Cooking out.(gas grills - test)(Buyers Guide)

You can spend as much on a gas grill as you would on a new Kia Rio sedan (suggested retail price: $8,895). Of course, when it comes to grills, there are better buys. Almost any gas grill will start cooking a hamburger at the turn of a knob or push of a button. And almost any gas grill provides more even, controlled cooking than a charcoal grill. But there are some significant differences among gas models, not only in how they cook but in how much and how conveniently. Therein lies a story.

For this issue, we tested grills priced from less than $200 to more than $2,000. If you simply want a well-made grill that can handle more than franks and burgers, you'll find several strong performers for less than $400. Indeed, the $200 Sunbeam HG7501EPB--one of three CR Best Buys in this report--performed nearly as well as the most lavish models we tested.

But those upmarket models not only perform well, they offer sturdier materials, longer warranties, and features that turn the grill into a veritable outdoor kitchen. The $1,500 Jenn-Air JLG7130ADS, for example, has mostly stainless-steel construction, an especially large cooking area, and a lifetime warranty on its burners.

HOW THEY DID

Quick starts. The grates on most models reached 600[degrees] F in just 15 minutes or less. Quick warm-up depends more on how heat is transferred to the grates than on the number of British thermal units per hour (Btu/hr.) of energy, often a selling point.

Most models use a metal plate or a rack of ceramic briquettes to transfer heat from the burners. The Sunbeam HG7501EPB, which uses a porcelain-coated metal triangle, reached 600[degrees] F in only 6 minutes compared with 11 minutes for the Broilmaster P3, which uses a rack of briquettes--even though both are advertised as producing 40,000 Btu/hr.

The grates can also affect how quickly a grill warms up. Most are porcelain-coated steel, which heats more quickly than the cast-iron grates on pricier grills. Cast iron can be sturdier, however. The best of both worlds: stainless-steel grates like those on the top-scoring Weber Summit 450 and others, which are sturdy, heat quickly, and resist rust without porcelain.