Stainless Steel Flavorizer Plate for WGA gas grill


 

Jason_P

TVWBB Member
As I was searching for a compact portable grill and finally decided on the Weber Go Anywhere gas, I saw a post on this forum that mentioned a guy on ebay, who goes by the id rcplanebuyer, may be willing to make a Stainless Steel Flavorizer plate for the WGA gas since this seems to be a big weak point of the grill since they rust out so quickly , see post 14 here: http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?41956-Thermometer-for-a-Go-anywhere/page2&highlight=rcplanebuyer+WGA .

I was very interested in this since I 4x4 camp frequently in all different kinds of weather and I don't want to have to continually invest $20 in a new plate every year or so. So I contacted rcplanebuyer about making me one. While he had made a couple in the past for his friends, he no longer had the program to make them. But rather than give up, I got him hooked up with an original flavorizer plate so he could make one again. In about a week's time, I received the SS flavorizer plate for testing and I must say he did an excellent job! You'll notice from the pictures below that the factory bar has three larger louvers across while his has 4 smaller louvers across. This was because he didn't have the louver tooling to make them as large as the original. His louvers have a little larger height for the opening, which is needed to ensure the total "open area" of the louvers per row are equal to the "open area" of the original. I measured the louvers with some calipers to calculate the total area per row of the louver's opening and sure enough the total area between original and his is near exact. Why is this important? I wanted to be sure the heat from the burner under the flavorizer bar was able to flow into the grilling area at the same rate as the original bar.

Next I tested heat up times between the two and I found no difference in heat times. Both heated the grill to 500 degrees in just over 15 mins (note: I am using the Craycort CI grates and I also have a thermometer on the hood). After a few heat cycles of the SS Flavorizer plate, I took it out and its form was unscathed…meaning all the angles were the same and no warpage of any kind. I am very impressed with it. Its made of 18 gauge 306 SS so it is very stout and the great news is THIS THING WILL NOT RUST! He is now offering them on ebay for $30 with free shipping….while its a little more pricey than the $20+shipping weber replacement (which will just end up rusting again), IMO its a worth while investment.

Below are some pictures of the bar as well as some pics of my WGA. Also, here is his ebay link if you are interested in purchasing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131092399587


Original Wber Flavorizer Plate:
9201.jpg



New SS Flavorizer Plate (unfired):


SS Flavorizer Plate After firing:


SS Flavorizer Plate in the WGA:



SS Flavorizer Plate with the Craycort Grates on:
 
Last edited:
been dreaming about something like that. course now weber has changed the whole system and now has just a porcelain grate similar to the q style.
http://www.weber.com/grills/series/go-anywhere/go-anywhere-gas-1

The porcelain grate on the 2014 WGA-gas is just thin porcelain coated steel, exactly like the original flavorizer plate in the pre-2014 WGA vs the thick porcelain covered cast iron grate on the new Q-line. Having looked at the new WGA grate in person, my assessment is it will rust quickly just like the old flavorizer bar.

The good news is rest of the 2014 WGA-gas is unchanged, meaning you can add in a flavorizer plate ($20) and old style grate ($15) and have a "new" 2013-style grill....or rather than invest in the weber parts, you can update to the SS Flavorizer bar ($30), which IMO is the better investment over the weber version that will rust out, and go with a Craycort grate ($45) or the old style grate.
 
yep, time will tell. I'm just wondering if the new grate cooks better or worse. I may get one to just try.
also plan on getting one of those ss flavorizers. boy, all that $$$$$$$$$$$$$ for a $6 grill !
 
Thanks Jason; I picked up a used WGA a couple months ago for $8 on CL. The flavorizer plate in it does have some life left, but having this SS one will really help it last that much longer.
 
yea, in a few of my finds I thought that the price of the flavorizer bar really killed the "deal" it truly is/was an overpriced part.
if you needed a flavorizer bar and a grill grate then you might as well buy new. and that part is truly the archilles heel of those ga's.
with the ss one it could truly make it usable for a lifetime.
 
since this was written, weber got rid of the flavorizer bar and went to a different cooking grill. kinda designed like the q grates.
 
since this was written, weber got rid of the flavorizer bar and went to a different cooking grill. kinda designed like the q grates.

