Grillgrates


 
JRAiona

JRAiona

TVWBB Gold Member
Does anyone have and use Grillgrates? If you do have you replaced your grates with them or just sit them on top? I’ve read a lot about them on line and am thinking of getting them for my Genesis II.
 
I have a full set of GrillGrates for my 22" kettle and I absolutely love them. I use them constantly for steaks, fish and vegetables. My wife recently gave me the little two piece circular set that is 10 1/2" in diameter and can be used nicely on my Smoky Joe or the Jumbo Joe. I use mine directly on the regular grate. There's an article by Meathead on Amazing Ribs about using them to replace your regular grates on gassers. I have no experience with that.
 
They have been discussed quite heatedly some feel they're like the second coming of JC himself and others like me feel they're a waste of money and that a truly good set of high quality cast iron or stainless grates are far more versatile and dependable. Basically they work by trapping much of the radiant heat from the grill itself which causes the temp of the fire box to rise a lot and in turn makes the grate surface hotter. Which is one of my peeves with them. They can if not careful cause pretty severe overheating internally. My other is they're aluminum. I do not cook on/in aluminum unless it's teflon/non stick coated and then only at lower heat levels so there is no toxicity from the coating. I refuse to use anything else aluminum because of the toxicity of the metal to the brain.
 
Not that this helps, but it is on my wish list to grab a set for one of my setups. I love the feedback and pics that I see from folks on this site who do own and use them.
 
LMichaels said:
<snip> I refuse to use anything else aluminum because of the toxicity of the metal to the brain.
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I'm sure you're aware, but also be careful using foil as a lid on metal pans. I've had a few of them get holes in them before I found out what was going on.... last time was Mexican Rice in a dutch oven, I think.
 
I finally got around to buying a set a few weeks ago.
I place them on top of the existing grate of my Q300.
I love them so far.
 
Clint said:
I'm sure you're aware, but also be careful using foil as a lid on metal pans. I've had a few of them get holes in them before I found out what was going on.... last time was Mexican Rice in a dutch oven, I think.
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Something I have never done. But yeah I could see that happening. I gave up on aluminum a long time ago before I knew about what would happen with aluminum deposits in my mom's brain and such. I gave up on it because I noticed sometimes my food would change color or tastes would change. Hell I refuse to even drink beer from a can because the taste is bad to me. Even if someone wraps a care package in foil I discreetly will discard it once seen. We are seeing much more "brain illnesses" now than ever before. So I refuse to take any chances especially on expensive gimmicks.
 
I have a 15" long pair that I use in my Kettle and Pellet Grill for searing and they work fine. I've used them for Chicken Breast, Steaks, and Burgers. I just set them on the cooking grate and give them time to heat up.

GrillGrates are hard Anodized Aluminum which does not have the leaching problem that our old Aluminum cookware had. Our skillets are all Teflon coated or hard anodized Aluminum and I personally feel the anodized is the safer of those two. "An anodized finish is chemically stable. It does not decompose. It is nontoxic. High heat levels will not damage the anodized finish. Anodized surfaces are heat-resistant to the melting point of aluminum (1,221°F)." Anodizing creates a surface of Aluminum Oxide which is very hard. Anodized Aluminum is harder than Stainless Steel.
 
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I use my GrillGrates all the time, just bought some rounded edge GrillGrates for the 26R that Marty Owens suggested. I also make sure i'm wearing my tinfoil hat when cooking;)

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Lew Newby said:
I have a 15" long pair that I use in my Kettle and Pellet Grill for searing and they work fine. I've used them for Chicken Breast, Steaks, and Burgers. I just set them on the cooking grate and give them time to heat up.

GrillGrates are hard Anodized Aluminum which does not have the leaching problem that our old Aluminum cookware had. Our skillets are all Teflon coated or hard anodized Aluminum and I personally feel the anodized is the safer of those two. "An anodized finish is chemically stable. It does not decompose. It is nontoxic. High heat levels will not damage the anodized finish. Anodized surfaces are heat-resistant to the melting point of aluminum (1,221°F)." Anodizing creates a surface of Aluminum Oxide which is very hard. Anodized Aluminum is harder than Stainless Steel.
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Got news for you. My VERY VERY Calphalon (made in USA) Professional cookware will prove you wrong. The anodizing is wearing off and of course like most anything else that costs tons of $$$$ and has a so called lifetime warranty Calphalon does not stand behind it. Never mind the fact that back in 1985 when wife and I bought them we paid between $150 and $200 PER PAN!! Now they're pretty much all scrap metal. I could have put a nice down payment on a first house with what those so called hard anodized pieces cost me. Make no mistake under the RIGHT conditions anodizing is tough but NOT under cooking conditions. Your quote from the GG propaganda sheet is just that propaganda
 
Agreed! Those grill marks look like the work of an artist. I forget; do you guys use the GG forked scraper to clean them, or something else?
 
I've had mine 5 years, used them a lot for maybe 3 years, then less and less due to not wanting to thoroughly clean them. I'm far from being a clean freak, but the crud and oxidation wasn't appealing to cook on. I used mine flat side up most of the time for an all over sear.
This thread prompted me to go out and fire up 2 baskets of briqs and burn some of the stuff off.
When done I plan to store them in a plastic bag to see if that helps with the oxidation. I have the gourmet grate system and remove the center section often, hence I don't like leaving them on the cook grate.
They're still cookin', but here's before, and after an hour pics.



 
Every now and again I starting itching to buy some. I think maybe if I was doing steak competitions or something I would.
 
BFletcher said:
I forget; do you guys use the GG forked scraper to clean them, or something else?
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I have the GG split brush that does a fairly decent job of cleaning. The large GG fork I use for flipping only. Works especially well with fish to get a nice, even release.

Bob Correll said:
I'm far from being a clean freak, but the crud and oxidation wasn't appealing to cook on.
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Yeah, I know what you mean Bob. I'm not keen on that either. Recently I've been trying to do a good brushing right after pulling the food, while the grates are still really hot. Seems to work better.
 
LMichaels said:
Got news for you. My VERY VERY Calphalon (made in USA) Professional cookware will prove you wrong. The anodizing is wearing off and of course like most anything else that costs tons of $$$$ and has a so called lifetime warranty Calphalon does not stand behind it. Never mind the fact that back in 1985 when wife and I bought them we paid between $150 and $200 PER PAN!! Now they're pretty much all scrap metal. I could have put a nice down payment on a first house with what those so called hard anodized pieces cost me. Make no mistake under the RIGHT conditions anodizing is tough but NOT under cooking conditions. Your quote from the GG propaganda sheet is just that propaganda
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I'm terribly sorry I offended you. Not my intent. Won't happen again.
 
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