GrillGrates on Camp Chef Pellet Grill

[DeborahL]

I have four GrillGrates that pretty much cover the lower cooking area in my new Camp Chef SmokePro 24". Is it good to use them all the time, or do some cooks want the open structure of the original grates? When smoking is it best to use them flat side up or the other way around? For my first cook I just used one and put on it the food that would have likely fallen through the regular grate. What's best practice?

[bep35]

If it were me I would use grill grates over part and regular grates over the rest. That will better allow heat to circulate and increase convection cooking. That is how I have my Weber Genesis Gas Grill set up and it works well. Have fun!

[Dalmore]

For the last 6 years I've used Grill Grates on my Weber gas grill. Never took them off. 98 percent of the time I had ridges up.

I did elevate things off of the Grill Grates when I didn't want grill marks - usually turkey breasts or whole chickens. The Grill Grates do such a good job at minimizing flareups plus it was easier than taking them out. I used a grate out of a roaster pan on those occasions.

They've held up fantastically to usage on average 2x a week with next to no TLC. I literally just turn on the gas burners to max for 15 minutes or so and brush the grates with the special brush grill grates sells. I think maybe twice I took them off and gave them a proper, thorough cleaning.

That's my experience.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

You need to be careful on a pellet grill that you don't restrict airflow. As long as they don't have over the sides of the heat shield where air is supposed to freely flow they should work great other than sliding around while brushing them between cooks.

[glitchy]

Generally for pellet grills they’re only recommended two use a couple panels as a searing station. You don’t want full coverage as it will mess with the airflow and affect how the grill works. I also wouldn’t use them for smoking as you’d be applying more energy to the bottom of your proteins.

They do work wonders for making pellet grills cook ‘hotter’ than they really are for searing and such.

Though with your setup, I’d forget them in the pellet part and get the set for the SearBox.