A First Look (for me) at GrillGrates...


 
Jon Tofte said:
OK, Larry, you are on! I ordered a piece of the perforated aluminum. One piece is enough to make two sets (2 pieces for each of 2 grills). I want to make them two pieces just like the grates in case I only want to use this setup for one half of the grill space on either grill.

I will include this, using cast iron on top, as another "contestant" in my April (OK, maybe May) Madness Playoff. In honor of you and your idea, I am going to call this version "LarryGrates"! Who knows, maybe this will be the next big thing;)!
Click to expand...

Haha...LarryGrates, I like that! I'll bet on RCPlanebuyer's grates if that's the case!
 
Well keep in mind Sam the grates still go on top. So sure you could use RC's grates over the perforated shield. IMO it takes the idea of GG's and improves on it because it acts less less like a perforated stove top griddle and more like a grill with a flame shield. If you ever watch the show Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking Magazine it's sponsored by Sabre grills and they use a very similar theory. From what I see those chefs pull off I think it's "solid". I only wonder about the holes clogging.
Jon one thing too is I think you can/should use only the flavorizer bars that go directly over the burners and remove the others. But I could be wrong on this theory
 
Speaking of Saber grills, I almost pulled the trigger on purchasing one before rehabing a Weber because of the build and their infrared technology to be "keeper of the flame." Then I found out it was pretty much a char-broil and that's what turned me off. I'm glad I didn't purchase it though because I saved a lot of $$$ doing a rehab. But yah, I think using RC's bars over the GG would pretty much make it an infrared type of grill...you may be on to something there.
 
Yes it is not truly infrared. A true IR grill would be the ones that actually use a ceramic IR emitter. I think it was TEC that pioneered that type of heating use. As for putting Grill Grates under regular grates like RCPlanebuyer's it's a total waste of $$$ just as IMO buying GG are in the first place. They're VERY expensive and IMO cooking on aluminum is not a good idea (that goes for anodized like GG also) as bottom line you're going to damage them and acids from your foods will leach aluminum into the food, and aluminum has been shown to be a contributor (if not a cause) of serious brain diseases like Alzheomer's, Lewis Body Dimensia, Parkinson's and more.
Using a perforated plate under the standard grate will give you the same performance and advantage you saw on the Saber video (for MUCH less $$$) than a Saber grill or even expensive gimmicky Grill Grates.
I personally have been VERY busy bu soon I will be making a set of plates for my grills so that I can take advantage of the better heat distribution and being able to walk away (even with chicken) and not have to baby sit. BTW this will also work very well on charcoal grills too
 
Looking forward to what you come up with Larry. Make sure you start a separate thread when you do them. What material would you use?
 
So it pretty much is more "indirect" then "infrared" right? If I were to get a 304 grade SS perforated sheet instead of aluminum that would be much better right if I were to go that route?
 
Sam, that is my question exactly. It is more of a indirect or dispersed heating system than Infrared. And I would think that 304 SS would be the perfect material to use. But, I think that aluminum would be OK as it would never come in direct contact with food if the SS grates were above it. Especially RCPlanerbuyer grates which with two bars between the top of the grates and the "infrared" plate, it would be about a 3/4" gap.

The dilemma I see with the plate, is that if you made it to fit in the same spot as the cooking grates, is that it might raise the cooking grates above the lip of the grill in front which would allow them to slide forward out of the grill.
 
Infrared, true infrared, is red-spectrum light that radiates a lot of heat. Just my scientist brain saying that true infrared is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and it transmits heat.
 
Bruce said:
Sam, that is my question exactly. It is more of a indirect or dispersed heating system than Infrared. And I would think that 304 SS would be the perfect material to use. But, I think that aluminum would be OK as it would never come in direct contact with food if the SS grates were above it. Especially RCPlanerbuyer grates which with two bars between the top of the grates and the "infrared" plate, it would be about a 3/4" gap.

