Grates/Bars: Stainless vs. Porcelain


 
R

Robert.K

New member
Howdy, folks.

I have a Genesis 330 that was originally purchased with the porcelain grates, flavorizer bars and burners. Now after about four seasons, they need to be replaced. Do you folks have any opinion on whether I should consider stainless grates and bars as an option? Do they cook any better/worse/differently?

One factor that has led to the replacement is that I tend to cook with a lot of dry rub which contains salt, and as a result that tends to take its toll over time. So that might be a factor in your feedback. Basically, I'm thinking that if I got four years out of a ~$100 porcelain coated set, how much better/longer would the stainless be?

I also need to replace the burners on this grill and I'm wondering if the new style tubes will work on this generation grill. They new ones seem to be better designed and longer lasting, so I'm curious about that, too.

Thanks in advance!
 
Last edited:
I have a set of Rcplanebuyers SS flavorizer bars that are at least 8 tears old and still look like new David Santana makes excellent products but like Brian said he is expensive. If you shop around you can find great deals on Weber grates on eBay I got a new set of weber cast iron grates for my E320 for $35 delivered and a set of Weber SS grates for my skyline for $40 delivered.
You can also find aftermarket grates and bars on eBay at much lower prices but I've never tried them so I can't say how good the quality is.
 
Honestly RC is not expensive especially compared to less well made parts. He makes high quality and they are definitely worth the investment if you have a keeper
 
Caveat: I grill over charcoal, not gas. YMMV.

My grill came with porcelain coated cast iron grates, they lasted several years, the g/f finally said "FIX IT!" when the coating flaked and started getting rust into dinner. I welded up some quarter inch stainless 304 stock into new grates, and I'll never, ever, use anything else. I've made a set for use over a charcoal chimny just for searing steaks cooked sous vide. The stainless 304 will last practically forever, IMO. I've had these for something like 4 years now with no discernible wear.
 
Definitely go with the SS. Maintenance is a breeze with them. When they get pretty gunky, remove them, put 'em in a black plastic trash bag, spray 'em with oven cleaner and let 'em sit in the sun for several hours. Then take them out and wash off with a pressure washer. Easy as can be.
 
Stainless rods are clearly the best choice for long life and lower maintenance. Nobody makes them better than Dave Santana (aka “rcplanebuyer”). I agree with Larry that they are well worth what he charges, but sometimes you have to accept budget limits and make compromise decisions. The Weber oem stainless rods and the virtually identical set on Amazon have thinner rods that are spaced further apart, but in my opinion they are still a viable option. Maybe not the best if you do a lot of shrimp or other small items, but definitely solid usable grates that will give years of service with some reasonable care.

I have purchased two sets of these. They are hardly lightweight or cheap in appearance:

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0798LMYGY/tvwb-20

I also love plain cast iron. The porcelain coated ones never worked for me here in Florida as described by another contributor. Raw cast iron does require extra effort to keep well seasoned, and you probably have to plan on periodically having to wire brush back to base metal and starting over with seasoning. Is it worth it? Everyone has their own opinion, but to me there is something about cast iron that harkens back to old-fashion real grilling.
 
Last edited:
Larry he is expensive like I said want a Mercedes go ahead and nothing wrong with driving a Mercedes. There are other choices out there now. nobody is saying they are the quality of RC's stuff. Rich got Weber stainless grates for $40 bucks wondering if he meant the knockoff's.

So basically you could replace them 3 times and still be ahead. I don't mind the wider gaps as personally I don't cook stuff on the 1000 thats going to fall thru anyway.
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
Larry he is expensive like I said want a Mercedes go ahead and nothing wrong with driving a Mercedes. There are other choices out there now. nobody is saying they are the quality of RC's stuff. Rich got Weber stainless grates for $40 bucks wondering if he meant the knockoff's.

So basically you could replace them 3 times and still be ahead. I don't mind the wider gaps as personally I don't cook stuff on the 1000 thats going to fall thru anyway.
Click to expand...

