Grill
Side burners expand what you can prepare, but the grill remains the centerpiece of the outdoor kitchen. Selecting the right size helps create enough cooking space for both everyday meals and larger celebrations.
Smaller households may find that two or three main burners meet their needs comfortably. Four burners create additional cooking zones for family dinners and entertaining. Larger grills with five or more burners offer generous flexibility for indirect cooking, multiple temperature zones, and the ability to prepare several foods at once.
Still, burner count tells only part of the story.
Heat distribution, airflow, grate construction, burner design, and cooking surface all influence how a grill performs. Total BTUs alone cannot describe that complete picture.
American Made Grills developed the Heat Density Index to provide another way to evaluate grilling performance. Rather than focusing only on total burner output, the Heat Density Index measures BTUs per square inch of primary cooking surface.
That calculation helps explain how efficiently available heat is distributed across the grill.
Higher Heat Density can contribute to:
- Faster preheating
- Excellent searing performance
- Responsive temperature recovery after opening the hood
- Even cooking across the primary surface
- Reliable performance during larger meals
Of course, Heat Density represents one part of the overall cooking system. Burner engineering, airflow, cooking grates, ceramic briquettes, and overall construction all work together to create consistent results.
American Made Grills combines those elements into luxury grills built with exceptional power and designed for dependable performance year after year.
Plan an Outdoor Kitchen That Works Naturally
One of the biggest advantages of expanding your outdoor kitchen is creating a space where preparing meals feels effortless. A thoughtful layout keeps everything within comfortable reach without making the cooking area feel crowded.
Before deciding where each appliance belongs, think about how you naturally move through the space.
Many cooks follow a simple pattern:
- Gather ingredients from the refrigerator.
- Prepare food on the countertop.
- Cook on the grill or auxiliary burner.
- Transfer finished food to a serving area.
Keeping those stations close together helps every meal flow more smoothly.
Leave enough countertop space beside the grill for trays, cutting boards, and utensils. Position the side or power burner where cookware can move safely without crossing the main cooking area. A nearby sink also makes filling pots, washing vegetables, and cleaning up much easier.
As you use your patio throughout the warmer months, you'll quickly notice where additional workspace could improve future gatherings. Those observations help create an outdoor kitchen you'll appreciate throughout the entire year.
Built-In and Freestanding Options for Every Backyard
American Made Grills offers every grill in both built-in and freestanding configurations, allowing homeowners to create a cooking space that fits their property and long-term plans.
A built-in installation creates a permanent gathering place with integrated appliances, generous countertops, refrigeration, storage, and matching side or power burners. It becomes the centerpiece of the backyard while offering room for future additions as your outdoor living space evolves.
Freestanding models deliver the same premium cooking performance while offering greater flexibility. They fit patios where permanent construction may not be practical while still delivering the craftsmanship and power expected from American Made Grills.
Whether you're designing a new backyard kitchen or upgrading an existing patio, both options offer a foundation that can grow alongside your outdoor entertaining.
American Craftsmanship Built for Years of Outdoor Cooking
A premium grill should perform just as well years from now as it does during its first season.
American Made Grills manufactures its products in Long Island, New York, using a domestic supply chain and carefully selected materials. Nearly every major component is built from American stainless steel, which contributes to long-term durability, corrosion resistance, and dependable performance.
Material selection affects much more than appearance.
Quality stainless steel handles repeated heating and cooling while maintaining its structural integrity. Tighter manufacturing tolerances help components fit correctly during assembly and remain properly aligned when replacement parts are needed years later. That consistency also contributes to dependable burner alignment and reliable day-to-day operation.
American Made Grills also uses high-density ceramic briquettes sourced from the United States and Canada. Their density helps retain and distribute heat across the cooking surface, contributing to steady grilling temperatures throughout the cook.
Choosing American-made materials offers several long-term advantages:
- Excellent resistance to corrosion and weather
- Consistent manufacturing quality
- Reliable component fit
- Durable construction for years of regular use
- Better availability of replacement parts
- A domestic supply chain with closer oversight
These qualities work together to create grills that become lasting parts of an outdoor living space rather than temporary additions.
BABA Certification Reflects American Manufacturing Standards
American Made Grills is proud to be a Build America, Buy America (BABA) certified company.
BABA certification verifies that final manufacturing takes place in the United States and that domestic sourcing requirements for manufactured products are met. That documentation reflects the company's commitment to American production and carefully managed supply chains.
Although many federally funded projects require BABA compliance, residential customers benefit from the same manufacturing philosophy.
Domestic sourcing offers greater visibility throughout production while supporting consistent material quality and dependable manufacturing standards. Those advantages continue long after installation through replacement-part availability and ongoing product support.
For homeowners who value American craftsmanship, BABA certification provides additional confidence that the grill they're purchasing truly reflects those standards.
Build an Outdoor Kitchen Ready for Every Season
A gas grill with a side burner creates more than just another place to cook. It helps transform the backyard into a gathering space where every part of the meal comes together naturally.
A double side burner brings familiar range-style cooking outdoors for sauces, vegetables, and everyday cookware. A power burner opens new possibilities for seafood boils, large family recipes, and oversized pots. Infrared searing adds another dimension to steaks, chops, burgers, and seafood.
As your patio becomes busier during the warmer months, you'll quickly recognize which additions would make every gathering more enjoyable. Planning those improvements now prepares your backyard for football weekends, holiday celebrations, family dinners, and relaxed evenings year-round.
Handcrafted in the USA, American Made Grills combines unmatched grilling power, premium materials, thoughtful engineering, and lasting craftsmanship into a complete outdoor cooking experience. Whether you select a built-in design or a freestanding model, every grill is built to become the centerpiece of memorable meals for years to come.
