re: what's the secret to keep gas grills from flaming up?

Like so many others have said, get a Weber and you won't have to purchase another gas grill for 10-15 years. It is VERY good at keeping the nice little flareups from turning into fires. You will, probably have to buy new flavorizer bars and/or grates every 5 years, or so, and keep it clean.

There is no grill that will completely prevent food from catching on fire in high heat. One thing that I see that causes a lot of flareups is people putting fatty meat, such as chicken, directly over the flame. When you do this, the fat drips down into the flame and eventually, it flares up (regardless of flavorizer bars or ceramic briquets). You want to cook meats with a high fat content over indirect heat.

I cook my steaks over the high direct heat for a few minutes and then move them over indirect heat to finish them. This gives me the good grill marks and crust without burning the meat. Good meat is to expensive to not cook it right.