Gas grill: "to ceramic briquette or not"

[smokyYank]

Howdy all,

I have a 3 burner Weber grill that I love. I recently upgraded it by adding Grill Grates, which are great (no pun intended).

Recently I've been reading articles on how lava rocks and ceramic briquettes are the best thing since sliced bread.

Anybody have experience with either? And/or with the Grill Grates?

Thanks in advance for your wisdom!

[LA Pork Butt]

On the free side there is a review on a grill that uses ceramic briquettes. https://amazingribs.com/grill-drop-i...-grill-review/

[captainlee]

Not sure if Grill Grates will lessen the effect of the lava rocks, I kind of think they would. My understanding is that the rocks would make a flare up which the grates would prevent. Hopefully somebody here could comment.

[HawkerXP]

"Recently I've been reading articles on how lava rocks and ceramic briquettes are the best thing since sliced bread."

So was that "New Coke" back in the day.

I assume you would be replacing flavorizer bars?

From what I've heard, upside down Grill Grates give you a nice sear to your steaks.

[smokyYank]

Hi captainlee

My issue is for more heat "momentum" - the grill grates cool quickly when the cold meat hits them. Other ideas? Get a 1" thick slab of cast iron? LOL

[captainlee]

Maybe sear on some cast iron then finish on the grill grates. When I do scallops I'll sear in a cast iron pan then finish in a non stick pan.

[smokenoob]

I think there was a recent thread on rocks vs flavor bars, can’t remember title though

[GolfGeezer]

I have had several gassers with both lava rocks and ceramic briquettes. And I would not want them again. Both tend to trap grease and food in excess, leading to flares up. They are also, for me, harder to clean - only good method I found was to super heat the grill to ash what had collected. Flavor bars do just as well providing heat dispersion as well protecting burners without getting too gummed up. Just my 2 cents.

[Oak Smoke]

After a fairly deep dive into whether I wanted a charbroiler with lava rocks, ceramic briquettes, or flavor bars. The deciding factors for me were both lava and ceramic flair up and are messy. Most nice setups with flavorizer bars have a drain setup to keep the grease off the burners and carry it to a grease holder. Winner flavorizer bars.

[texastweeter]

ComfortablyNumb got some buddies you can ask that have opnion on grilling rock vs smoking it?

[ComfortablyNumb]

I believe the correct answer is one gets grilled by smoking rock.

[Johnny Booth]

I’m wit dese guys. The more crap what’s under your grill grate, the messy-er things get. Dem steel plates works best and keeps the cook more cleaner.

[smokyYank]

Thanks, all, leaving it alone!