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Grill grates question

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    Grill grates question

    Thinking of grabbing this for my weber 22" kettle. They advertise temps being 200-250 degrees hotter than in the dome. Im wondering if you guys have found you need to make any major adjustments for 2 zone cooking? Less coals for the same temp etc.

    Also, will the standard pit probe clipped on top of the grate still give you an accurate reading of cooking temp when using grill grates?

    Sorry if this has been asked and answered before. I did search but i didnt find it.

    Best

    #2
    Never used for 2-zone cooking. I use standard grates for max airflow.

    Comment


      #3
      I have Grillgrates for my kettle and my gas grill. Let me start by saying they are NOT intended for indirect cooking. You can do a 2 zone but have to detach two of the plates to break up the surface - otherwise the heat conducts across the aluminum.

      That said, if you have a kettle, here are my tips.

      1. The Grillgrates rock for DIRECT cooking, and make the full surface available for use when cooking chops, chicken, wings, burgers, veggies (which would fall through a normal grate), etc. They amplify searing heat on the raised rails, but also block flare ups and let me cook stuff that would normally burn up if placed directly over the charcoal.

      2. You don't want them for 2 zone cooking where the charcoal is to the side, and they are not above them - no point really when doing something like smoking a pork shoulder or brisket low and slow - you will just have a greasy mess to clean up off the grate.

      I have some photos cooking on the kettle with them that I will share here later. Gotta run out the door on an errand for a bit right now.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by jfmorris View Post
        I have Grillgrates for my kettle and my gas grill. Let me start by saying they are NOT intended for indirect cooking. You can do a 2 zone but have to detach two of the plates to break up the surface - otherwise the heat conducts across the aluminum.

        That said, if you have a kettle, here are my tips.

        1. The Grillgrates rock for DIRECT cooking, and make the full surface available for use when cooking chops, chicken, wings, burgers, veggies (which would fall through a normal grate), etc. They amplify searing heat on the raised rails, but also block flare ups and let me cook stuff that would normally burn up if placed directly over the charcoal.

        2. You don't want them for 2 zone cooking where the charcoal is to the side, and they are not above them - no point really when doing something like smoking a pork shoulder or brisket low and slow - you will just have a greasy mess to clean up off the grate.

        I have some photos cooking on the kettle with them that I will share here later. Gotta run out the door on an errand for a bit right now.
        Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Kind of where my gut was going but figured i would ask.

        Comment


          #5
          Here is an exchange I had with Grillgrate customer service on this subject:

          ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          ME:

          I recently purchased a Weber Performer Deluxe from a friend, and it came with Grill Grates - I am so impressed I will likely save up my pennies and fit my old Weber Genesis gas grill with them, versus spending money on a new gas grill.

          My question is this. With the 22" Weber Grillgrate, how does one do 2 zone cooking? It seems that the 22" kettle grill grate will spread the heat so that the grill is pretty evenly heated. Is this the case? Any recommendations? I've been searching for an answer on this for a couple of days.

          Thanks, and great product. I am impressed so far.

          ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          GRILLGRATES:

          Jim,

          Glad to hear you are cooking with charcoal and enjoying your new Weber and GrillGrates!

          There are a couple of ways to go about a two zone cook with GrillGrates but keep in mind at the end of the day we are really intended for high heat direct grilling- not so much slow cooks. We work fine for slow cooks but the GrillGrates tend to get rather greasy and nasty once you’ve cooked a pork butt or two. When I do a slow cook on my kettle I do not use GrillGrates. I just use the Weber grate and place a drip pan below the food. The drip pan will help in keeping the coals banked to one side. The same thing can be done with GrillGrates but you will need to remove one of the outer panels. The idea is to have the coals banked to the side with no GrillGrates directly above the heat. You can use a drip pan in this scenario to catch some of the rendered fat and help keep the coals in place.

