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Stainless grill grates


ChefCrash

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My cast iron grates have been nothing but a pain. Impossible to season and are rusting. My choices are to replace them with 3 of these for $150, or porcelain enameled cast iron for $85.

Are there any draw backs to the stainless grates? They are made with 5/16" rods. Do they bend (warp) or corrode eventually?

Thanks

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Just out of curiosity, did you buy cast iron grates so you could achieve better grill marks?

Do you really need better grill marks?

Standard OEM replacement grates, for the win :smile:

So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."

So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

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I had porcelain-coated cast iron on my old Weber Genesis and LOVED them -- IMO they were the perfect grates, tough and durable and held heat beautifully (and yes, lovely sear marks, but also helping the grill hold temp when opened). If Weber ever makes them for my current grill (a big Summit; the only current choice is stainless) I'll order them in a heartbeat.

For what it's worth, the stainless-rod grates I have now seem durable enough, just less excellent than the coated cast iron I had.

Edited by John Rosevear (log)

John Rosevear

"Brown food tastes better." - Chris Schlesinger

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I would definitely go with the porcelain coated cast iron. As stated above they hold heat much better than stainless and provide better grill marks. They seldom need cleaning most times a light brushing is sufficient. The stainless ones always look dirty after the first use.

I've learned that artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

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I had the porcelain coated steel (thin not cast iron) on an old Webber, pre genesis; they chipped from the high heat cleaning. I replaced them with some straight cast iron grates that I bought at Wms-Sonoma. These I loved for their mass effect of holding heat-yes, the marks were superb, their ease of cleaning, but I didn't like that cast seems to flake and corrode in a couple years.

One of my grills had the coated cast iron and worked great but the porcelain started chipping and sticking to the food. That I didn't like.

Now my latest Webber Genesis has the SS grates. Stainless that has suffered high heat is ugly but still works well. I would buy straight cast if I could get them for this grill even though I had to replace them every couple years.

Robert

Seattle

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I think you're fine anyway you go. I prefer regular cast iron myself but also have a grill with stainless and a grill with the enamel coating. My least favorite is the enamel, mostly becuase I am fairly hard on my equipment, nothing wrong with there cooking properties though! I would go with the stainless it is very durable and effective, they don't look great after a while but they still work, just my $0.02 but I don't care what they look like......

Clark

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My Weber Silver gas grill came with bare cast iron. Nice pyramid shaped for good grill marks. It was a bugger to keep seasoned due to the high heat of grilling. I had porcelain cast iron on a lower end grill before getting the Weber and they did chip over time so I replaced the cast iron grates with the SS from Weber. Plus side these are very light weight. Down side these are very light weight. They will never hold heat like the heavier cast iron and or coated grates but they are easy to scrub down and a few applications of oil prior to use makes food release easily.

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