How do you distinguish between and average grill and a great one? So many of the gas grills that are marketed today are made in China where labor costs are so cheap that it\’s very difficult to distinguish between what is a good grill and what is truly a great grill.

There are some fundamentals that you need to consider in the build quality and that\’s predominantly around the materials used to construct your unit. Stainless steel is right up there whereas the lower cost end of the market will be powder coated. This is not to say that the powder coated models aren\’t any good, many share the same components as the stainless steel models it\’s just simply a matter of aesthetics and longevity.

Some like the clean lines of stainless steel whereas others like to see something painted the issue with painted is really around rust and ease of cleaning. In theory, provided the pint is punctured, there\’s not reason why rust should propagate but inevitably it seems to do so. As soon as you get and consider when it gets a knock, the paint gets scratched, you\’re rolling down the rocky road.

Not all of us can afford stainless steel and if you can\’t then the best way to protect your investment is by buying a grill cover and ensuring that you keep your grill out of the way of the weather. A grill cover will cost you about $45 and will definitely help you stop the rot.

Most of the problems that I hear about when a grill is a couple of years old is that the burners have corroded and blocked up. You\’ll notice that the grills at the top of the range advertize cast iron burners as being a key feature and this is not a coincidence, cast iron means reliability. If you are price sensitive and let\’s face who isn\’t then look just try and get to the entry level for cast iron burners and you\’ll hopefully enjoy a greater cooking lifespan for your grill.

If however you\’re not in a position to get cast iron burners do the next best thing and that is to check the warranty. Some grill manufacturers (Jenn Air to name one) have a lifetime warranty on their burners so if anything goes wrong, you can phone them up and they will ship out replacements. Just to be clear on this point, my understanding is that the parts will be free but the shipping costs may not.

While you are checking on the burners, check on the igniter too. Not just for warranty but also to ensure that each burner has an igniter. I recently cooked on a reputable branded grill to find it only had one igniter and if I wanted to use the left burner (where the searing plate was) I had to light the right burner using the igniter, turn on ta central burner to allow the flame to jump across and then the left burner with the flame jumping across from the central burner. Once lit I could turn off the center and right burners. What a performance!

For me a gas grill becomes great if it has a hood because this is when you can start to experiment with indirect cooking which brings a whole new dimension to outdoor cooking. You might consider this dangerous because once you\’re hooked you\’ll be out there spending on a smoker!

Your hood should have a temperature gauge on it but don\’t bother with a viewing window, they look good in the shops but after a couple of cookouts you won\’t be able to see anything.

Author Bio: Paul Yates has written detailed gas grill reviews including the Weber Q gas grill, the Adventurer Aussie gas grill and Holland gas grills too.

Category: Advice
Keywords: gas grill,good gas grill,cast iron burners,stainless steel