Rusty,
I agree about the porcelain plated cast iron and am also not an enthusiastic fan of the flat stainless. I think they are hard to clean and they do decline with use.
I am still experimenting with grates and still hope to do an “objective” comparison video/write-up sometime this summer. In the meantime, here are three obvious choices:
Stainless rods are the clear choice for long life and easier maintenance. No one I have seen can equal the ones rcplanebuyer makes. They are justifiably pricey due to the high grade materials and weight for shipping. Bruce has pointed out a very decent set you can get on Amazon for a whole lot less. They are thinner and spaced a little farther but they are not cheap flimsy grates and the spacing is not excessive.
I love cast iron. For me the choice is getting an old set of the ORIGINAL Weber unplated cast iron. I have two sets that I have cleaned up and they are still extremely solid. Some people argue that they are too much work or even impossible to keep from rusting out. Even in my humid salt air Florida environment, I haven’t found that to be the case. I guess it depends on a lot of factors. Here is a picture of my set with perforated aluminum sheets underneath to mimick the effect of GrillGrates:
Speaking of GrillGrates, I would consider this to be the third good option however controversial. There are sharply conflicting opinions about whether it is safe to grill on anodized aluminum. Of the arguments against GrillGrates (price, gimmicky, etc.) this is the only one that is serious. From my research to date, most sources do not believe there is any risk. I am not an expert and others feel very strongly otherwise.
As far as grilling experience goes, I LOVE GrillGrates and have yet to have a bad grilling experience with them. I am not ready to proclaim any winners in my comparison but GrillGrates do perform extraordinary well in my opinion:
