Cast iron grates....

I don't think it affects anything as far as smoking goes. The spaces between the grids are nice and wide and the grids themselves are skinny.
I just received my new CI grate for the kettle this afternoon and am looking forward to using it this weekend.

Having absolutely 0 experience with cast iron grates and smoking, I would think that the thickness of the grates would potentially inhibit bark production and provide less overall exposure to the smoke. I would also worry about sugar content and the areas of direct contact burning, however there is probably not too much of a risk there.

I'm not sure about putting the cast iron into a moisture rich environment, sometimes on the kettle I've used a water pan over the coals to help regulate temperatures. Cast iron is pretty quick to rust, however if it's well seasoned and oiled reguarly, especially after use, you should be fine.

I'm sure you know this already but the great benefit of cast iron is heat retention, which is perfect for high heat grilling for steaks and the like.

Char Grillers, plus many other offset smokers come with CI grates.

I don't have a smokenator but with the CI grate you may be able to remove the water pan completely if you place one quadrant directly over the water pan. Are you able to do this with the hinged Weber grate?

My CG's have them... I love them. They do not seem to bother the cooking at all in my opinion. In fact, as they are thicker, as well as wider, they tend to absorb the heat better, and cook more even. As far as burning sugar, etc., as long as it is low and slow, NO, it doesn't get hot enough as long as you keep the meat away from direct heat. Now what I cook on are offsets, so as far as on a kettle or something like that, the same would apply.... the more heat you have, the hotter they get of course, and the hotter they get, the easier to burn sugar, etc... My old gasser had them as well... loved them for good HOT grill marks on burgers, steaks, etc. They do take a little longer to get hot, but do hold the heat.

Hope this garble helps some....

I haven't had the chance to use it yet but here is a pic I took this morning of the new grate.

No problems here...I use my cast iron grate on my BGE all the time for low-n-slow smokes...

AFLCAPT said:

That sure is nice. Let me know how it works for the low n slow stuff. Is this the one from castirongrates.com for $85 ?

Click to expand...

Thanks, it sure is a nice grate. Yes, I ordered it from them.
I just wished it was 1/4" larger in diameter for a more 'finished' fit. Same goes for the standard Weber charcoal and cooking grates, they could be made a tad larger in diameter. :smile: