Stainless Steel Grate Throwdown Challenge Results


 
Joe Anshien said:
I am a fan of both. I always like the nice thick SS one on my gasser but I also really like the hanger thin one on my charcoal WGA. I get a lot of flavor and access to the flames with the wire one. You always see thin ones on smokers. I once saw someone selling a WGA with a cast iron grate and kind of laughed as it probably weighed in at 2x the weight of the grill. Is there a link to this Meathead thing?
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I'll see if I can find the quote in the book. His book is good, but he's not the God of BBQ (Still looking for that book smh).
 
Joe Anshien said:
I am a fan of both. I always like the nice thick SS one on my gasser but I also really like the hanger thin one on my charcoal WGA. I get a lot of flavor and access to the flames with the wire one. You always see thin ones on smokers. I once saw someone selling a WGA with a cast iron grate and kind of laughed as it probably weighed in at 2x the weight of the grill. Is there a link to this Meathead thing?
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Most of this article is about "brown all over" vs. sear marks. I think Larry would be in full agreement with that part. But in the article he mentions the benefits of thin wire grates in achieving this result. Larry has shown that he can do the same more enjoyably with his custom, thick stainless rod, tightly-spaced grates from Dave Santana/rcplanebuyer.
 
I dug this old thread up for some reason I forgot about it. Not really sure why the vendor never made them again, mine are now over 5 years old and zero rust they are on my Performer. I guess they could have been junk at the time I bought them but sometimes you get lucky. Its probably useless information but a bit bored today. :unsure:

tvwbb.com

Stainless Steel Gourmet Grate Amazon for my Performer

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0798LPLMC/tvwb-20 Uniflasy Stainless Steel Gourmet BBQ System Hinged Cooking Grid Grate Replacement for Weber 22.5 Inch Charcoal Grills 8835 I just bought these interesting enough a few people on the Gasser Forum have bought their grates stainless steel...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
Figured this as good of a place as any. Anyone have an email address for Dave Santana (aka rcairplanebuyer). He posted some things on ebay earlier and suggested going through the forum instead of Ebay . He's just posted grates that I have wanted for years but rather not see him get gouged with fees. Thanks.
 
Here is a link that will bring up his Craigslist adds. Simply contact him through one of these adds via CL Email. He does not like his phone or personal email address being given out, which is understandable. If you contact him through one of his adds, simply tell him what you are looking for regardless of what the add is for. Then he will provide you with a quote for the work and shipping. He does not have to pay listing fees this way and does not have to raise his price accordingly and can sell them to you cheaper than if you order them through his adds on Ebay.

This link is simply a search for his flavorizer bar listings which he continually have up. But they will be current adds, so the listing won't be expired.

Dave Santana (RCPlanebuyer) Craigslist add
 
I have the Weber GBS grates on my Performer as well-wish now I had gone ahead and gotten the Killa Grilla one before they went out. Too bad Dave never made ones for those. Love his on my Silver A!
 
I can say for me the 304 9mm are an upgrade. But lower temp veggies and sausages, to 1/2# chuckburgers and high temp searing of Ribeye, and I have to say, after doing all on the Genesis 325s the 9mm Qulimetal 304 9mm are a noticeable improvement.

Reason for my comments are, easier cleaning, more consistent Temps, better searing with less burnt perfect grill marks.

I'll be doing spatchcocked whole chicken this weekend and will see how that does. But for now, the factory 7mm grates are benched. I don't know if the material, or the size is the reason. But together they are going to remain my suggestion as a noticeable upgrade.
 
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Joe Anshien said:
I am a fan of both. I always like the nice thick SS one on my gasser but I also really like the hanger thin one on my charcoal WGA. I get a lot of flavor and access to the flames with the wire one. You always see thin ones on smokers. I once saw someone selling a WGA with a cast iron grate and kind of laughed as it probably weighed in at 2x the weight of the grill. Is there a link to this Meathead thing?
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This make sense to me. My cookshack smoker uses smaller rods, and I usually put things like ribs and chicken quarters, stuffed pepper and squash like zucchini boats on a woven wire rack with even smaller dia. rods.

I won't be buying 9mm for the smoker, but I won't be taking the 9mm out of my gasser. I think there's steel to the thoughts, a place for both.
 
SO, HOW DOES WEBER'S 1998 GRATE SET COMPARE?

Yesterday, I acquired a unicorn Weber Flat-Top. The kind seller brought it all the way from upstate NY to the Home Show in Indianapolis. He also sold me a couple of sets of 1st generation Summit grates that had been sandblasted clean. They are really impressive, thick 304 stainless and feature one side with a fold-up trap door to access the smoker box that sits below the grates on these first Summits.

Summit Grate Set with fold-up.JPG

These are probably the closest grates I have seen to Dave Santana/rcplanebuyer's. It shows that back in the day, Weber knew how to do it superbly.

I thought it would be fun to add a review page for these. They are pretty hard to find, but this does point out that some of these old Summits are being sold on the cheap with these grates still intact. Since the 1st generation Summit is the same size as the "classic" Genesis, you can use them on Genesis grills from the beginning 1-5 on to the x000 and all the way through the Silver/Gold/Platinum models.

I am including pages for Dave's grates (note that the price may be almost double - IF he will even make any now) and the relatively new entry from Qlimetal. Notice, too, that these old Summit grates do not have that extra middle support bar that gets in the way of cleaning if you use the otherwise very effective Chargon tool.

Stainless Steel Showdown Grates 1st Gen Summit Grates_Page_1.jpeg

Stainless Steel Showdown RCPLANEBUYER Grates2_Page_07.jpg

Stainless Steel Showdown Grates - Qlimetal 9mm_Page_1.png
 
Jon, I guess I remember hearing those old Summits used high quality SS rod grates that fit the Genesis grills, but I had forgot that. I will keep my eyes out for them in the future, just for the grates, if nothing else.

So, the cooking surface must be the same on the 1st gen summit as the older Genesis but it has 4 burners vs 3. No wonder they are good cookers.

I love the idea of the hinged grates. Even on a Genesis they would allow easy access to a drip pan or smoker box under the grates.

Thanks for the updated reviews.
 
Yeah, sadly for whatever reason (maybe because I got it as "NOS") at the ACE, mine (the one Jon currently has) did not come with those grates but did have the Smoke Box. Which I actually liked because it held a lot of chips, was stainless steel, and did not leave ashes all over the inside of the grill. I would have loved to have had them though
 
LMichaels said:
Yeah, sadly for whatever reason (maybe because I got it as "NOS") at the ACE, mine (the one Jon currently has) did not come with those grates but did have the Smoke Box. Which I actually liked because it held a lot of chips, was stainless steel, and did not leave ashes all over the inside of the grill. I would have loved to have had them though
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I always thought the first generation Summit came with those heavy stainless steel grates as standard equipment. I know the stamped stainless ones were standard on second generation Summit grills.
 
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