Broil King’s Porta-Chef line has exactly one three-burner grill in it. This is it, model 952654. The 120 below it runs a single burner, and the AT220 beside it runs two.
The 320 also carries a cast aluminium cookbox, a stainless lid insert and cast iron grids. All of that comes to 45 pounds. It then lists at the same $399 as the two-burner AT220.
So there is a serious little grill here. The trouble is that almost nobody agrees what its numbers are. Output, cooking area, grid finish and warranty each come in at least two versions.
Some of those versions come from Broil King. The question is what survives that. It matters. A spec you cannot pin down is a spec you cannot plan around.
18,000 or 21,000 BTUPublished main burner output
12.25 x 24 inPrimary cooking grid
61 to 71 BTU/sq inHeat density, published figures
45.0 lbAssembled weight, tank not included
First Impressions of the Broil King Porta-Chef 320
The 320 does not feel like a picnic accessory. It is a cast box with a stainless insert in the lid. The heft is real. Lift it once and you know where the money went.
Setup is short. The snap-in legs go on and come off without tools. The side shelves fold down against the body for transport. Broil King lists the assembled unit at 43.5 by 26.5 by 39.5 inches.
Open the lid and the grids take over. Heavy-duty cast iron sits above a stainless Flav-R-Wave, with three tube burners underneath. Nothing in that stack is thin.
The first cook reads like a full-size grill rather than a portable. Chicken thighs took hard, dark bar marks and held them through the turn. Fat hit the wave and came back as smoke instead of flare. Food tastes grilled here, not griddled.
Key Features of the Broil King Porta-Chef 320
Most of this grill is borrowed from Broil King’s bigger cabinets and shrunk. The burner count and the wave come down from the full-size line. So do the valve type and the cookbox material. Here is what that actually gets you.
- Three stainless steel tube burners: No other Porta-Chef has three. The 120 runs one and the AT220 runs two. Broil King footnotes several features on its own list as exclusive to the 320.
- Cast-iron cooking grids: Broil King calls them heavy-duty cast iron. Mass is why a bar mark comes out dark rather than grey. The published finish is not consistent, so treat the coating as unknown.
- Stainless steel Flav-R-Wave: The wave sits between the burners and the grids. Drippings land on it, vaporise, and go back up into the food. It also shields the burner tubes from most of what falls.
- Stainless steel: The stainless parts here are the burners, the lid insert and the wave. The cookbox itself is cast aluminium. The outside is finished in black epoxy powder coat.
- Electric Igniter: Broil King calls it Sure-Lite electronic ignition. It is one of the items the brand lists as 320-only within this line. Nothing further about the mechanism is published.
- Linear-Flow valves: These are the control valves behind the three knobs. Broil King uses the same valve name across its full-size grills. On a portable, that is not a given.
- Accu-Temp thermometer: A lid gauge is fitted as standard. No maximum temperature is published for this grill, so the dial is your only reference. Learn what your food does at each mark.
- Detachable snap-in legs: The legs release without tools for the trip home. The matching cart, on 7 inch crack-proof wheels, is a separate purchase. So is the Select cover, part 67420.
Start with the figure nobody argues about. The primary grid measures 12.25 by 24 inches. Multiply that out and you land on the 294 square inches Broil King’s US page prints. Nearly every other headline number here has a rival.
Output is the worst of them. The US spec page says 21,000 BTU across the three burners. Amazon, Lowe’s and Home Depot Canada say 18,000. Broil King’s UK page says 5.25 kW; its New Zealand distributor says 6 kW.
Run both ends of that against the measured grid. You get roughly 61 to 71 BTU per square inch. Either figure is respectable for a portable of this size. The argument changes the brochure more than it changes dinner.
The burner count is the real story anyway. A two-burner portable gives you halves. This one gives you a middle, which is where chicken and thick chops want to sit. A 24 inch run of cast iron holds heat once it has it.
That middle zone changes how you cook rather than how fast. You can sear at one end and park food at the other. On a two-burner portable, the same job means shuffling food off heat and hoping. Three zones is the difference between managing a cook and rescuing one.
Build, handling and durability
The 320 is put together like a small full-size grill rather than a big camp stove. The cookbox is Therma-cast aluminium with a stainless lid insert. Steel components are zinc coated, and the shell wears black epoxy powder coat. Cast aluminium does not rust through the way thin sheet can.
That construction is where the 45 pounds comes from. It is a genuine weight for one person and a short carry. The legs release without tools, which helps in a trunk more than on a path. Portable here means it moves, not that it is light.
The published record around the hardware is far less solid. Broil King states ten years on the cookbox and three on the burners. Everything else gets two.
Several large retailers print five years on burners instead. One Canadian retailer publishes a two-year burner term elsewhere on its own site. Three warranty statements for one model is not a rounding error. The metal on this grill is easier to trust than the paperwork about it.
The practical cost of that muddle lands years later. A burner failing in year four is either covered or it is not. Which one applies may depend on the page you saved. So save one, and buy where the printed term suits you.
Running costs, upkeep and value
Broil King sells the 320 direct at $399. BBQGuys and Barbeques Galore list the same $399 against a $449 MSRP. That is the sticker, and it is not the out-the-door number.
The 20 pound tank is not included. The matching cart is a separate item, and so is the Select cover. Price all three in before you compare this grill against anything else.
The line-up makes that comparison awkward. The two-burner AT220 lists at the same $399. It gets a spring-assisted X-frame in place of snap-in legs. The single-burner 120 sits at $299.
Inside the line, the real choice is a third burner against a folding frame. For most cooks the burner wins. Legs are a one minute problem. Heat zones are an every cook problem.
Upkeep is cast iron upkeep, which is a habit rather than a chore. Oil the grids, keep them dry, and they will outlive most portable grates. Broil King’s regions describe the finish differently, so do not assume a porcelain coat. Treat them as bare iron and you cannot go wrong.
Handled that way, the grids are the least of your worries. Bare iron forgives neglect better than a chipped coating does. It asks for oil and a dry cupboard, nothing more. That is a cheap arrangement for a portable grate.
Possible Broil King Porta-Chef 320 Complaints
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What arrives in the box is genuinely unclear: Broil King says the grill is designed for a 20 pound tank, not included. The hose goes unmentioned. Lowe’s and Acme Tools say a hose and regulator are included.
Two other dealers only describe it as for use with them. Ask your seller in writing before ordering.
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Three warranty terms circulate for one model: The manufacturer spec page says three years on burners. Several big retailers say five. One of them also publishes a two-year burner term on another page for the same SKU.
You feel this in year four, not on day one. Register the grill and plan around the shortest term you have seen printed.
