Craycort's Cast Iron Grate


 
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Just got mine this week, looking forward to using them as I have had great success with CI on a 900 gasser for the last 13 years.
 
Adam - how'd those brats turn out?
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John,

brats were great! I did not have the time/patience to run through the science experiment you set up for me, but they still turned out great. Thanks for the info, maybe sometime I will have the time and patience to try your suggestions, as it sure sounds good!
 
Well, I just bit the bullet and ordered mine. At $125 CDN for the grate and lifter it's just over 1/2 the price of a whole OTG up here in Canada. Looking forward to those grill marks.

I just wished they shipped faster!
 
Originally posted by RDOwens:
I have had these for six weeks or so. The grates themselves are wonderful. I love the grill marks. They are easy to clean so far. All is great with the grates.

What I don't like, however, is the change it has necessitated. There is no way to get a chimney starter in there. The purchase of the Performer was for the gas assist and the table. This cripples the gas assist. I don't like that.

I recently moved the grates to the OTG so I can use the gas on the Performer for the chimney. This may work out okay in the long run if I leave the rotisseries setup on the Performer. It's just all backwards from what I had desired. It also means I need to remove two covers and work with two grills just to cook hamburgers.

I am contemplating a weed burner, but that seems to be just another device to compensate for something I already have.

I love the grates, but it has introduced problems.
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Reviving an old thread.. I really wish I had read (reread?) this post before ordering my Craycort Cast Iron grates. If I didn't have a performer I am sure I would love these. The grill marks are awesome as everyone else says, and they do hold the heat. I didn't quite like that the grills didn't all face the same direction but I flipped 2 of them over and now they all run the same direction.

My main problem after trying to use them for the last 4 to 5 months is that I just find them too much trouble to use. There is no way to use the performer and a chimney with these grills. I hate having to disassemble and reassemble every time I use the grill. They are mess to handle. (yes I read the posts about gloves and the fancy Great Grate Dock), but it doesn't change the fact that it is a lot of work to use them. If they came off as a single unit it would be a lot easier since they could just stand up, but as a 5 piece unit it makes it pretty difficult.

I got them directly from Craycort, and I contacted them with my concerns about 6 weeks after I got the grates, their suggestion was to get a smaller charcoal chimney. They said they use a smaller chimney and it works fine. I have used smaller ones in the past and I didn't like them. They rusted very quickly. There is a reason I got the Weber one... Because I like it.

If I didn't have a performer I would love these, but I really like the convenience of the performer, so the grates are a no go.
 
Jon,

I have a performer (among others) and I'm pretty happy with these grates. That said, I have a lot of the same complaints that you do.

I too, didn't care for the fact that the grates don't face the same direction and came up with the same solution you did. For many reasons I think a better design would have been two sections instead of four, then you could remove one section to access the gas starter.

Also, they do tend to rust very quickly. I'm constantly fighting the rust. It seems that cast iron seasoning just will not stand up to any kind of high temp grilling. I usually do a reverse sear and as a result have a very high heat on half the grill. That side always burns through the seasoning (in fact, I'm reseasoning right now -- came to the computer while the coals were heating up).

I like the grill marks and heat retention, but boy are they a lot of work.

Bill
 
Hi Jon, I might be willing to make a trade or work some kind of deal if you are interested. I have been thinking about giving those a try. My email is in my profile. Thanks
 
Check out this Cast Iron Grate from Lodge
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Very cool but we need more input. (Item #, cost, how well it works, etc.)
Is this a new item from lodge? Their website doesn't show it.
 
Yeah, I'd love more information on that Lodge grate. I did a google search but couldn't find anything about it.

Where did you get the pics?

Never mind. I just found your other post.

Here's an article from 1993. I guess they were sold at Williams-Sonoma.


Bill
 
Now if I could just find the, Wishing Well, Seville,Imperial Sequoia, and the Barrel Bar-B-Q to use it on
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No problem, Hank. We'll just borrow the Delorian with the Flux Capacitor and we will be all set. 1993, here we come!!

For what it's worth, I have used the Craycort grate on my 26.75 and the Weber chimney fits well enough. I just want to let people like me who research these things to death know this because I could not find out that information.
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I think it's a good purchase for my 26.75 since most of the time I use it as a grill. I'm glad I did not buy it for my Performer for the reasons listed above. In contrast, the Weber Gourmet grate has been AWESOME for my performer. Easy access to the coals, no rust, not as heavy and not as expensive. Also, since I use my performer as a smoker a LOT, I can switch out the CI for the wire grate very easily. The only downside is that the cast iron insert is not as big as the Craycort.
 
I just saw the newest model 22 inch weber kettle. The center portion of the grill has a removable round cast iron insert suspended by the regular wire grate. This coulds be the very best of both worlds. The center cast grill portion is small enough to be easily removed & stored indoors if rust is a concern. It also comes with a wire insert that can be used if the cast iron insert is not needed. Check it out.
Glenn.
 
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