First Use: Dinner Disaster


 
M

MCarbo

TVWBB Member
Just purchased my first ever Weber, a Genesis 310, cast iron grates. Last night's dinner was the maiden voyage. Fired her up on full blast for about 15 minutes. Lots of smoke being burned off. The norm, I suppose, for a never used unit. Thermometer was at about 550 degrees. Placed the marinated chicken breasts on the grill and waited about three minutes.
Time to flip 'em, I thought to myself. . .only I couldn't because stuck. I mean stuck as if they were glued, welded, and sutured onto the grates. I ended up having to scrape them off, leaving chunks of chicken adhered to the grates. Disappointing, to say the least. I left the grill on full blast for 15 minutes to carbonize all the remains, shut it off, and then scraped the grates clean.
What did I do wrong? Or is this one of the properties of cast iron grates? :(
 
I spray Pam on the grates before grilling.
Or in my marinade add a little oil.
But when your CI grates become well seasoned this will be less of a problem.
 
Tonys right I just purchased a set of new CI grates for my 20 year Genesis and did four oil, heat, cool, repeat to get the grates a little seasoned and it worked fine no sticking. Now after about ten cooks I just use a paper towel and a light coat of canola oil if doing skinless chicken or other low fat items and nothing with steaks, chops, etc and the grates work like there teflon coated.
 
Cold meat is also part of the problem.
If the grate is very hot, Pam or even an application of oil can burn off quickly.
A little oil on the meat helps, or you can lightly oil a piece of foil, put it on the grate, then the meat on the oiled side of the foil.
Just long enough to warm the meat well before going directly on the grate.
 
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I think trying to flip after only 3 minutes is a bit too soon. I t usually takes a bit longer before the meat will "release" from the grill.

Ray
 
Thanks for all the input, gents. I figured it was a seasoning issue. I'm going to oil the grates, fire up the grill, repeat. . .
 
Ray Crick said:
I think trying to flip after only 3 minutes is a bit too soon. I t usually takes a bit longer before the meat will "release" from the grill.

Ray
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This is important too. Season the grates, AND let the meat sit longer and it will release. If your chicken really only takes about 6 minutes to cook, you're probably running the grill too hot anyway. Should be more like 15 minutes or so.
 
Tony R said:
Take pics next time and let us know how it goes.
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Will do, Tony.

Dave Alvarado said:
This is important too. Season the grates, AND let the meat sit longer and it will release. If your chicken really only takes about 6 minutes to cook, you're probably running the grill too hot anyway. Should be more like 15 minutes or so.
Click to expand...
These were breasts that were sliced thin, so 3 minutes per side would be more than enough time.
So as I wrote above, I'm going to oil the grates, fire up the grill, and do it again. That ought to speed up the seasoning process.
 
I'm guessing those are porcelain coated CI, not full on CI grates. Does weber even offer full CI grates any more for the Genesis?
 
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