          My personal preference is using an accessory that a friend of ours has developed called the Slow ‘N Sear. It is an insert for the kettle that has a compartment for the coals as well as a compartment for water. It makes two zone cooking extremely easy and it also doubles as a super effective sear station once you add GrillGrates. You can check it out here if you are interested: https://abcbarbecue.com/product/slow-n-sear/

          Feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions. I am always glad to help!


          Michael Dellaporta
          Grill Guru

          ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          ME:

          Michael,


          Thanks for your advice. I am familiar with the Slow ’N Sear and that is a future purchase I am considering. I noticed that they offer a custom fit GrillGrate made to fit on top of it too, which would be ideal for "smoking" steaks with indirect heat, then doing a reverse sear at the end - something I do now using my offset smoker (smoke until thick steaks reach about 120 internal temp), followed by tossing them on the Weber kettle or the Weber Genesis at max heat to get some grill marks, and reach my final doneness temperature.

          My question though was not so much based on doing "low and slow" on the Weber kettle, as much as it was based on my experience with Weber kettles (and their own how-to advice) being that I needed to do a 2-zone fire even when grilling something simple like burgers, so that half the grill was direct heat, and half indirect, so that I could shuffle burgers away from the high heat as they get done, to a “safe zone" and also to avoid grease fires. With the GrillGrate, I guess flame ups are a thing of the past.

          I guess it comes down to this - when using the GrillGrates on the Weber kettle for things like steaks/chops/burgers/chicken, do you recommend just a single zone, and cover the entire bottom of the grill with charcoal?

          Thanks again,

          Jim Morris

          ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          GRILLGRATES:

          Yup! Flare ups are virtually eliminated so there is no need for a "safe" zone when using GrillGrates. Fill them up with burgers or chicken thighs and watch (and listen) to the magic happeneing! Yes, Cover the entire bottom grate in that kettle with coals. No worries.


          Michael Dellaporta
          Grill Guru

          GrillGrate LLC
          1-877-380-2527 ex 1000

          Comment


            #6
            grantgallagher My favorite way to cook chicken now is to use Grillgrates on the Weber kettle, and dump a full chimney of lit charcoal on the grate. I then fill up the grates with split or spatchcocked chickens (you can do about 4 full chickens this way), or chicken wings which I brush with sauce after they are nice and crispy (about 45 minutes). While I smoked some turkeys for Thanksgiving in November, I don't think I have smoked a chicken since last summer, instead preferring to cook them on the Grillgrates over direct heat.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by jfmorris View Post
              grantgallagher My favorite way to cook chicken now is to use Grillgrates on the Weber kettle, and dump a full chimney of lit charcoal on the grate. I then fill up the grates with split or spatchcocked chickens (you can do about 4 full chickens this way), or chicken wings which I brush with sauce after they are nice and crispy (about 45 minutes). While I smoked some turkeys for Thanksgiving in November, I don't think I have smoked a chicken since last summer, instead preferring to cook them on the Grillgrates over direct heat.
              Thank you for all the info. That was pretty much what i was considering too, not so much the low and slow cook but just needing an indirect zone. Im torn since i already have the slow n sear so maybe id be better off just getting the grill grate specifically made for that. I bought that when i was doing all my smoking on my kettle. Since then ive added a smokevault.

              On the other hand, converting my weber into a no hassle chicken burger steak machine sounds pretty awesome, lol.

              Comment


                #8
                grantgallagher I would go for the full Grillgrate set for the kettle, over just the small section to go over the SNS. You can still fit one of those sections over the SNS. Here's a picture from a cook on Saturday evening, where I had about a half chimney in the SNS (maybe 40 briquets) and it was enough to stir fry veggies in the Drip 'N Griddle, sautee shrimp scampi, and then slide the pan out of the way and grill some salmon on 1 section of Grillgrates. By that time in the cook the charcoal was starting to die down, but you can see I still got some nice grill marks from the grate. Salmon came out wonderfully.

