August 2008
Gas grills
Safety counts
Most of the grills we tested for this review of gas grills turned out juicy steaks and moist, tender chicken and fish. But
not all the news was good.
The Broil King Signet 90 986784LP grill, $650, we originally tested was dangerous, and we had judged it Not Acceptable. The firebox melted on two of the three grills we tested. The third grill's firebox had started to crack and become deformed when the test ended. The Signet 90 was the first gas grill to receive that judgment since 1986.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: For further news on the Broil King Signet 90 986784LP grill, read our August 2008 update. And for more details on the original issues we had with this Broil King grill, see Issues concerning the Broil King Signet 90.
The Broil King underscores the importance of considering safety when shopping for and using a grill. Plenty of grills in our Ratings (available to subscribers) combine safety with top-notch cooking and stylish looks.
Stainless steel continues to be popular, but its rising cost is forcing manufacturers to look for alternatives. Porcelain-coated steel is durable and won't rust, as long as it doesn't chip. Porcelain is easier to maintain and available in a variety of colors to jazz up your patio or yard.
For this gas grills review, our experts spent months searing steaks, grilling chicken, and cooking salmon on 42 grills. We found that a premium price doesn't guarantee a better grill. A $200 midsized model outperformed grills costing hundreds more. And a $950 grill topped our Ratings (available to subscribers) of large grills, ahead of models costing $1,750 and $3,200.
Here's what else we found:
A truce in the Btu war. Manufacturers once touted the grills' British thermal units per hour (Btu/hr.) output, but our tests repeatedly found that more Btu don't guarantee faster heating or better cooking. Many grill makers have turned to infrared technology to create buzz. But infrared is just another way of saying indirect heat, and when it comes to grills, there are several ways to generate it. We tested grills that have a ceramic burner or a combination of plates and grates. A third type, radiant cavities, are U-shape troughs that heat the grates. None of these infrared technologies was better than the other in our tests, nor did infrared outperform regular grilling.
Other cookers were so-so. In addition to grills, we tested the $139 Orion Cooker and the $129 Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-less Turkey Fryer. Both can be used to cook whole chickens, turkeys, or roasts, freeing space on the grill for steaks, burgers, and other smaller items. The charcoal-fueled Orion uses convection, steam, and smoke, if desired. We compared a whole chicken, a turkey, a pork roast, and prime rib cooked in the Orion with ones cooked on a gas grill, using a rotisserie. The Orion was in our gas grills review almost always faster than the grill, and meats were juicy and tender but not as crisp or juicy as ones cooked on a grill. And cleanup was messier and took longer.
Propane fuels Char-Broil's Big Easy Oil-less Turkey Fryer, which uses infrared heat to cook. We cooked a turkey in the Big Easy and in an electric turkey fryer. The electric fryer was faster and the turkey was moister than the one done in the Big Easy gas grills review. Pork roasts, chickens, and prime rib cooked in the Big Easy were nicely browned but drier than those cooked on a gas grill.
The Broil King Signet 90 986784LP grill, $650, we originally tested was dangerous, and we had judged it Not Acceptable. The firebox melted on two of the three grills we tested. The third grill's firebox had started to crack and become deformed when the test ended. The Signet 90 was the first gas grill to receive that judgment since 1986.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: For further news on the Broil King Signet 90 986784LP grill, read our August 2008 update. And for more details on the original issues we had with this Broil King grill, see Issues concerning the Broil King Signet 90.
The Broil King underscores the importance of considering safety when shopping for and using a grill. Plenty of grills in our Ratings (available to subscribers) combine safety with top-notch cooking and stylish looks.
Stainless steel continues to be popular, but its rising cost is forcing manufacturers to look for alternatives. Porcelain-coated steel is durable and won't rust, as long as it doesn't chip. Porcelain is easier to maintain and available in a variety of colors to jazz up your patio or yard.
For this gas grills review, our experts spent months searing steaks, grilling chicken, and cooking salmon on 42 grills. We found that a premium price doesn't guarantee a better grill. A $200 midsized model outperformed grills costing hundreds more. And a $950 grill topped our Ratings (available to subscribers) of large grills, ahead of models costing $1,750 and $3,200.
Here's what else we found:
A truce in the Btu war. Manufacturers once touted the grills' British thermal units per hour (Btu/hr.) output, but our tests repeatedly found that more Btu don't guarantee faster heating or better cooking. Many grill makers have turned to infrared technology to create buzz. But infrared is just another way of saying indirect heat, and when it comes to grills, there are several ways to generate it. We tested grills that have a ceramic burner or a combination of plates and grates. A third type, radiant cavities, are U-shape troughs that heat the grates. None of these infrared technologies was better than the other in our tests, nor did infrared outperform regular grilling.
Other cookers were so-so. In addition to grills, we tested the $139 Orion Cooker and the $129 Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-less Turkey Fryer. Both can be used to cook whole chickens, turkeys, or roasts, freeing space on the grill for steaks, burgers, and other smaller items. The charcoal-fueled Orion uses convection, steam, and smoke, if desired. We compared a whole chicken, a turkey, a pork roast, and prime rib cooked in the Orion with ones cooked on a gas grill, using a rotisserie. The Orion was in our gas grills review almost always faster than the grill, and meats were juicy and tender but not as crisp or juicy as ones cooked on a grill. And cleanup was messier and took longer.
Propane fuels Char-Broil's Big Easy Oil-less Turkey Fryer, which uses infrared heat to cook. We cooked a turkey in the Big Easy and in an electric turkey fryer. The electric fryer was faster and the turkey was moister than the one done in the Big Easy gas grills review. Pork roasts, chickens, and prime rib cooked in the Big Easy were nicely browned but drier than those cooked on a gas grill.
