I'm Laura and I have some questions about the Craycort grates. I have them for my Smokey Joe and have some coming in the mail for my Go Anywhere. I was looking at them for my 22.5 OTG last year but Craycort fell off the planet briefly and was out of stock/not communicating and it seemed like a lot of care so I went ahead and bought the Weber Sear Grate system for my 22.5. It's been fine, but I have fallen in love with the Craycort for sure.
So - I'm good at grilling but not kitchen saavy. I am one of the few people on this planet capable of destroying cast iron. I have been researching online the best ways to take care of these grates but I can't think of a better place to ask than here.
First off - when I use the grates I brush them with a stainless steel brush to get food off, let them cool and I brush them with oil. When I go to use them to grill again, I also season them with more oil. I do this when the grates are cold, should I let them heat up a little first or does it not matter?
Also I understand that to get good searing I need to let them preheat a little longer than normal grates. For my little Smokey Joe I've been doing 10 minutes. Sound good?
A problem I've discovered is that I need to set the grates down when I light the chimney starter in the grill and also at the end when I need to empty the grill of ashes/coal into my coal bucket. I've been using the cardboard package the grate came in, but it is becoming a greasy mess. I grill outdoors, but I have to bring everything out when I start and bring it all in when I'm done. So I try and keep things I'm carrying back and forth to a minimum. I saw a griller on YouTube use a separate Weber aluminum drip pan/cake tin to light his chimney starter and then take out a section of his Craycort, pouring the chimney hardwood briquettes/lump in there - I might try that. I also might dedicate an old baking sheet for the Craycort when I need to set it down, and then just have one more thing to clean up when I'm doing grilling. If anyone has any helpful hints, let me know.
I've been grilling on my own forever, so nice to have people to ask questions. Thanks for any help/advice - much appreciated.
Laura
So - I'm good at grilling but not kitchen saavy. I am one of the few people on this planet capable of destroying cast iron. I have been researching online the best ways to take care of these grates but I can't think of a better place to ask than here.
First off - when I use the grates I brush them with a stainless steel brush to get food off, let them cool and I brush them with oil. When I go to use them to grill again, I also season them with more oil. I do this when the grates are cold, should I let them heat up a little first or does it not matter?
Also I understand that to get good searing I need to let them preheat a little longer than normal grates. For my little Smokey Joe I've been doing 10 minutes. Sound good?
A problem I've discovered is that I need to set the grates down when I light the chimney starter in the grill and also at the end when I need to empty the grill of ashes/coal into my coal bucket. I've been using the cardboard package the grate came in, but it is becoming a greasy mess. I grill outdoors, but I have to bring everything out when I start and bring it all in when I'm done. So I try and keep things I'm carrying back and forth to a minimum. I saw a griller on YouTube use a separate Weber aluminum drip pan/cake tin to light his chimney starter and then take out a section of his Craycort, pouring the chimney hardwood briquettes/lump in there - I might try that. I also might dedicate an old baking sheet for the Craycort when I need to set it down, and then just have one more thing to clean up when I'm doing grilling. If anyone has any helpful hints, let me know.
I've been grilling on my own forever, so nice to have people to ask questions. Thanks for any help/advice - much appreciated.
Laura