Double Decker Deeeeeeelights


 
Greg in Utah

Greg in Utah

TVWBB Pro
One of the smarter things I've done is to build an elevated cooking grate out of an 18.5" grate + stainless hardware.

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It gave me enough room on my 22.5" kettle to cook 5 pork chops, 3 pork steaks, a skillet 'o' spuds and garlic and 4 ears of corn. The kettle lid closes just fine over all this.

If I ever get a 26.75" kettle I'm sure I'll make a 22.5" elevated grate for it as well. Food browns really well on the top rack.

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If you don't hurry up and grab this plate my dogs are gonna get it.
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Greg, you're right: The elevated grate is smart. Other guys have 'em too and I've always been envious. Any chance you could detail how you made this grate (for dummies like me who aren't mechanically gifted)? Thanks. Delicious loooking cook too! Well done, Sir! -Mickey
 
Ah man, I made this thing at least 2 years ago.

I walked into a Lowes and found everything I needed (grill grate and hardware) so it was easy to grab the grate and carry it over to the hardware section and start tinkering.

The carriage bolts are 4.25" long and the nuts are 9/16ths with fender washers. All hardware being stainless.
 
Well, Raise My Grate, Greg!

After seeing your raised grate - and then asking how you made it - I thought, "Something THIS useful has probably been thought of by Chris." So I searched the TVWBB site and there it was! Don't mean to hijack your post, Greg, but here's Chris' link for making a raised grate: Stacking Grates This helps a lot for folks like me who need it spelled out with details...
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Sorry to post so much on this one topic, but could I ask one more Q, Greg? Do you have your raised grate bolted to the grate below, or is it something that just sits on top of the grate below? Thanks, Greg. -Mickey.
 
Originally posted by Greg Vaillancourt:
Ah man, I made this thing at least 2 years ago.

I walked into a Lowes and found everything I needed (grill grate and hardware) so it was easy to grab the grate and carry it over to the hardware section and start tinkering.

The carriage bolts are 4.25" long and the nuts are 9/16ths with fender washers. All hardware being stainless.
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Thanks, Greg!
 
Originally posted by Mickey:
Sorry to post so much on this one topic, but could I ask one more Q, Greg? Do you have your raised grate bolted to the grate below, or is it something that just sits on top of the grate below? Thanks, Greg. -Mickey.
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I'm not Greg, but I bought 3 extra cooking grates for my Smokey Joe/tamale pot smoker. At first, I just placed them on short bolts through the pot walls. After using a stack of 3 and finding it difficult to take them out, I bought some eye bolts and used fender washers to attach them with the eyes up. I now have 'handles' that I can grab - with my cooking gloves on - to pull each level out. I'm now thinking about putting three eye bolts with the eyes down on them too so that they will have their own trivets when I need to set them down. With careful placement they will even stack one atop the other if your food is not piled too high.
 
Originally posted by Mickey:
Sorry to post so much on this one topic, but could I ask one more Q, Greg? Do you have your raised grate bolted to the grate below, or is it something that just sits on top of the grate below? Thanks, Greg. -Mickey.
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Mickey - It just sits on top of the other one when I think I need it.

Just to be clear - I was not claiming I invented this or anything. I just find it useful.
 
Greg, thanks for your follow-up. I honestly didn't mean to imply you were claiming the raised grate was your original idea - lot's of guys routinely use 'em so I knew they were out there. I just didn't know how to make one and when I saw yours, it inspired me to do some research. Definitely didn't mean to imply anything at all. In fact, your comments have been very helpful and I just included Chris' link b/c others asked for details too and I thought the link would save some work. Thanks again for inspiring me to build a raised grate, Greg.

Bob - thanks for your helpful comments too! Your eye bolts are a clever twist on making the raised grates, and adding the eyes on the bottom as trivets is pure genius! By combining thoughts from Chris' link, Greg's comments, and your eye bolts idea, making a useful and reliable raised grate couldn't be any easier! Thanks guys! -Mickey.
 
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