Over the past few years, I've ordered various items with the "Amazon Basics" title, and each of those items (chargers, file folders, binders, etc.) has always performed well. Given the opportunity to try the Amazon Basics gas grill, I had decent expectations for this grill. When I received the grill, it took me exactly 90 minutes to fully assemble it on my living room floor. Be warned, there is a lot of dunnage associated with unboxing the grill (lots of cardboard and foam). The grill came with detailed assembly instructions, and I definitely needed to refer to the instructions to get it assembled properly. Some of the components in the box had the assembly screws already threaded in to the pieces (legs, frame, etc.), and you had to unscrew these to attach different parts. During transport, a few of the screws that were factory threaded into the components must have vibrated out because when I was nearly fully assembled, I ran out of the screws that came in a loose baggie with the grill. I had to dig through the pile of plastic/foam/cardboard to find 2 screws that were loose in the packaging. The frame of the grill is painted mild steel, and it is very thin walled. In my saltwater breeze environment, I do not expect this to last more than 7-8 years. The burners are SS, but the flavorizer bars are mild steel, along with the rest of the grill cooking area (grates are cast iron). Once fully assembled, I rolled the grill outside and performed a "burn off". On the lowest burner setting with the lid closed, the temperature stabilized around 400F. On the highest burner setting with the lid closed, the temperature stabilized around 600F. The inaugural cook on this grill was an assortment of potatoes, burgers, and shish-kabobs. While cooking all of this food, I felt that the grill had a fairly even heat distribution and didn't notice any obvious cold spots. All my burgers cooked at the same pace. While cooking the burgers, I did have a few flare ups, so watch for that. When lighting the burners, it took some fiddling around with the knob to finally get the flame to light. I found myself having to visually watch the flame ignite each burner before lighting the next burner. The cast iron grates (though not as durable as SS), absorb heat very well, and leave great sear marks on the burgers. My general impressions with this grill are positive, and I have no qualms granting my recommendation.
