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help (tonight!) with rust question


 
N

Nate L

TVWBB Member
It turns out that when I *carefully* brought my wsm into the garage for the winter after my last smoke in December, I left the top grate out for cleaning ... and it got left out, under the snow, for four months. So it's very rusty. I'll order a new one but I picked up a butt this afternoon and am going to put it on tonight. I could use the lower grate but I prefer the top. Is it okay if I take off whatever rust I can and then lay the bottom grate right on top of the rusty top grate and put the pork on? In other words, assuming that there's no meat touching the crudy rust, is it safe to smoke over a rusty grate?
Thanks. (And this is going on, one way or the other, in a couple hours....)
 
I bet you'll find that most of that rust is probably actually old food gunk...either way, I bet it all comes off if you heat it up (like in a gasser) and scrub it a few times.
 
good call. I think I panicked a bit. I did *scrub* the thing just now--SOS and steel wool--and the top looks decent. The underside looks petty rough; the metal itself seems to be nicked up and worn. But I think a lot of the rust/gunk is off and I'll go for it ... and not mention it to my wife or the friends coming over tomorrow to eat....
thanks again.
 
I'm not sure about stainless. As mentioned, I did get the rust off, though the underside is chewed up. But regardless, it turns out that the months spent outside warped the grate considerably, so that it can't sit flat and rocks between the supports. Oh well. The wsm hummed along all night and after 12 hours the butt is around 175; I'm guessing 3-4 more hours and it should be perfect. Happy Easter!
 
They wouldn't be stainless.... too pricey. It anything they might be ceramic coated but i know they will rust over time. I'm not sure if they coating eventually just gets scratched off or what, but i tend to make sure I keep my baby's nice and dry. Even after cleaning I will towel dry and hang before I put away.
 
the grates are nickle coated steel. warped grate can be rebent straight. a drill and a 2 or 3 in wire wheel will make any grate look like new. i do it many times to my grates and get years out of them.
 
Rust, per se, will not hurt you. You can wire brush off any loose rust, oil the grate, and cook away. I used the original grate on my Weber kettle grill for more than 30 years, and there wasn't any of the plating left on it at the end. It was well seasoned by then, like a piece of cast iron.
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