New Grate/grid-Cast Iron or Stainless?

ftwthegger · 01-02-2010, 07:51 AM

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?

TinCup · 01-02-2010, 08:43 AM

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?

Midnight Smoke · 01-02-2010, 08:50 AM

I don't have one yet but when the time comes Cast Iron will be my choice.

HeSmellsLikeSmoke · 01-02-2010, 09:34 AM

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.

Jorge · 01-02-2010, 09:52 AM

Santa brought me one of these...

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh....php?p=923890#

Works great in a Lg. Egg!

Grumpy's Q · 01-02-2010, 09:54 AM

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.

gasAintGrillin · 01-02-2010, 10:28 AM

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

Midnight Smoke · 01-02-2010, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeSmellsLikeSmoke

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.

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.

ftwthegger · 01-02-2010, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pork Smoker

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.

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.

nzrebel · 01-02-2010, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ftwthegger

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?

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

ftwthegger · 01-02-2010, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jorge

Santa brought me one of these...

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh....php?p=923890#

Works great in a Lg. Egg!

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!

JD McGee · 01-02-2010, 11:47 AM

Good choice...I love my CI grate!

dmprantz · 01-02-2010, 11:47 AM

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

Jorge · 01-02-2010, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ftwthegger

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!

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.

Que-Dawg · 01-02-2010, 01:40 PM

I love my cast iron grate

01-02-2010, 07:51 AM	#1
ftwthegger Is lookin for wood to cook with. Join Date: 08-24-09 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	New Grate/grid-Cast Iron or Stainless? 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?

01-02-2010, 08:43 AM	#2
TinCup On the road to being a farker Join Date: 08-21-09 Location: Eighty Four, PA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	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? __________________ WSM Weber Genesis [COLOR=Blue][COLOR=Black]Large Black Grill Dome[/COLOR] Blue Thermapen[/COLOR]

01-02-2010, 08:50 AM	#3
Midnight Smoke somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 01-24-08 Location: Southern Arizona Desert Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I don't have one yet but when the time comes Cast Iron will be my choice. __________________ ************************ * Terry ~ aka Pork Smoker * XL-BGE Hatched 06/20/2008 09:42 pm ** * Couple Weber Kettles, CharGriller, UDS * * Ultra Fast Red Thermapen * Projects Kamado Restoration Bandera Restoration

01-02-2010, 09:34 AM	#4
HeSmellsLikeSmoke somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 04-02-07 Location: Warren, Vermont Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	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. __________________ Jim - Another transplanted Texan Former KCBS CBJ Large and Medium Big Green Eggs , Black 18.5" WSM, Blue Weber Performer - Stainless, Green Weber OTG Kettle , Brinkmann SnP Pro, and a Stainless UDS. One retired Portable Kitchen grill. Red Thermapen, Maverick ET-73, EdgePro Apex Sharpener. Avatar is the original 1951 Weber Kettle

01-02-2010, 09:52 AM	#5
Jorge somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 01-23-04 Location: DFW, San AntonioTx Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Santa brought me one of these... http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh....php?p=923890# Works great in a Lg. Egg! __________________ You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. --Frank Zappa BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY!!! Recipient of a Huggies box! Shut up, and cook!!!!

01-02-2010, 09:54 AM	#6
Grumpy's Q is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 02-23-06 Location: Ft. Worth, TX Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	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. __________________ Mike "A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her."-W.C. Fields WSM, Brinkman gasser, Bandera with mods (Retired 3-28-09) Fish fryer/ turkey fryer 22 1/2 inch Weber gold kettle..blue 1 small tailgate gasser 3 Big Green eggs, 1 medium and 2 larges

01-02-2010, 10:28 AM	#7
gasAintGrillin Found some matches. Join Date: 07-14-09 Location: Wake Forest, NC Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	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 __________________ NB Silver Smoker - Bar-B-Chef Offset - Bayou Classic 135

01-02-2010, 11:47 AM	#12
JD McGee somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 06-28-07 Location: Duvall, WA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Good choice...I love my CI grate! __________________ Wine Country "Q" Competition BBQ

01-02-2010, 11:47 AM	#13
dmprantz is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 01-11-08 Location: Nashville Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	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 __________________ The Beast - Custom Vertical Offset by Bates FEC-100 Large Big Green Egg® Weber Performer

01-02-2010, 01:40 PM	#15
Que-Dawg is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 01-11-09 Location: somerset, kentucky Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I love my cast iron grate __________________ [COLOR=darkred][B][FONT=Georgia]BBQ Naked, & Toast Your Bunz[/FONT].[/B][/COLOR]

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