The dilemma I see with the plate, is that if you made it to fit in the same spot as the cooking grates, is that it might raise the cooking grates above the lip of the grill in front which would allow them to slide forward out of the grill.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned, I have ordered a piece of aluminum with pre-punched holes from one of the places Larry linked. I am assuming that the sheet is so thin that it won't have much impact on the height of the grates. By making it two pieces, they should be easier to remove and clean to keep from clogging. I did choose a design with holes somewhat in line with what GrillGrates has vs the smaller holes you find on Charbroil grills. From what I have heard, these are pretty much a continual pain to keep unclogged.

I am very curious to see how this idea works with both stainless rod and cast iron grates. I would lean toward the latter, but we will let the results speak for themselves in as even handed an analysis as I can do.

I admit I have some reservations about cooking on aluminum grates, so it would be just fine with me if these "LarryGrates" ;) prove to work as well or even better.

Since I have no time to do my "playoff" I have to content myself with experimenting a little while actually cooking...even CPAs need to eat:rolleyes:! So, I recently switched out my Silver A from the GrillGrates (which are now seasoned) to the tried and true Weber porcelain covered stamped steel grates. I have to admit that it felt like a step down initially, but a lot has to do with changing your grilling style to fit with your equipment. I definitely noticed that the hood thermometer jumps way faster with the open aspect of regular grates. I wish I had one of those laser thermometers to read the grate temperatures. Our maintenance guys have one of those, so I will try to borrow it when I do my playoff.
 
Jon, I thin the idea of getting the plates in two pieces was a wise move. That way, you can take half one plate out and grill direct on that side while using the plate for a more indirect cook on the other side if desired. Kind of like Larry was mentioning in another post.

Thyde: Yah, I was thinking that real "infrared" would require an electrical power connection. I have seen grills that boasted "infrared" and they had a panel inside the top of the hood that emitted the infrared. Those were all high end grills.
 
Bruce said:
Looking forward to what you come up with Larry. Make sure you start a separate thread when you do them. What material would you use?
Click to expand...

When the day comes I would most likely use aluminum preferably anodized for corrosion resistance. I'm sure some are probably wondering why aluminum after the rant I just put out against cooking on it. Well simple, the sheet would not come into contact with it. The grates sit above it.
As for the type of cooking. Well in a way it could be called IR. The theory behind it is this. The sheet will even out the heat across the grates by dispersion. Also it would take flare up out of the question because while allowing juices through and smoke out it would not allow potential flames to reach the food. Most likely any potential flames would even be somewhat suffocated due to not having a large open space with lots of air to feed them.
As for the reason of my aluminum rant. My mother died from Lewis Body Dementia which Drs. believe may have been caused by the long time use of bare aluminum utensils and vessels. As with asbestos and other things in "the day" who knew? Now my sisters, brother and I all live in extreme fear of the fact that for many years we lived off her wonderful cooking but did we poison our own brains? Every time I forget where my keys are or have a slight stumble the fear level is awful.
I'm not advocating throwing away aluminum pans. I still use them but NEVER for anything with acidic levels i.e. Sunday Gravy (pasta sauce for you white people LOL) or anything lemon, wine, vinegar will go into, i.e. marinades etc.
Being a baby boomer I grew up in an era that we just didn't know about things. Cars did not have seat belts, we slept on the package shelf of dad's car when he drove at night, smoking was just fine and cigar/cigarette smoke regularly filled the closed cars we rode in, I was a mechanic starting in the late 60s through early 70s and who knew that blowing out the brakes with a high powered air hose could potentially cripple or kill us? (I now have scar tissue and COPD in my lungs), anyway end of my rant LOL.
 
I agree Larry about our child hoods. Now, I think society has rebounded completely in the reverse. Kids lives are so sterile and padded now that they don't ever build up their immunities and toughness. Seems every kid has an allergy to something these days. They get colds and other communicable diseases regularly and when they do it seems to put them down for extended periods. Sure, seat belts are great and asbestos brakes were bad, but most kids can't even go outside and play in the dirt these days without mom and dad being horrified. And worse is that now a days, most kids wouldn't think of going outside to play and getting a grass stain or getting sweaty or getting worm guts and fish slime all over their shirt. Resurrected rant.
 