Actually its not much like the q-grates at all. The new grate in the WGA is a porcelain coated flimsy steel "grate" (if you can even call it a grate...more like a oven broiler pan). This grate will rust out just like the old flavorizer bar as it made of exactly the same materials. Weber did this as a clear cost saving measure to have a single thing that can act as both the flavorizing bar and cooking grate. The good news is you can simplely add a SS (or oem porcelain coated steel) flavorizer bar and the old plated cooking grate (or a Craycort CI grate) to the new 2014 grill to make it just like a pre2013 WGA and a worthy grill again....just gonna cost you more now (thanks weber...grrrr).

The new 2014 Q grill has a porcelain coated cast iron grate which is in a totally different league than the POS flimsy porcelain coated steel grate they offer in the WGA now. The older Qs had nearly the exact same CI grates but without the porcelain coating. The porcelain coating on the new Ci grate is supported to make maintaining them easier for those that don't know how to care for cast iron.

I suppose they are similar in the fact that both the Q grates and the new WGA-g grates are supposed to be flavorizor bars and cooking grates all in one. IMO the Q CI grate was a near perfect execution of this goal, while what they did to the WGA-g is an utter failure that they should be ashamed of.


It should be noted that the latest WGA charcoal model still has the old plated cooking grate! =)
 
Last edited:
The only benefit I see of having the new design of the gas WGA grate for 2014 is for table-top Korean BBQ, which requires a special type of grate that doesn't have too many openings, yet still allows for grease to pass through. I can see myself using that type of grate for foods like: galbi, bulgogi, and thin spicy pork.
 
The only benefit I see of having the new design of the gas WGA grate for 2014 is for table-top Korean BBQ, which requires a special type of grate that doesn't have too many openings, yet still allows for grease to pass through. I can see myself using that type of grate for foods like: galbi, bulgogi, and thin spicy pork.

Would the 13.75 GrillGrates on the WGA achieve the same thing for Korean style bbq (and not rust out on ya)?:

74.jpg




For reference here is the new flimsy porcelain coated steel POS grate/flavor bar combo weber offers:
837b2833-a159-4de2-8525-271605cdf144_1000.jpg
 
Last edited:
Those GrillGrates seem to be better suited for larger pieces of meat. There are some Korean dishes where the meat is so thinly sliced, they would fall through most other grates pretty easily. That's why Weber actually has a separate round grill insert for Korean style bbq. This new porcelain grate for the gas WGA, despite its shortcomings, may actually be perfect for this particular style of cuisine.
 
when I said like the q I ment that the part over the flame is solid and acts like a diffuser. for sure its not cast iron. time will tell how well it lasts. I suspect regular cleaning and oiling should help it last a decent amount of time. even the older grate would rust badly if not taken care of. on the couple of gga's that I have with no flavorizer bars I may try one of these newer grates.
 
Those GrillGrates seem to be better suited for larger pieces of meat. There are some Korean dishes where the meat is so thinly sliced, they would fall through most other grates pretty easily. That's why Weber actually has a separate round grill insert for Korean style bbq. This new porcelain grate for the gas WGA, despite its shortcomings, may actually be perfect for this particular style of cuisine.


You can turn the grillgrates over for a flat surface with the drain holes. I typically flip mine over for the last 2 mins of cooking a steak to add some nice browning. I think this flat surface would potentially be a better cooking surface for Korean meat you're describing.
 
when I said like the q I ment that the part over the flame is solid and acts like a diffuser. for sure its not cast iron. time will tell how well it lasts. I suspect regular cleaning and oiling should help it last a decent amount of time. even the older grate would rust badly if not taken care of. on the couple of gga's that I have with no flavorizer bars I may try one of these newer grates.

George - it'll be interesting to see what these new grates end up costing.
 

 

Back
Top