Charbroil Cast Iron Kettle Grate Report

[Chris in Cameron Park]

The FedEx guy dropped off a Charbroil CI grate today.
Most important thing: They dont fit Smokey Joes. See pic below.

Box

The cast iron is a little on the thin side, but the price was right.

With the center section out, a chimney easily fits inside.

With center section.

The center section is about 1/2" too small in diameter to fit in my SJP.

Slides down inside SJP.

I cut the handles off the SJP grate and the CI lays on top. I think this is how I will use it with the SJP.

 

[Chris in Cameron Park]

I sprayed it with Pam and heated everything up. The grill marks were much more dramatic and there was more nice crust. Overall, I think I'm happy with the purchase, and I'm sure I will learn some of the tricks with CI.

The stuff I don't like
1. The center section does not fit the SJP like I hoped. What do I expect? It was cheap.
2. The CI seems a little thin. This probably is not a big deal and I'll forget about it. Plus the thing was cheap.
3. The grates seem kinda far apart. I think I would a tighter pattern would be better for marking and charring the meat. But I've only used it once…and it was cheap.



...

 

[Chris in Cameron Park]

Link to the product:
http://www.charbroil.com/Produ...tle-Grill-Grate.aspx]http://www.charbroil.com/Product/2008/Cast-Iron-Kettle-Grill-Grate.aspx]http://www.charbroil.com/Produ...tle-Grill-Grate.aspx

 

[JimK]

Thanks for the review, Chris. Glad you're happy with it. Too bad about the SJP. When I saw your original post on this, I got pretty fired up about that. Still a very worthwhile purchase at that price though.

 

[Chris in Cameron Park]

Cutting off the handles of the grate in the SJP is not a big deal. I think its worthwhile in this case.

 

[Timothy Hoffman]

Thanks for the report and welcome to the CI Club.

Those are some nice marks it makes.

 

[Jerry N.]

And it was cheap

 

[Wolgast]

I think they look good. Maby not as HD as the original CIG´s. But for the price....

 

[Chuck_B]

Not bad for the price

 

[Don Gross]

That's a bummer that it doesn't fit the SJP.

 

[Brian Trommater]

Chris is that a 22.5 or 18.5 you are using grates on?

 

[Chris in Cameron Park]

Its for 22.5 kettles (fits great on my Performer), and the center section is supposed to fit 18.5"kettles (too small for SJ, but fine if you cut the handles off the grate).

 

[George L]

Nice review! And nice grill marks on that steak, although they remind me of my brick wall....lol...

 

[Jon Des.]

Is the Smokey Platinum the same size as a regular 18.5 Kettle? Not only do they make this CI grate at a good price, but I see there's also a griddle and a pizza stone.

 

[B Krikalo]

do you have to re season every times or do you just clean it with a wire brush and put it away?

 

[Chris in Cameron Park]

Honestly, I dont know.
I plan on not brushing it till right before its used.

 

[Rich Langer]

Originally posted by Jon Des.:
Is the Smokey Platinum the same size as a regular 18.5 Kettle?

No it is not. For some reason the SJP grate is bigger than the 18.5" grate. What you can do is drill 3 holes in the ridge that holds the grate and put in one inch long stainless bolts and rest your grate on them.

 

[Chris in Cameron Park]

Its been about a year, and I'm happy with these grates. The original stuff I reported that I didnt like has turned out to be no big deal.
The biggest gripe I have is removing the center section to access the coal grate. I keep an old pair of pliers by the bbq to lift it out.

 

[Russell Y]

This seems like the same product Link

I found this Ci grill on the charboil site. Same item number but it doesn't describe the 18.5 insert.

 

[StanHenson]

Russell, to my eyes, that IS the insert. The grate is a 22.5 inch CI ring with an 18 in inch insert that goes inside it. It looks like they may have stopped selling the 22.5 ring.

SH