One thing for us is we always had out girls outside playing. Yeah they got dirty, they got scraped and banged up, but they had fun. They'd explore down in the ravines by the Kishwaukee River, catch toads and frogs, and so on. Only allergy between them was peanuts on the older one.
Oddly now our soon to be 8yo grandson is more of a girl than his mom and auntie ever were. We can't get him to do much of anything outdoors. His only real outdoor stuff is when he goes hiking and fishing with me or with cub scouts. Though I think part of that is due to our neighborhood having matured to the point he does not have playmates in the area. Little guy next door comes around but he's about 3 years younger (maybe 3.5). Just too much philosophical distance between them or other kids are too old. We have nothing in his range. When the girls were young the neighborhood was full of kids. Not unusual for me to have 7 or 8 kids at a time in the yard or up the trees. So sadly he's become a little bit sissy in attitude
 
That and computers and cell phones don't help with kids getting out and meeting other kids. I hear kids talking these days about their friends and then finding out they never even personally met a lot of them. They are "online" friends, but the kids consider them friends, just as they do their school mates and neighborhood friends.

Changing times....IMO not for the better but it is what it is. I feel sometimes like I would just rather check out of the quickly and ever evolving society and let it pass me by while I sit on a river bank with a camp chair, a fishing pole and a dozen night crawlers.

Larry, you are my "ONLINE" friend btw. ;)
 
Bruce, my sorely missed Uncle Mike (my dad's twin brother) always bristled at people calling them fishing "poles", he was a fastidious and strict adherent that they are "rods"!

I don't know why that came into my brain, and I also don't know why I chose to put it into yours!

Edit: You gents may be a bit older than I, but as a 44 year old some of us still believe in kicking our kids outside and making them get dirty. They have more fun out there than they do inside, and it's just normal for people to be outside!!
 
Last edited:
LMichaels said:
When the day comes I would most likely use aluminum preferably anodized for corrosion resistance. I'm sure some are probably wondering why aluminum after the rant I just put out against cooking on it. Well simple, the sheet would not come into contact with it. The grates sit above it.
As for the type of cooking. Well in a way it could be called IR. The theory behind it is this. The sheet will even out the heat across the grates by dispersion. Also it would take flare up out of the question because while allowing juices through and smoke out it would not allow potential flames to reach the food. Most likely any potential flames would even be somewhat suffocated due to not having a large open space with lots of air to feed them.
As for the reason of my aluminum rant. My mother died from Lewis Body Dementia which Drs. believe may have been caused by the long time use of bare aluminum utensils and vessels. As with asbestos and other things in "the day" who knew? Now my sisters, brother and I all live in extreme fear of the fact that for many years we lived off her wonderful cooking but did we poison our own brains? Every time I forget where my keys are or have a slight stumble the fear level is awful.
I'm not advocating throwing away aluminum pans. I still use them but NEVER for anything with acidic levels i.e. Sunday Gravy (pasta sauce for you white people LOL) or anything lemon, wine, vinegar will go into, i.e. marinades etc.
Being a baby boomer I grew up in an era that we just didn't know about things. Cars did not have seat belts, we slept on the package shelf of dad's car when he drove at night, smoking was just fine and cigar/cigarette smoke regularly filled the closed cars we rode in, I was a mechanic starting in the late 60s through early 70s and who knew that blowing out the brakes with a high powered air hose could potentially cripple or kill us? (I now have scar tissue and COPD in my lungs), anyway end of my rant LOL.
Click to expand...

Larry,
Thank you for sharing your story. Sometimes I did think you were unduly hard on the GrillGrates product, but now I can see why it is very personal to you. I have to admit I share some concerns about using aluminum myself. I got married in 1987 and made the biggest deal with my wife about us getting stainless steel pots and pans because I had, back then, just recently heard about this issue. (As a side note, our Sears Made in S. Korea pots and pans have stood the test of time and always get the call while our "much nicer" fairly new clad ones sit on the shelf. Sometimes simple and to the point wins the day.)

Anyway, I pray and hope for you that you will not go through the same thing as your mother. I am sorry that you had to lose her in that way.

I am looking forward to trying out the cast iron over perforated aluminum idea you suggested. Might well be the perfect match of classic Weber grilling and newer ideas without the risks of aluminum.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top