I bought a used Q200 from a local auction site recently. Unfortunately the last owner only used the grill few times over a three year period and has what appears to be surface rust on the cast iron grates (see photos).
Searching the forum I found several people have experienced similar issue. However, according to the Australian weber website ( http://www.weberbbq.com.au/weberq.htm) Q models should be rust resistant. Reading earlier posts it seems the rusting is due to the damage to the porcelain enameled grate.
My questions for the fellow Q users are:
1. How do I go about cleaning the rust? My initial thought was to sand off the rust and seasoning it like other cast iron cookware. Is this likely to damage the porcelain coating? I have spoken to the local Weber dealer and according to them earlier Q model grates didn't have the porcelain enamel coating.
2. How do you go about cleaning the grates after cooking. The official weber manual recommends cleaning with a brass bristle brush. A video on the Australian weber website ( http://www.weberbbq.com.au/weberq_videos4.htm ) shows a guy cleaning the grill after cooking with a weber grill brush and cold water. I always though cold water on cast iron can cause cracking or warping.
Searching the forum I found several people have experienced similar issue. However, according to the Australian weber website ( http://www.weberbbq.com.au/weberq.htm) Q models should be rust resistant. Reading earlier posts it seems the rusting is due to the damage to the porcelain enameled grate.
My questions for the fellow Q users are:
1. How do I go about cleaning the rust? My initial thought was to sand off the rust and seasoning it like other cast iron cookware. Is this likely to damage the porcelain coating? I have spoken to the local Weber dealer and according to them earlier Q model grates didn't have the porcelain enamel coating.
2. How do you go about cleaning the grates after cooking. The official weber manual recommends cleaning with a brass bristle brush. A video on the Australian weber website ( http://www.weberbbq.com.au/weberq_videos4.htm ) shows a guy cleaning the grill after cooking with a weber grill brush and cold water. I always though cold water on cast iron can cause cracking or warping.
