7mm Stainless Steel grates


 
Bruce

Bruce

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
I just thought I would post this. I bought a set of these 7mm SS grates from Amazon. They were a good price and I figured I would give them a shot. I have to say, they seem like an excellent competitor in the 7mm SS solid rod grate category. They came in great shape. Not bent and lay nice and flat in the grill and they look good. Best of all, I put a strong magnet to them and they are totally non-magnetic. So they are likely 304 or 316 Stainless.

 
Bruce said:
I just thought I would post this. I bought a set of these 7mm SS grates from Amazon. They were a good price and I figured I would give them a shot. I have to say, they seem like an excellent competitor in the 7mm SS solid rod grate category. They came in great shape. Not bent and lay nice and flat in the grill and they look good. Best of all, I put a strong magnet to them and they are totally non-magnetic. So they are likely 304 or 316 Stainless.

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Wow that is a great price. I think it's 100 bucks or more if I wanted 9mm. I assume the "grill marks" ability of these will not be as much as the cast irons I am currently rocking right? I keep wrestling with why to spend money on SS grates until my current cast irons are no longer useable but I do love the look
 
A good part of the searing issue is going to be how long you let the grates warm up first. Yes, larger rod stock will take longer to heat up, OTOH, there's more heat for the sear at that point. Trade-offs. I also don't recall off the top of my head what the latent heat capacity difference is between cast iron and stainless. Cast may have a greater capacity simply due to mass, i.e. cast iron grates weigh more than a set of stainless rod grates.

I made a set of 1/4" 304 SS grates for my old charcoal grill, and ended up preferring them to the cast iron that came with them. Much easier to clean up and care for. I'm thinking seriously about welding up a set for my current grill (24"x48" cooking area,) that'll take a little stock.
 
SS, whether 9mm or 7mm will make grill marks just fine. The 7mm ones might even do better since they are a bit thinner and will make more defined and slightly wider spaced marks. I am not all on that grill mark thing. My biggest concern aside from cooking performance is maintenance and longevity. Both of which is where SS shines.
There are a couple offerings on Amazon for 9mm SS grates as well. Pretty good prices in my opinion.

These are 8MM I think: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TG3AXOU/?tag=tvwb-20

Here are some 9MM grates for under $100: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NMBFB5C/?tag=tvwb-20

I think an outfit called BBQ-Depot sells 9mm (Made in USA) grates for around $100 as well, but I think with shipping, the cost will be higher.
 
I am another one not big on "lines" on my food. I get them sure, and I do my best to make them look nice, but they're not what I am after. When I am cooking (steak especially) I am looking for an all over crust. That is the mark of good cooking.
 
I grabbed a set of these grates for the grill I am unsuccessfully trying to flip. they have a good finish to them, good weight and look great. I figure it was worth the few dollars more over the stamped ones.
 
I would for sure get these over the stamped steel grates. The only negative is the spacing between the rods. If you cook skinny food, it could be an issue. Otherwise, I would go with the solid SS rod grates for sure.
 
Thanks all

Maybe I just jump at these for fun

I spend twice that when the wife calls for takeout food for one meal dang it

I agree I don't even know why I keep saying Grill Marks. I don't care about them. I guess I do them on burgers with my sear, quarter turn and sear. Recently when we splurge on good steaks we have been putting the cast iron skillet on the grill with a bunch of butter and trying to get that crusty buttery taste a la Ruth's Chris etc. So grill marks don't matter there
 
Bruce said:
I would for sure get these over the stamped steel grates. The only negative is the spacing between the rods. If you cook skinny food, it could be an issue. Otherwise, I would go with the solid SS rod grates for sure.
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OP what are the measurements between bars? Thanks
 
Bruce said:
12.23mm according to my measurements.

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That's interesting because I just took a tape measure and measured the gap between by cast iron grates and was basically the same at about 0.5 inch

Only thing different may be that my cast iron bars are thicker than 7mm rod, so there is more of the "grill area" vs "gaps" on that vs this stainless rod
 
So the last time I grilled I turned the heat to high for a couple mins after I pulled the meat off, which I typically do for some reason. I guess I think it will smoke off any major excess grease but not go crazy. But this time I forgot and was sitting at the kitchen table like oh crap when I had lots and lots of smoke coming out. Oops. I guess I really did a big burn off. Anyway then I haven't used the grill for a month and it has been wet and rainy a fair bit, so even though I have a cover I opened it up to this rust last night! I just shot a good amount of cooking oil on the area as it was warming up (after doing some scraping) and it is fine for now.

The funny thing was my brain was almost happy to see that rust because then I was starting to think hey maybe it's time to get those stainless bars!

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Thanks guys! I appreciate you helping to convince me that I need some shiny new ones! I'm gonna go check out the options. That lower price of 7mm really makes it harder to spend 3x as much for 9mm though. I gotta compare but especially if the 9mm doesnt offer any better gap spacing then we are just getting thicker bars but also fewer of them on a given size grate
 
If it's a grill you're keeping drop the extra coin for the largest diameter and tightest spacing you can swing. Believe me you will not be sorry you did. Especially if you go for those skinny ones and drop food through
 
I agree to a point with Larry. If it is a keeper and you plan to use it till it dies, get the best grates you can afford. While the 9mm do have less bars normally than a 7mm grate, they are also usually tighter spaced. Closer to 10mm I think. The certainly weigh a lot more and that extra bulk will make them perform more like your cast iron grates. They will retain heat much longer and prevent huge drop offs in interior temps when you have to open the lid to flip the meat or check temps. Money has to be factored in somewhere as well.

Let us know what you decide.
 
So I just placed the order for the 7mm ones for 37.99. At that price I don't have a care in the world and excited to do this upgrade. I pondered spending 97.99 for the 9mm Qulimetal but decided it wasn't likely worth the premium, to me. Yes thicker bars but one fewer of them so the gap spacing wasn't THAT much better. I also looked at that "8mm" one noted above but lost confidence in it given the reviews were mostly from 2015 etc and the Q&A was talking about 7mm or 8mm or 403 steel or whatever. My fear is it is the same Chinese 7mm product being sold for 67 bucks with someone on the Q&A just speculating that it was 8mm

The positive review in this thread of the 37.99 7mm makes me think it will be okay for my needs. The gap spacing he measured above is already what I have on the porcelain cast irons and I haven't had major food droppage issues now.
 
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