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Infrared gas barbecue buying guide

Updated: 23 October 2026

You are standing between a portable cartridge grill and a stainless trolley that both say infrared, and the amazon.co.uk titles do not say which machine you are buying. An infrared gas barbecue buying guide names the layout first, then drops any heat or cooking-area figure that contradicts itself on the same page. This set is a full-bed emitter, a tube-burner trolley with a ceramic sear zone, or a cheap ceramic claim with almost no gas data. Prices for the seven rows sit on the [infrared gas grill comparison](/hub/grills-and-barbecues/infrared-gas-grill). Who each model suits is on the [best infrared gas BBQ](/hub/grills-and-barbecues/infrared-gas-grill/sub/infrared-gas-grill-best) page. We did not cook on these grills.

You are standing between a portable cartridge grill and a stainless trolley that both say infrared, and the amazon.co.uk titles do not say which machine you are buying.

Our top picks

CosmoGrill CosmoGrill Platinum 4+2

Best overall

CosmoGrill CosmoGrill Platinum 4+2
9.2/10about £502.55
View offer
Char-Broil Char-Broil X200 Grill2Go

Rank 2

Char-Broil Char-Broil X200 Grill2Go
8.6/10about £157.97
View offer
Oopsiou Oopsiou 4-burner

Alternative

Oopsiou Oopsiou 4-burner
0.0/10about £127.70
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Three layouts sharing one word
  2. 2.Figures that disagree on the same page
  3. 3.Decide the layout before the price
  4. 4.Collar, heat figures, and covers

Three layouts sharing one word

Infrared on a gas barbecue is still LPG. A full-bed design puts a radiant plate under the whole grate. The only full-bed row here is the Char-Broil X200 Grill2Go at about £157.97: one burner, TRU-Infrared, and 1,232 cm² stated on a 10.8 kg body, for two or three people. A sear-zone trolley is different. CosmoGrill 4+2 and 6+2 listings put stainless main burners under most of the grate, then a ceramic searer and a back burner. A 27.7 kW six-burner title is not more infrared than a 2.8 kW portable. The third layout is a claimed ceramic tabletop. The Oopsiou listing at about £127.70 says four infrared ceramic burners and prints no wattage, bottle size or regulator pressure, with 58 × 39 cm in one highlight and 17.5 × 37 × 17.5 cm on the dimension line. Char-Broil’s juiciness lines are claims for TRU-Infrared only. None of the seven extracts cites BS EN 498:2012.

Figures that disagree on the same page

The X200 prints both 8,000 BTU and 2,800 W. Those are not the same input. The Grill2Go manual states 2.8 kW, which matches the watt line. On the 4+2 rows, bullets that sum to 21.2 kW sit beside a specification of 20.7 kW. On the covered 6+2, bullets say 27.7 kW while the specification says 27 kW. Averaging them does not make a measured output. The X200’s 1,232 cm² and the 4+2 listings’ 2,982 cm² fit the frames. The Yamara prints 72 cm² next to a body 140 cm wide, and both 6+2 listings print 92 cm² next to bodies 160 cm wide. Do not plan burgers on those figures. Clip-on plus 37 mbar, with no collar photo, is still an open field. The bottle match is on the propane setup for an infrared gas grill page.
CosmoGrill CosmoGrill Platinum 4+2

Testsieger

CosmoGrill CosmoGrill Platinum 4+2
9.2/10about £502.55
View offer

Decide the layout before the price

For a radiant bed on a boat or a small patio, the X200 is the only full-bed option here. For a garden trolley with a sear plate and cooler main burners, stay in the CosmoGrill 4+2 and 6+2 band from about £502.55 to about £621.34. One hot corner on an ordinary gas barbecue may be enough outside this set. That trade-off is on the infrared BBQ vs gas BBQ page.

Collar, heat figures, and covers

The X200 bullets want a 16.4 ounce disposable cylinder sold separately. Char-Broil UK and the manual point to EN417 cartridges up to 500 g. CosmoGrill bullets say clip-on and 37 mbar without a collar photo. A millibar figure is a pressure, not a promise that a green patio bottle will click on. Keep heat figures that agree inside the listing. Cover bundles at about £539.10 and about £621.34 buy fabric. They do not rewrite the burner layout.

Common questions

Is an infrared BBQ just a hotter gas BBQ?
No. It still burns LPG, but a radiant plate or ceramic zone sits between the flame and much of the food. On a full-bed grill that plate covers the grate. On a CosmoGrill trolley most of the grate is still ordinary tube burners. A hot low setting on the X200 is not proof that every infrared listing runs hotter than a tube-burner trolley.
What is TRU-Infrared, and is a ceramic side plate the same thing?
TRU-Infrared is Char-Broil’s name for its emitter system under the grate, and in this set it appears on the X200. A ceramic sear plate on a CosmoGrill is a separate zone beside stainless main burners. Both use radiant heat in a limited area, but they are not the same layout and they do not share Char-Broil’s juiciness claims.
Which number is the cooking area when the listing says 72 cm² or 92 cm²?
Neither. Those figures sit beside bodies 140–160 cm wide and are not usable grate sizes. Prefer the X200’s 1,232 cm² or the 4+2 listings’ 2,982 cm², and ignore 72 cm² and 92 cm² when you compare trolleys.
Do I need the sear zone if I already have four burners?
Only if you want a dedicated hard-sear strip. Four main burners already feed a household. The ceramic zone is for steaks and similar sears, then you finish elsewhere on the grate. If you rarely sear that hard, a normal gas BBQ without the infrared badge may be the simpler buy.
Why do two kilowatt figures appear on one CosmoGrill listing?
Because the specification block and the marketing bullets were not reconciled. On the 4+2 rows you see 20.7 kW against 21.2 kW. On a covered 6+2 you see 27 kW against 27.7 kW. Treat that as a documentation conflict, not as two measured tests you can average.
Does a low price with infrared ceramic in the bullets prove the system?
No. The Oopsiou page at about £127.70 claims four ceramic burners and prints no heat input, no regulator and two disagreeing sizes. Without reviews or fittings, the word infrared is a claim, not evidence.

Related pages

How to use an infrared gas grill

Infrared gas grill

Best infrared gas BBQ UK pick for each cooking job

Propane regulator for gas BBQ UK: match the collar

Infrared BBQ vs gas BBQ: when a normal trolley wins

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures for these ASINs. Retrieved 22 October 2026.

  1. Char-Broil UK: TRU-Infrared grills (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. Char-Broil UK: Grill2Go (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. Grill2Go manual (GB) (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. BSI: BS EN 498:2012 outdoor LPG barbecues (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK: fire safety outdoors (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK: gas appliances enforcement (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. Calor: gas bottles for a BBQ (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. Food Standards Agency: BBQ food safety (retrieved 22 October 2026)