Scored a free '04 Genesis Gold C that could use a little love - not entirely sure what I'm looking at here

[Dave Glasgal]

Hi all,

Thanks to a very generous soul on Craigslist, I'm now the proud owner of my first grill that includes a side burner. We actually moved it several months ago, and at the time I had taken a putty knife to the grates to try to scrape it clean a little - but I stopped when I realized I had no idea what type of grates they even were, or if I was damaging them instead of helping them. And then winter came up, and it got covered and left before I ever even got a chance to use it (other than testing it to make sure it lit, which it did).

Now - well, see attached. I'm not sure what I'm looking at here. Is that mold? And as far as the rust-colored stuff on the grates, is that indeed rust that I'm seeing? Is it possible to tell what kind of grates these are and whether they're salvageable? I'm coming up on a year of being out of work, so buying a nice new set of something the board's favorite SS grates on eBay isn't in the cards right now.

Essentially, any advice I can get as to what I'm looking at and what my best plan of attack might be would be tremendously helpful and appreciated.

 

[Dan Leighton]

Dave:
Those are cast iron grates and while not great are still serviceable even with the rust which except at the left and right side edges where it on the top. Just keep the wire brush on them to keep them clean. Kind of the same thing with the flavor bars unless there are holes in them. Scuff them up with a wire brush. The firebox is bowed, but as long as the grates don't drop in off the front and rear lips, keep on grillin'.

 

[Jon Tofte]

I can't tell for sure from your picture. They look like they could be the original style OEM Weber cast iron. If so, they can be restored by using an angle grinder/cup brush combination. You take them down to raw, dry cast iron and then season with Crisco in your oven (or maybe in a grill at very low temp.)





If those are porcelain plated cast iron grates, then unless you are up for a MAJOR grinding off of the porcelain I would probably give up on them. Most members here would recommend you go with stainless steel rod grates of good quality. But if they are plain cast iron and you are OK with the work to restore them and then keep them seasoned, I think you will really like the cast iron. They are still my personal favorite - just take a lot of work.

Look on the "flat" side of your grates and see if they have this engraving. If so, they are the original cast iron and worth restoring:

 

[Dave Glasgal]

Thank you both. As far as I can tell, there doesn't seem to be an inscription on the bottom - but they are so covered in gunk that it may not be visible. Right now I've got the burners running on full blast to help kill what I think is mold (that white stuff is also all over the bottom of the grates). Once they cool down I'll try to chip the bottom layer back down to the original flat level and look for markings. Is that roughly at the center of the bar?

 

[Jon Tofte]

The engraving on those old grates I believe is on the left when that side is up.

You will be able to tell if your grates have porcelain plating after you clean them. If they do, the porcelain will almost certainly be chipping off in places. The porcelain will be very dark and the chipped off places rusty or at best raw metal.

 

[Sam Bee]

Nice score! Yah, it looks like the firebox is warped from the first pic and if it is then no biggie. If the grates stay put then it's still good and if not then just swap it with another one from a Silver/Gold. Other than that then just a good clean up should do the trick (even with those grates I think). I know your situation is not ideal at the moment but when you do get a chance then I'd swap the grates (and bars if not totally rusted out) to stainless steel. There are decent ones on Amazon that won't break the bank.

 

[Bruce]

Yes, if you do wind up replacing them, you can get a decent set of SS solid rod grates on Amazon for around $30 or so.

 

[Dave Glasgal]

I can't tell for sure from your picture. They look like they could be the original style OEM Weber cast iron. If so, they can be restored by using an angle grinder/cup brush combination. You take them down to raw, dry cast iron and then season with Crisco in your oven (or maybe in a grill at very low temp.)

View attachment 23894

View attachment 23895

If those are porcelain plated cast iron grates, then unless you are up for a MAJOR grinding off of the porcelain I would probably give up on them. Most members here would recommend you go with stainless steel rod grates of good quality. But if they are plain cast iron and you are OK with the work to restore them and then keep them seasoned, I think you will really like the cast iron. They are still my personal favorite - just take a lot of work.

Look on the "flat" side of your grates and see if they have this engraving. If so, they are the original cast iron and worth restoring:

View attachment 23896

I've done some more scraping on these and it definitely doesn't look like that patent stamp appears anywhere. Is that basically an indication that they're non-original, porcelain-coated cast iron, and thus probably not worth the hassle? I've put in a few hours on this already and I'm nowhere near done, and that's not even counting the fact that my next step would probably involve buying a bottle of oven cleaner or some other heavy-duty degreaser.

 

[Sam Bee]

I've done some more scraping on these and it definitely doesn't look like that patent stamp appears anywhere. Is that basically an indication that they're non-original, porcelain-coated cast iron, and thus probably not worth the hassle? I've put in a few hours on this already and I'm nowhere near done, and that's not even counting the fact that my next step would probably involve buying a bottle of oven cleaner or some other heavy-duty degreaser.

IMO, not worth the hassle and I'd invest in some SS grates...decent ones can be found on Amazon for $40 or less.

