Painting Grill Grates


 
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Darrel Williams

TVWBB Super Fan
On a recent episode of "American Restoration" (cool show about a company in Las Vegas that fixes and repairs old antiques into good as new condition- or better) they refurbished a 50 year old Buffalo Forge Grill. The unique thing about this open top charcoal grill was a hand cranked fan apparatus that would force air up into the bottom of your charcoal pile in order to get it to light & heat up faster. They painted the fan assembly aqua green.



The rest of the grill, they sandblasted and painted black with 1200* paint. Everything, including the grill grate.

Is that safe? Will that paint hold? Or will it flake off after time?

Are there other coatings for grill grates, besides of course, a carbon based patina on cast iron?
 
I wouldn't think ANY kind of paint would be acceptable to use on a surface where 1) during normal usage it routinely will be exposed to temperatures in excess of 1000 degrees, and 2) that heated painted surface will come into direct contact with food for periods of time.
 
Did they do that for looks or to cook on. That is a cool show and some of the clients just restore things for display.
As far as " other coatings for grill grates " check Menard's.. They have some replacements grates for kettles that have a type of black non-stick coating on them.
I personally took a pass on them ( looked cheap and flimsy )

Tim
 
timothy said:
Did they do that for looks or to cook on. That is a cool show and some of the clients just restore things for display.
As far as " other coatings for grill grates " check Menard's.. They have some replacements grates for kettles that have a type of black non-stick coating on them.
I personally took a pass on them ( looked cheap and flimsy )

Tim
Click to expand...

They actually used the grill at the conclusion of the show to grill chicken wings, so it wasn't "display only".



I hate cheap teflon coated frying pans you can buy, because the teflon starts to flake off after about a dozen uses. Who wants an omelette with cheese, onion, and teflon flakes?

I would be afraid that any easily applied coating wouldn't adhere too long.
 
My next grate for the OTG is gonna be SS. Nickel plated is alright but I do replace it ever so often when I see them on clearance.
I like to have 2-3 spare grates hanging in the garage just in case I forget to clean one and it's really funked upped from a previous cook.:D

Tim
 
Darrel Williams said:
On a recent episode of "American Restoration" (cool show about a company in Las Vegas that fixes and repairs old antiques into good as new condition- or better) they refurbished a 50 year old Buffalo Forge Grill. The unique thing about this open top charcoal grill was a hand cranked fan apparatus that would force air up into the bottom of your charcoal pile in order to get it to light & heat up faster. They painted the fan assembly aqua green.
Click to expand...

Not sure that is really a cooking grill - I had one like it that was left in my garage when I bought my house
almost 30 yrs ago. The previous owner was a doc that restored antique (I mean, 1900-1920) cars - he had
passed away so this was left. I had an old-timer stop by one day during our annual town pickup of anything
you want to put out. It was in my garage where I had some stuff the old guy wanted as scrap. When he saw
the 'grill', he got all excited. He told me it was a forge - you put coal in it and cranked the bellows unit to
heat up the coals so you could work the metal. Basically, a poor man's blacksmith unit. It did have a grill-like
grate on top but he said it was for letting stuff cool as you worked things. The guy knew his stuff....everything
he said about it made perfect sense. When I added his statements to some of the other stuff I found in the garage
(lots of iron stuff for old cars that looked formed), I understood. I gave him the forge, since it still functioned
perfectly. He said he was gonna scrap the other junk I gave him but he would use the forge on his farm. I was
just happy he could use it - it sat in my garage for 10 yrs after I moved in! Pretty neat piece but I would never
use it as intended....

As far as the paint question, I think it would be mighty hard to keep paint on something that could get to the
temps that a forge could hit. As a BBQ grill, it is probably ok but put coal in it and fire up the bellows and you're
asking for trouble...just my 2 cents. Hope this helps....
jb
 
nothing that can be toxic or come off or burn off should be on a grate. i also would include anything like that on the inside of a grill or smoker.
ss is your friend.
 
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