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Has anyone used GrillGrates ?


rotuts

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time to replenish my cooked potato stash for potato salad:

 

the GG's have been seasoned on the grill w flax seed oil, about 5 coats after I got them.

 

this is a 5 lbs bag of red new potatoes, similar sized.  washed, poked w a knife here and there, no microwave  pre heat.

 

tossed in a bit of olive oil.

 

  its hot here:

 

potato GrillGrates.jpg

 

about 375 at the probe for 75 minutes or so.  turned once to see what was going on.

 

the GG's made for some even cooking w no burning.  on the regular ( replacement not Weber )

 

grill id get burned bits here and there.  I usually cut the potatoes in 1/2 but did not do that this time.

 

will do so in the future as this set up is very nice for even cooking.  tried out some Jack Daniels 

 

"Old # 7" pellets.  need to work on the pellet smoke a bit more.  might get that 19 $$ tube !

 

Im a big fan so far.

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Just ordered a set of 5 (thanks again to rotuts for the coupon code!) along with the modernist Baking Steel. I'll report back once I break them in. My porcelain enameled cast iron grates on my Weber Genesis E330 are super rusty after just one year; it'll be nice not to have to worry about rust anymore.

Edited by btbyrd (log)
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how about a pic ?  the GG's need to sit on top of something as they are a bit smaller than the grates that come w the weber's

 

mine is an antique !

 

:raz:

 

Im thinking of a new set of 'flavor'bars, and the thermometer gave up the Ghost some time ago.  if I sneeze near the Weber, one of the flavor bars is going to turn to dust.  i moved it off the heating element into a 'neutral' slot

 

the others have seen hard service too.

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I'll post a pic once they show up. My plan is just to use them on top of my regular grates, but I did briefly contemplate getting a custom set cut to replace my current grates outright. An online specialty shop carries 19.5" grates that are designed for use on the Genesis, but I heard user reports that the raised grates come up so far that the lid won't close properly. They suggested cutting a bevel into the front of the grates, but that sounded like a lot of work and it would have been more expensive. So I'll have to live with losing an inch or so of grilling space (not that that's a big deal). GG recommends leaving extra room to allow for air circulation anyway.

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I must say, that looks for " Cookin''

 

it might not matter so much, but make your first and all the rest flax seed oil dosed  ' less than you might see '

 

just do a few more.

 

mine are working fine and await :

 

Chicken On Sale !

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Golly, that's a lotta grill real estate y'all got!!!!!!

~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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They just showed up! A near perfect fit.

 

attachicon.gifgrates.jpg

 

Too bad the rain showed up shortly after the FedEx guy. Hopefully I'll be able to break them in this weekend.

 

Thanks again rotuts for the coupon code!

Are they sitting on top of the original grates? I have the same grill; did you order the standard size?

Anne Napolitano

Chef On Call

"Great cooking doesn't come from breaking with tradition but taking it in new directions-evolution rather that revolution." Heston Blumenthal

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Are they sitting on top of the original grates? I have the same grill; did you order the standard size?

 

It's 5 of the 18.5" grates on top of the original enameled cast iron ones. There's about 3/4 of an inch of extra space in front and back so that they don't completely cover the factory grates (and they can't quite sit on the shelf/ledge that holds the grates). You can order 19.5" ones, but I've read that the grates stick up so much that there's an issue closing them. I've also seen images of Grill Grates that have a bevel cut into the grates so the grates sticking up are cut at an angle, which would probably solve the issue. I thought about ordering a custom cut set, but that would have been more expensive and I didn't think it was worth it (for me).

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Update #1:

 

So far I've used Grill Grates 3 times - all for things I don't usually grill. Prior to using them the first time I seasoned them with flax seed oil. My first cook was 10 very fatty Italian sausages that coated the right side of my grill in a thick layer of pork fat. That side's very well seasoned now. The sausages got some very nice grill marks, cooked evenly, and there were no flareups but lots of sizzle and steam. It would have been hellfire if I used my standard grates (like I said... they were very fatty). I cooked them on my the lowest setting and the grill surface seemed significantly hotter than usual.

The next time I flipped two of the grates over and used them as a plancha to sear off some sous vide beef cheek and hangar steak for pho. It worked pretty well, but I'm pretty sure that my pizza steel will work better as a flat top. I got a very nice sear.

Last night I grilled some salmon, which I love but usually ends up getting somewhat mangled. Using the grate tool made flipping/turning the fish a total pleasure. There was no sticking at all. Due to the shape of the filets, I wasn't able to get even grill marks on the top side, but I imagine that cooking something like a swordfish or tuna steak (or some other cut of fish with flat surfaces) would produce fantastic results. Next time I'm going to add some wood pellets to add some smoke flavor while the meat grills. (The grates come with a sample packet of pellets, by the way.)

 

On the grill:

 

salmon_grates.jpg

 

On the plate:

 

salmon_plate.jpg

 

Salmon with ChefSteps House Rub, basmati rice cooked in Modernist Cuisine vegetable stock, and a summer salad of baby heirloom tomatoes, grilled corn, cucumber, green onion, basil, olive oil, and sherry vinegar.

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  • 9 months later...

light they are, and they would get extremely hot and might tip when removing items.

 

People do the same thing with regular grates which can be just as light if not lighter, so I think cooking with caution comes with the territory of these kludgy setups.

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for a regular grill on the chimney I use a much smaller 'grill'  it over hangs by only a few inches and Ive notched the chimney so it takes the steel wire that holds the

 

other wires together.

 

If I were to try the GG's, id have at least my L hand in a welders mitt.  just in case.

 

this possible burn on your hand(s) is not something you want to go through.

 

""  cooking with caution "" is the right buzz here.

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for a regular grill on the chimney I use a much smaller 'grill'  it over hangs by only a few inches and Ive notched the chimney so it takes the steel wire that holds the other wires together.

 

How do you deal with flare ups? Is that not the purpose of the GrillGrates?

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good point JK

 

in the Very distant past  I did use the chimney with a much smaller 'grate" for 'Turbo Boost" grilling

 

a single burger or as AltonB mentioned   a killer Salmon etc

 

it used less charcoal and got quite hot

 

I have not used the GrillGrates for this.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Maybe the only thing I haven't loved about GrillGrates is using them for steaks and chops. They are absolutely wonderful for pretty much everything else I grill -- chicken, fish, burgers, sausage -- but they're not good at developing a nice crust. Beautiful grill marks, yes. But with gray meat in between. It tastes great, but the texture and the deep Maillard flavors aren't there. But last night I figured out a nice workaround: the Searzall. It may seem silly (and it may be silly) to use a blowtorch on a piece of meat while it's grilling, but the results speak for themselves. You can get a proper crust and awesome sear marks without overcooking the interior. 

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Maybe the only thing I haven't loved about GrillGrates is using them for steaks and chops. They are absolutely wonderful for pretty much everything else I grill -- chicken, fish, burgers, sausage -- but they're not good at developing a nice crust. Beautiful grill marks, yes. But with gray meat in between. It tastes great, but the texture and the deep Maillard flavors aren't there. But last night I figured out a nice workaround: the Searzall. It may seem silly (and it may be silly) to use a blowtorch on a piece of meat while it's grilling, but the results speak for themselves. You can get a proper crust and awesome sear marks without overcooking the interior.

Try flipping them over and cook on the flat side.

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Mark

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