GrillGrates

Anybody use these or recommend them?
http://www.mygrillgrate.com/13_75_GrillGrates_s/30.htmhttp://www.mygrillgrate.com/13_75_GrillGrates_s/30.htm


My new grill has enameled steel grates, which work fine. My previous two grills had cast iron grates, which I prefer. I read that online experts rank cast iron grates as some of the worst. I dunno, they worked great for me. I never scraped or brushed my cast iron grates and I had no problem with searing or food sticking. I figured that was the secret to cast iron, never clean em. I never oiled them either like all the fancy shows, books and web sites show.

But back to these GrillGrates, they're pricey. Worth it?

 

i am planning on building a set out of 3/8 thick SS rod. the thought is thermal mass wil make grilling steaks more fun

 

If you want a good sear on a piece of meat cast iron is the way t9 go. I you are doing slow and low, like bbq, I'd go with stainless. Just remember cast iron needs proper care but it's worth itl

 

im going to have to look at thurmal condutivity now since you brought this up (cast iron vs SS)

 

I am not sure thermal mass is terribly relevant on a household grill. I don't think that the grill will cool off enough to make a difference with a steak or three.

 

This might be the key for me. I do steaks 250x more often than I do bbq or any smoking. Like I said, unlike all the expert reading I have seen, I don't scrub, clean or oil my grates. I just let the fat from the rib eyes build up and burn in. I've never had any problems with food sticking or burning, etc. I just preheat the grill (in the past it has always been propane) on full blast and burn everything off. It's gotta be at least 600°F. Sometimes the grates turn white. I might be doing it wrong but they always work.

Maybe if i primarily do steaks, pork chops, burgers and brats cast iron fits my needs best rather than these fancy aluminum ones.

 

I'm not completely surprised that you haven't had any serious problems with sticking, even if you don't clean or oil your grates, if you're making steaks and chops. However, I am surprised that you have avoided troublesome sticking with something like hamburgers. Sounds like maybe the secret has been your use of very high temperatures afterwards, which essentially season the grates with the residual fat from your cooking.

 

I have SS grates on my grill and they sear just fine. Preheat that baby to about 500-600* and they will sear anything.

 

I have a Weber. It has plated steel grate. Like Wagner, I don't clean the grates, just burn them off at the start of each session then use a grate brush right before cooking. The grate is well seasoned and about the only think that sticks is fish so I've resorted to an alternate method for that.

 

I think this is more about putting nice grill marks on the meat than actually bring food to temp. Personally, I don't care about grill marks, so I continue to use the thin steel grates that came with my weber and horizon. However, my FiL had an old park grill with a grate made of probably 1/2" bars that put d@mned nice grill marks on a steak...I used to enjoy using it.