Stainless grate?

[Matt Knight]

I have a Weber Genesis with the front, middle and rear burners. It currently has cast iron grates. Is it worth it to switch to stainless grates? What brands are decent for the money? I upgraded to the stainless flavorizer bars because the factory bars were rusted out. Thanks for any input, Matt

[Max Good]

Stainless grates work better and last longer. Read our reviews of different grates. The cat iron builds up intense heat and brands meats with brown bars while SS rods allow radiant heat to baste meats and build up an even brown crust.

Weber makes SS replacement grates that will fit perfectly. They ain't cheap though.

[Matt Knight]

Ok, I read the article again and the Grill Grates (GG) caught my attention. Would the GG be a better investment than the SS grates? I'm trying to picture how I could make it 2 zone with the front, middle and rear burners. Do I put them on after the low cook? Do they take long to get to temp or do they pretty much heat up with the grill from low to high? Would you sear a steak on the flat griddle side? Is the spatula they sell worth it? Sorry for all of the questions but I am pretty new to the BBQ scene. I'm looking to your experience for guidance. Thanks for your patience.

[Medusa]

I have a 3 burner setup like yours. I have cooked hams, ribs, brisket, whole chicken, etc., with only the front burner on ( between low & medium ) and the other 2 off.

After all these years, I discovered that the built in temp gauge in the dome runs 50-60 degrees lower than the actual grate temp! ( I purchased Maverick ET 733 based on advice on this site )

Regarding 2 zone, yesterday I did a dry run and eventually ran the middle burner on LOW. This was a test for a casserole, with a target temp of 300. (later I found out it is 375... so another test is coming - duh!)

Based on this info, I would conjecture that you would be running around 340 high, 309 low with only the front burner. Also take in mind ambient temp and wind.

--Ed

[Max Good]

Replacing your stock grates with GrillGrates will provide higher temp searing power, but if you have an older Genesis with the control knobs on the right side shelf, they will make a 2-zone setups more difficult to achieve because they absorb heat from the burners and radiate. The heat gets dispersed throughout the aluminum grate and evens temps out across the grate surface: efficient for even heat, not so much for isolating separate heat zones with your burner configuration.
You could get a long GG custom cut to run from left to right over half the grill surface and rest it on top of your current grates. Just setting a standard size GG on one side will give you a hotter side and cooler side, but you can't use your burners to isolate the zones further.
Reverse sear would work well as you describe, cooking at low temp, removing meats then adding the GGs and cranking heat. They get hot pretty quick. Both sides of the GGs are useful and worth trying. They give a slightly different finish to the meat surface.
The GG spatula is useful, particularly for fish and any items that tend to stick.

[Marauderer]

I would recommend the Weber SS replacement grates for your grille. I use to have the same model and the cast iron ones just don't last. I believe the grate on top of the water pan is for a Genesis. Unfortunately as Max said because of the burner to grate layout it will be challenging to get a 2 zone setup.

[Medusa]

Hi,

I have a 13 year old Weber Genesis B. The 1st thing I did was buy the Weber SS Replacement Grates. This action was based on advice I read during the review process.

The CI grates remain packed in original box and have never been used.

A few years later I replaced the flavorizer bars with the SS ones. The original porcelain bars were rusting.

I have no regrets on these investments. Why?

1. No fear taking a brush to the grates before I cook. Wouldn't dream of this with CI

2. No fear taking drill with wire brush wheel when it comes time to really clean things!

So, the SS grates have been in use for 13 yrs, and the flavorizer bars for about 8. No wear & tear.

HTH, --Ed

[JPP]

It appears I'm in desparate need of new grill grates for my gas grill. I've decided that conventional stainless steel grates will be fine. I can get "oem" parts for $130 EACH and I need FOUR!!! That got me laughing. So I found two places that do custom SS grill grates: http://michaelscustomgrillworks.com/ and http://www.stainlessgrillgrate.com/ Is there anyone out there who has used either of these? google searches for reviews have come up with meager results....

[Medusa]

WOW! $130 EACH!!! and you need 4???? I only have 2 on mine, and I know I didn't pay anything close to that price, but that was 13 years ago. And those were Weber SS.

Below is the link to the SS on the Weber Site. They're $85 ea...

http://store.weber.com/parts/detail/gas/3knobs/thermoset/cart-model/porcelain-lid/right-thermometer/1251

Good luck!

--Ed

[JPP]

Yep $130 each... and I'm pretty sure that they are stainless clad and not solid stainless rod! Why else would they literally burst open over time... it's not like they explode :-)) , but below you'll see a photog of what they became.... I've spent way to much money on this "stainless steel" gasser.... but I found a guy who does *custom* grill grates, and he is doing four for me at $175 including shipping... when you consider that my searches show cast iron grates running $40 each for 6" x 19" (the 19 makes it a fairly odd size... no suprise there either!) , I think this is a great value....

Check out "michealscustomgrillworks.com". The website is not supremely functional... but his work is reviewed by the nakedwhiz and the workmanship looks good. I guess I'm going out on a bit of a limb since they won't ship until next monday, but the experience via email exchange was perfect (imho) and he takes paypal and credit cards... and I'm all for supporting small business and whatnot. When they come in I'll post more....