 

[Jon Tofte]

Inclined to agree that they may not be worth the hassle. I know the really old ones do have that patent stamp, but I can't say what that means for ones that don't. The big thing to me is to avoid the cast iron grates that are coated with the shiny porcelain that chips off miserably into your food. To grind off enough of that porcelain to expose raw cast iron on all the cooking surfaces would be a LOT of work. I have a couple few sets like these laying around, but I am never bored enough to see just how much it would require!

 

[Dave Glasgal]

Since I've got nothing but time on my hands right now, I decided to spend a little more time chipping away at things yesterday while it was unseasonably warm outside. Here are some more detailed shots of the grates. Am I literally just scraping off the actual coating on the bottom? At first I thought it was simply gunk that had never been cleaned off by the previous owner, but the more I hack away at it, the more I wonder if that's porcelain that I'm getting rid of now. However, the actual cooking surface doesn't seem to be in horrible shape, which leads me to yet another question - as long as that part is okay, does it really matter (as far as food safety goes) if the bottoms are completely destroyed?

 

[Jon Tofte]

Looking at your pictures, those grates do not look like they are porcelain plated, whether they have a patent stamp or not. I believe you are looking at mostly rust and gunk fused together. However, I do think that you can restore them to very useable condition. You need to have an angle grinder with a metal cup brush. That will give you the high speed and power to get that back completely to raw cast iron.

Even if there is(was) porcelain on there, if you can get all of it off the surfaces where your food would potentially touch, there is no risk then of using them.

I don't disagree with others that GOOD stainless rods will perform very well and won't require so much work to maintain (let alone restoring what you currently have). I just personally enjoy cast iron more. To each his own, of course, but I am hoping you can bring those back! That set is in a good bit worse shape than the ones I posted above. Still, what I see in your picture shows that with some patience and hard work you could still restore and use them quite well. Whether that is worth it vs. getting a decent $40 set of stainless rods just depends on what you want and are willing to do.

 

[Bruce]

Sounds like you put a lot of work into those grates already and Jon is right, once you get all the porcelain coating off of them, they will be OK to use. However, they are getting a bit thin and if it was me, I would dump them and put some new ones in. I would go SS but clearly a new set of CI grates would be a big improvement.

 

[Dave Glasgal]

The main thing is the lack of tools. I've got all the time in the world, but no angle grinder. Out of curiosity, I checked with Harbor Freight and a super cheap angle grinder (4.3A / 12,000 RPM) is $15, and a 4" crimped wire cup brush is $4 - something I could probably justify if I end up using it even once again after this. That's half the price of any of the stainless grates I've seen on Amazon, and I've got far more time than money at the moment. I know nothing about angle grinders though - would those specs be enough for the job?

 

[Bruce]

Dave, several of us have those EXACT same grinders and they work well. With a coupon or sale, you can get those grinders for $10. Also, do not get the crimped wire brush. Get the regular 4" wire cup brush. The crimped ones are far to aggressive and will not get down into the tight spaces between the grates.

4 in. Crimped Wire Cup Brush

Amazing deals on this 4In Crimped Wire Cup Brush at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

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Harbor Freight buys their top quality tools from the same factories that supply our competitors. We cut out the middleman and pass the savings to you!

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THis coupon is good through tomorrow.

 

[Dave Glasgal]

Bruce, thanks for the coupon! I always check before I shop there, but I hadn't yet.

I'm confused about the wire brushes though: you said don't get a crimped one, but then you linked to "4 in. crimped wire cup brush". I'm not quite sure what you're recommending now.

 

[Bruce]

Dave, Sorry about that. I thought you were talking about the braided wire cup brush. The one I linked above is the one you want.
Make sure you wear eye protection when using that setup and I hightly recommend leather gloves as well....No loose clothing.

This is the wire cup brush you DO NOT want to use: https://www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-twisted-wire-cup-brush-47927.html

 

[Ed P]

If you've never done this before, some words of caution: Stay out of the path of the rotating brush! They can and do throw the wire bristles off and I've had the bristles stick in my leg and not know it until a piece of clothing snags on the wire. Gloves, face shield, safety glasses or goggles, denim apron or heavy clothes and shoes are appropriate, although some bold people make do with shorts and sandals and sunglasses. A dust mask will help you avoid breathing the crud that you are removing. Make sure your workpiece is clamped or anchored securely to prevent sending it flying. Do not use the trigger lock on the grinder. Don't wear loose clothing or long hair that might get caught in the rotating wire brush.

 

[Dave Glasgal]

Hmm. Gloves, mask, and eye protection, I've got. What I don't have is somewhere to clamp the grates - I honestly hadn't gotten that far into the planning yet.

Long-sleeves (that can get filthy from flying gunk) were a given, but I don't have an apron or face shield.

Thanks all for the advice and tips. Looks like I've got a little bit more to figure out in terms of logistics before I can proceed, but I'm determined to make this happen now!

 

[Dave Glasgal]

Update: before & after (left vs right respectively). I've still got a little bit of touching up to do, but I'd say that they're at least in useable shape at this point. I'm pretty happy with how the angle grinder worked. I may even attempt to season them now (I'd do one first as a test run - there's just two of us here, so even if I manage to totally botch one grate, the remaining one would still be big enough for our needs.)