New Grate/grid-Cast Iron or Stainless?

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ftwthegger

Guest
Morning guys and gals!

Last summer I got a BGE and love it except the grate. The porcelein coating has already begun to scrape away so I'm looking into upgrading to either cast iron or stainless steel (one of the links on this forum showed a guy that makes stainless steel grates for bge).

Which one would ya'll recommend?
 
I have a cast iron grate for my Grill Dome and love it. It's perfect for searing steaks or whatever I want to throw on it. Haven't seen a stainless one so I can't really comment on those. Do you have a link for the stainless grate?
 
Cast iron is better when you do high heat sears and want grill marks on things like steaks.

BTW, I am surprised about the porcelain finish "scraping away". How do you clean it? I really like how easy mine are to clean and they still look like new.
 
I have a cast iron for grilling on my large. I want one for the medium. If I was going to replace the stock grate for low and slow I would go with a stainless one. That's just me.
 
Re: Grates

Cast iron is the way to go, IMHO.

I'm still using the original grates that came with my Bar-B-Chef which is about four years old now. These were my first experience with cast iron. There is no better way to sear. Clean up is easy with some heat and a wire brush. I try to do a deep clear and re-seasoning every couple of years.

I think these are easier to maintain than stainless or porcelan. I bought a set of porcelan grates for my N-B and experienced the loss of coating that you mentioned. I suspect that there are different quality levels with porcelan coatings and high price may not gaurantee good quality.

These things are pretty much industructable. I've dropped them, hot and cold, onto a concrete patio with no damage.

just my $0.02
 
HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
Cast iron is better when you do high heat sears and want grill marks on things like steaks.

BTW, I am surprised about the porcelain finish "scraping away". How do you clean it? I really like how easy mine are to clean and they still look like new.
Click to expand...

My 1st Porcelain grate started peeling as well. Not sure why, I always use a Brass grill brush as a steel one can harm the Porcelain. This was right after I got the Egg maybe a month. Mine was replaced under warranty.
 
Pork Smoker said:
My 1st Porcelain grate started peeling as well. Not sure why, I always use a Brass grill brush as a steel one can harm the Porcelain. This was right after I got the Egg maybe a month. Mine was replaced under warranty.
Click to expand...

That's what happened to me too. I made sure I used a brass brush or 'grill cleaner' and some hot water.

Sounds like cast iron is the way to go! I'll check the warranty too and see if i can get it replaced.

thanks.
 
ftwthegger said:
Morning guys and gals!

Last summer I got a BGE and love it except the grate. The porcelein coating has already begun to scrape away so I'm looking into upgrading to either cast iron or stainless steel (one of the links on this forum showed a guy that makes stainless steel grates for bge).

Which one would ya'll recommend?
Click to expand...


Stainless steel is just about the worst metal conductor of heat there is so if you want nice grill marks it probably won't work for you. On the other hand it takes abuse and cleans up well.

Cast iron, properly seasoned, would be my choice

Dave
 
As was pointed out, SS is a poor conductor, so it won't get hot. If you're making Q and don't want one side to be especially crispier than the rest, SS may be the way to go, but it won't make grill lines on your burkers and steaks.

dmp
 
ftwthegger said:
Hey Jorge, I looked at the link you provided and those look grate! (sorry for the pun) I'm going to get one of those with the griddle attachment.
thanks!
Click to expand...

I should have added that I've grilled with it and love it so far. For a low and slow smoke I'd probably see about getting a replacement from BGE if you have a warranty with your Egg. If not, I'd look for something that would fit that is stainless or porcelain coated. Both would suit the slower purpose.
 
I loved my cast Iron grate.

I hate that it droped and ended up in a thousand little parts.

I will be buying another one soon.
 
I love my Craycourt cast iron:

DSC_0061800x600.jpg


DSC_0220resized.jpg


It's sear marks are the "g-string" of food pron :)

DSC_0237resized.jpg


I've used it on my large Egg for a month and absolutely love it.
 
Little factoid for consideration: Any 'bare' metal performs and lasts better when seasoned. We all do that to cast iron, but even the non-shiny stainless steel that's got a "raw" surface will take to a good seasoning. As stated it does transfer heat too rapidly for grilling and, under most circumstances, does not do the job that either plain 'seasoned' cast iron or porcelain-coated cast iron does.

By the way Chris - that is one sweet look'n steak in your photo!
 
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