22.5 grates not the same


 
M

Mike_Y

New member
I bought my 22.5 in June. On my very first cook, I found out the hard way that the grates aren't the same. I called Weber Support and the rep promptly sent a replacement grate free of charge. This was my first Weber purchase and definitely not the last. Great customer service goes a long way
 
Nope, they should be the exact same diameters for all the WSMs. Atleast they are from all the ones I have personally purchased.
 
BJSteere said:
Nope, they should be the exact same diameters for all the WSMs. Atleast they are from all the ones I have personally purchased.
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Nope.
The lower grate is typically a smaller diameter.
For instance, on a 18.5 WSM the upper grate is 17.5" in diameter and has commonality with the cooking grate from a 18.5" kettle.
Home Depot is generally the cheapest source.

The lower grate is 17" and is a re-purposed charcoal grate from a 22.5" kettle that has been nickel plated.
You can purchase the un-plated grate from Home Depot or order the plated grate from the usual suspects or Weber.

You can use a 17.5" at the lower position but it won't nest in its proper place.
 
On my 22.5" WSM (2014) the upper and lower cooking grates are different sizes. The manual even says so. The lower grate has something like a 0.75" smaller diameter.
 
I found out there was a difference when I was doing my first cook on the 22.5. I loaded her up with coals, and put the chamber on top with the water pan inside. Filled the water pan, and then grabbed one of the grates (not knowing they were different) and put it on the bottom. I place the meat on that grate. A couple of hours later, I needed to add the other meat I was cooking. So I went to put the other grate on the top and I then realized it would not fit and I was in trouble. I had to unload all of the food from the bottom, switch out the grates, and then put the food back on. I figured, hell, if the grates on my ECB were the same, then why wouldn't this Weber?

Since then, I've paid closer attention to which grate is which. It just didn't make any sense to me as to why Weber would design it that way which prompted my phone call to Weber Support.
 
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They are designed that way so you can lift the lower food grate out of the cooker while keeping it level so the food doesn't slide off and it will clear the top food grates brackets.
 
Caesar Hatami said:
They are designed that way so you can lift the lower food grate out of the cooker while keeping it level so the food doesn't slide off and it will clear the top food grates brackets.
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Ahhh I never thought of that because I usually just use tongs or mitts to remove the meat instead of lifting the entire grate. Makes sense now though :)
 
Actually, they are designed that way by default.

All three were based off existing tooling for the 3 respective kettles, the 14, 18, and 22. So the bowl (now a lid on the WSM) and the top grate were already existing in production. In order to fit the lower grate, it naturally had to be a smaller diameter to fit in the center ring. Economics!
 
It's a bit more confusing now that they added handles to the lower grate. Before you had two obviously different looking grates, one with handles and one without, which prompted the question which one goes on which level? But now I can see how someone not paying attention could think they're both the same, when they're not!
 
Chris Allingham said:
It's a bit more confusing now that they added handles to the lower grate. Before you had two obviously different looking grates, one with handles and one without, which prompted the question which one goes on which level? But now I can see how someone not paying attention could think they're both the same, when they're not!
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A-ha! I understand. I've been out of the game for a bit. But that's how the original diameters came about.

Funny.. they NEVER wanted people sticking their hands in there to pull out grates while it was hot. Seems like they've changed their opinion on that.

That was also a reason why they never wanted handles on the center ring. The liability.

Thanks for the update!
 
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