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                And as I said, cooking Veggies and other small items is one reason I love the Grillgrates on the kettle:

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                And I like them for chops as well as chicken - basically, you don't need to worry about an indirect zone on the days you just want to grill food.

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                Comment


                • jfmorris
                  jfmorris commented
                  Editing a comment
                  FYI I don't recommend doing the Brussels sprouts whole like that. Cut them in half, then toss in olive oil and seasoning before grilling. I do the same for squash and other veggies, right on a clean Grillgrate, using the supplied Grate tool to toss the veggies as they cook.

                • Mudkat
                  Mudkat commented
                  Editing a comment
                  That is a great example of what the GG's can do. +1 on cutting fhe brussels in half.

                #9
                How hot do the coals get in the SnS? Is there a possibility of warping the GGs when directly over the SnS?

                Comment


                • Mudkat
                  Mudkat commented
                  Editing a comment
                  I've not had a problem with warping GG's with a full chimney of lit coals in the SnS.

                • jfmorris
                  jfmorris commented
                  Editing a comment
                  What Mudkat said. You have to add the coals to the SNS before you put the main grate on anyway, and then the Grillgrate section you want to sear on goes right over that. If you want to use them together, only one section will really fit. If you buy the custom Grillgrates for the SNS, its 1 section plus a narrow wedge that probably makes it a couple inches wider than what I showed above.

                #10
                Grill Grates are perfect for grilling veggies and boneless chicken breast. You get the sear or marks on both without burning either. Here's a pic:

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                Comment


                • jfmorris
                  jfmorris commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Awseome plate!/bowl there!

                #11
                I have GrillGrates on my gas grill and have gifted them to others. Love them on the gas for direct cooking as they really raise the surface temp. Also you can put wood cops in the valleys to give a little smoke. They can also be doubled - one reversed on top of another ( with wood chips in between) to give a great griddle. I like burgers that way best. But I don’t see that they have much value for 2-zone roasting. You have to separate the panels as noted above. I just took mine off when I roasted a spatchcocked turkey.

                Comment


                  #12
                  In praise of the GrillGrates -- tonight I needed a quick supper and grilled two small, thin tilapia fillets for tacos. They had lovely grill marks and the "Grate Tool" lifted the fish right off with no sticking. Love these things!

                  Comment


                  • Mudkat
                    Mudkat commented
                    Editing a comment
                    I am with you on that!

                  #13
                  FIL has a Coyote grill built into one of his two (yeah two, a HUGE one downstairs by the pool, and a smaller one on an upstairs balcony) outdoor kitchens. The thing is an absolute NIGHTMARE. Wild swings in surface temp depending on the placement (almost 100 degrees from coldest to hottest). Pretty sure this thing would have flair-ups cooking beans in a pot on it, and the grates are so far apart, a hot-dog will almost fall through. That being said, it is built like a tank, with built in lights, rotisserie and burner, and a sear plate that gets SCARY hot. He hates it, I hate it, and it never gets used. Thinking about getting him grill-grates for fathers day this year to try to rectify the situation. From what I hear, it will fix all the problems completely. Would cover the entire surface of the grill, except for the IR sear plate. My question is, will they take the place of the existing rebar sized stainless grates, or will they sit on top. Thinking it might be easier to buy a sheet of them and cut to fit rather than giving them dimensions and hoping they fir (would prefer for them to completely replace the grates). Thoughts?

                  Comment


                  • jfmorris
                    jfmorris commented
                    Editing a comment
                    It could certainly help even out and spread the heat. They can cut custom lengths, and the website will help calculate how many panels you need.

                  #14
                  If you cut them yourself, the cut ends will not be hard anodized. They will custom cut to your precise specs. On my 2 gassers, I did complete replacement, but many people just lay them on top

                  Comment


                    #15
                    Mine just sit on top of my original grates. And I second (third?) the recommendation that you let the company custom cut panels.

                    Comment

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