Nope both sets of grates are the real deal Weber's unopened in the original Weber boxes. As much as I like Dave's SS I got two sets of Weber grates one SS and one CI for $75 and as much as I use the gassers that's fine with me. For the SS grates from David just for the E320 alone was $174 shipped if I got the skyline grates too I'm guessing about $350 for both sets. The CI grates on the E320 lasted 9 years and they were still completely serviceable I only replaced them because of the deal I got on the new ones. As a mater of fact I kept the old ones just never Know.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the feedback, guys. Stainless it is.

Any thoughts on the gas tubes? I have the old style, the new style looks far nicer. Any opinions on that?
 
Well, at least RCPlanebuyer doesn't make those, so we can skip the discussion on that. My suggestion is to go with aftermarket ones. I use a set that I got off amazon or ebay in my Genesis 1000 for $13. Hard to find at that price now, but you should be able to find them for much less than Genuine Weber ones....They are all Stainless steel as far as I know and the aftermarket ones I have and put in my refurbished grills all seem very good quality.

Example: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0743CLTVW/tvwb-20
 
Last edited:
Robert.K said:
Thanks for the feedback, guys. Stainless it is.

Any thoughts on the gas tubes? I have the old style, the new style looks far nicer. Any opinions on that?
Click to expand...

When you say “new style” are you referring to the “G4” burners on the new Genesis II line? I would be almost certain that those new square burners would not fit on the earlier Genesis model.
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
Larry he is expensive like I said want a Mercedes go ahead and nothing wrong with driving a Mercedes. There are other choices out there now. nobody is saying they are the quality of RC's stuff. Rich got Weber stainless grates for $40 bucks wondering if he meant the knockoff's.

So basically you could replace them 3 times and still be ahead. I don't mind the wider gaps as personally I don't cook stuff on the 1000 thats going to fall thru anyway.
Click to expand...

If you price his products against Weber OEM they're lower than Weber OEM. The old style Genesis uses the same size grates as the older Summit 4xx and 6xx (ones made prior to 2004 IIRC) and Weber charges $125 per grate Dave sells them for $125 per PAIR I call that a bargain in any book. Again you may feel that is too expensive and sure compared to say cast iron or el cheapo rod types maybe they are. To me performance trumps cheap unless of course like some of you who are simply flipping and there shiny trumps quality so yeah some cheapo grates work just fine.
I am looking at value for something someone might want to keep and actually use and get enjoyment from using. To my way of thinking, fighting with trying to keep food falling through, poor performance, etc are just not worth it. LIfe's too short to drink bad beer or use bad equipment
 
Can someone post RC's contact info? I've seen posts that say to search SF Craigslist but I can't find it.

What do people think of grillgrate.com?
 
BillSmith said:
Can someone post RC's contact info? I've seen posts that say to search SF Craigslist but I can't find it.

What do people think of grillgrate.com?
Click to expand...

I don't know if he wants his info "posted" I will PM you. Believe me don't waste your $$$ on anything else.
 
Bbqparts stainless grates and flavorizors are close to as good as rcplanebuyer 's stuff.

Not dissing rcplanebuyer at all. His are clearly the best but this is another very good option for somewhat less $$. I have Bbq parts on one grill and rcplanebuyer on another. I don't regret either purchase.

https://www.bbqparts.com/weber.htm
 
They claim to be 5/16" 304 stainless. If so, then yah, they are very close to RCP grates in quality.
 
Greg M said:
Bbqparts stainless grates and flavorizors are close to as good as rcplanebuyer 's stuff.

Not dissing rcplanebuyer at all. His are clearly the best but this is another very good option for somewhat less $$. I have Bbq parts on one grill and rcplanebuyer on another. I don't regret either purchase.

https://www.bbqparts.com/weber.htm
Click to expand...

Greg,

Yes, they look like a very good step up from the Amazon ones I posted and that Bruce and I use for "flipping". As I said, the Amazon grates are actually REALLY NICE (and still a nice price), but your BBQ Parts set looks to be even better.

There are certainly a lot of choices. If money is not a big object, then Dave/rcplanebuyer is the best. But as you said there are other less expensive options that any grill owner could be very happy with.

Jon
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top