How Hot?

[James Lake]

How hot can I get my grates? Over the weekend I did a cook with pork chops where I elevated one grate over another. The purpose of this technique was to get the fire really hot but initially cook from the top grate further away from the heat and at a certain temperature to drop the chops to the lower grate closer to the heat, similar to a reverse sear.

Here is a picture of the initial setup

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An action shot with the fire. I used half of bag of cowboy and then about 5 chunks of oak, again I wanted to get this fire hot.

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Here is a picture of the chops on the lower grate

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I had purchased new grates for this cook since I purchased the grill off of CL. After dinner and everything cooled down I noticed that the bottom grate had warped probably from the heat. I wanted a hot fire and I want to use this grill with my pizza stone, but did I get the fire too hot?

I would appreciate any comments.

 

[Bob Sample]

Flip the bottom grate over and it will go back into shape or bow the other way next time but you may cook the finish off of it. My charcoal grate bows all the time. I cook pizzas around 600-700 degrees and my charcoal grate is about 5 years old and is still functional. I just flip it once in awhile. You may also affect the enamel on the bowl over time if you cook at high temps a lot, especially if you bank the coals around the bowl.

 

[Andrew16]

Flip the bottom grate over and it will go back into shape or bow the other way next time but you may cook the finish off of it. My charcoal grate bows all the time. I cook pizzas around 600-700 degrees and my charcoal grate is about 5 years old and is still functional. I just flip it once in awhile. You may also affect the enamel on the bowl over time if you cook at high temps a lot, especially if you bank the coals around the bowl.

Bob, could you share how you managed to get up to 600-700°?? I have problems reaching 400 with a full chimney when doing pizza on my stone.