Warming up the grill?

Question

I can conceptually understand how ovens use a different heat to cook, and hence takes a long time to warm up. But why would a propane grill, with direct heat, still take up to 10 mins to fully spread its heat out into the cooking area?

Context: I’m grilling, and realized it’s taking longer than expected (~3-5mins?) to get to 400°F. Understand that I was having wrong expectations, and want to know why thing is this way instead of that.

Edit: punctuation

In: 3

Answer 1

When starting with a cold grill, much of the heat will go to heating the surrounding metal instead of your food.

So throwing food on a “cold” grill can work, but you risk overcooking the bottom and undercooking the top and sides of your food