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Advice On My Cracked Griddle

Porthos

By Porthos
in Kitchen Consumer

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Porthos

Porthos

Posted
Posted

I have owned this griddle for 8 years and it is used for about an hour on low heat about 25 times/year. Someone borrowed it this last weekend and used it for some high-heat meat grilling and said the crack was there when borrowed. I didn't notice the crack when I was done earlier that day. That is the background.

I am looking for opinions as to its continued usage (I will make the final decision myself so no one is on the hook for their reply). For my low-flame applications is there any reason to mistrust the grill now?

IMAG0226.jpg

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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ChrisTaylor

ChrisTaylor

Posted
Posted

Does the crack go all the way through? I reckon it'll be fine--I mean, 'low heat' on a griddle is still bloody hot in terms of killing nasty things deader than black plastic--wouldn't be racing out to replace it, at least not until it started to spread.

Chris Taylor

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Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

It'll almost surely continue to crack.

It's difficult but not impossible to weld cast iron.

Finding someone willing to attempt it may be difficult and the cost may approach that of a new grill so it may not be worth the risk.

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted (edited)

such a shame this would bother me a lot, but the only solution i see is to let it pass and as mentioned above, not to lend whom ever anything again

unless they understand their mistake and get you a new grill.

I give you Much Kudos for being such a trusting person.

Edited by rotuts (log)
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Porthos

Porthos

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Since I don't need it again until April I will most likely see what a couple of square cast iron griddles would cost. Seeing that the crack is already a third if the way across has changed how I am thinking about this.

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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dcarch

dcarch

Posted
Posted

It looks like still good enough for many uses.

Here is a method how you can deal with it if you don't want to find someone to weld it back.

1. Clean the crack very well and use a high power magnifying glass to see where the crack ends.

2. At the end of the crack, drill a small round hole. This will stop the crack from progressing further, a standard method of stress relief.

3. Get high temperature silicone glue to fill the drilled hole and the crack.

The crack, like an earth quake, actually releases any built-in stress from initial casting. You will get many more years of good use out of it still.

Good luck.

dcarch

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Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm the kind of guy who keeps things until they are no longer useful, and then I try to recycle. If it were my griddle, I'd continue to use it until it broke in pieces. I'll second dcarch.

Edited by Shel_B (log)
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 ... Shel


 

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Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
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I'm with you there...but...trouble is...Murphy seems to follow me everywhere....something catastrophic would surely happen when I needed the crippled grill most.

I think it's wise to have a back-up plan.

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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Porthos

Porthos

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Being as I am currently unemployed and going deeper in the hole every month the option of finding someone to weld it is out - I have no friends I could prevail upon. Stress-relieving the crack and filling it requires a much more delicate hand than I have. I have a well-earned reputation as someone who should never do anything more delicate than build a basic wooden fence. I have been openly laughed at by colleagues watching me try do do any form of metalwork.

Please know that I do appreciate your various suggestions. Using it as is seems to open the door for toxic poisoning if something got into the crack and went wonky. Still thinking about that one.

As far as I know it is cast iron. It came with my 3-burner 30,000 BTU per burner free-standing camp stove (Camp Chef brand).

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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Porthos

Porthos

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I may be thinking of someone else, but I think you were the one who mentioned making food for events like Renaissance Festivals, and if that's the case, is there any chance of doing a trade of some sort with one of the metal workers from one of these?

That indeed is me but the faires I do are over for 2013. It was at a faire in California that just closed that the damage occurred. Even though I have been doing these faires for the last 14 years I haven't gotten to know many people outside of my group. As my expression goes "I hide in the kitchen." I can ask around in the spring when the next faire I do starts up. Thanks for the suggestion.

P.S.

I hide in the kitchen because it takes a whole crew to feed the 70-80 actors that eat our mid-day feast. After 5 intense hours of doing this catering-style gig I'm done for and go take a nap.

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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Smithy

Smithy

Posted
Posted

If you can build a basic wooden fence, you can wield a drill and bit long enough to do a stress-relief hole. Trust me. I can drill till the cows come home, but I wouldn't trust myself to build a fence. And nothing is going to survive the heat of your griddle to be able to grow in the crevice. If it were my griddle, I'd do that stop-drilling and continue to use the griddle; as a precaution, I wouldn't pick it up with a load of hot food.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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Porthos

Porthos

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Sounds like the borrower owes you a griddle or lesson learned about lending items to the careless.

By the way, the borrower works in the same volunteer kitchen that I do and borrowed it without asking. This was his first year and he didn't know that a lot of the equipment is my personal stuff.

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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