Grill Grates - Are they up to the hype?

[warren012]

I dare say that I would never contradict a recommendation by the members of this board. However, what gives with grill grates? I tested my grill with white sandwich bread. I see lots of "spots" on the bread. Does this not mean very uneven cooking in certain spots? Tonight I flipped two of the five grates over to sear some chops.

I also see the temp at the grate far lower than what the rack supplied by Weber on my three+sear burner Genesis. What am I doing wrong given all the testimonials I see?

[Psinderson]

I think we’d need more details of what you are actually doing. Are you using Grill Grates on top of the existing grates? Are the grates directly above the flame or off to the side? Nothing perfectly distributes the heat but I’ve found a more even sear on them than stock grates.

[jfmorris]

I’ve got Grill Grates for both my gas and charcoal grills, and they are really only useful for direct grilling. That said I find them to even out the heat - especially on my gas grill. Your heat above the grill grates may be lower than with the stock grates, but the grate itself in my testing is much hotter. Have you checked it with an infrared thermometer? I would imagine your bread test would get spotting due to heat through the perforations in the grate.

i just cooked two spatchcocked chickens tonight, and did them indirect on the Weber Kettle until they hit about 150, then threw them on the Weber Genesis with grillgrates to finish up and crisp the skin, turning several times with the Grate tool. Family loved them. There were some drips and flames below the grill grates, but nothing above to burn my chicken thankfully!

I’ve scanned around with the IR thermometer and find the grill grate temperature is pretty uniform across the Weber Genesis with my replacement set of Grillgrates, with the top of the rails been hotter than the gaps between.

[LA Pork Butt]

I have them, but honestly I rarely use them. I suspect that there is a learning curve that I haven't reached yet.

[jgreen]

I have them on my gasser and they work well. A bit hotter than the original and they sure reduce flare ups.

[Willy]

GGs have changed the way I look at grilling. I have a Weber gasser and I use the GGs on the flat side almost exclusively (grate side up and low heat for Costco Hebrew National dogs--the grates nestle 'em perfectly!). I use them to reverse sear mostly, especially rib eyes coming out of SV and burgers coming from low heat. Having a flat sear surface that minimizes flare-ups is wonderful. I suppose one could just put a cast iron griddle on the barbie and accomplish the same thing, but then you've got a piece of CI that needs cleaning attention. Go GGs! Go SnS!

[Spinaker]

I like to use them on the surface of my grills to even out heat and avoid flare ups. I find that grilling on the griddle side is what I like best. It is much easier to clean the back of the grill grates than it is to scrape the grates. I don't really notice any difference in overall heat but in my kamados, generating enough heat is not a problem.

[ComfortablyNumb]

I use this to clean my GGs and it works great: https://www.amazon.com/Ringer-Origin...hainmail&psc=1

[Mr. Bones]

I guess it's personal choice, an' experience, but I ain't never been mad at mine...

[Dr ROK]

They work great for ending flare ups if you use them as designed (ridged surface up). I also use them for searing steaks and smash burgers by turning them over and using the flat side of the grates. For searing steaks I'll just put them over a chimney of coals or over my slow and sear if I'm actually using the sns to cook the steaks.

[ComfortablyNumb]

Now you've got me thinking about using them on my KBQ.

[Dr ROK]

I believe others have commented that they have used them in top of the KBQ firebox. Maybe Ernest can confirm.

[ComfortablyNumb]

I got a set of them when I got the PK360. They line up perfect with the hinge on the original grate, so I only use the one side. I never take them off, in fact they are stuck on at this point. I like the grill marks they make, and the tool is made to slide under and lift the food off, much easier than a spatula on the regular grates. I clean the top of the grates with a Ringer and don't worry about the valleys. I haven't had any flare ups, even cooking lamburger and porkburgers. I have no regrets and recommend them.

[Spinaker]

I wanna try one these Lamburgers.

[Ernest]

Dr ROK I don't have Grill grates. I don't see the point of those things

[ComfortablyNumb]

Spinaker Are they now available or are you the test guinea pig?

[Spinaker]

They are available. Just shoot Mr. Karu an email and he will get you set up. ComfortablyNumb

[EdF]

What does it bring to the table in the KBQ? Haven't paid much attention to them because they haven't really been a fit to my cookers so far.

[Steve R.]

They're great for reducing flare ups when grilling burgers. Otherwise, I could take 'em or leave 'em, quite honestly

[Polarbear777]

I have used them over charcoal and they do help reduce flare ups when you need that sort of thing (meatheads grilled corn that gets painted with butter while cooking for instance)

Best searing I’ve found is with cold grate method or no grates (skewer and suspend) at least over charcoal, so I don’t use the grillgrates all that often.

on a gas grill they may be more useful.

[fzxdoc]

I have them on my gasser and they work well. A bit hotter than the original and they sure reduce flare ups.

What jgreen said.

Also, I used to use GGs with the SnS for reverse searing everything. Now I use them on the SnS for straight searing or for reverse searing burgers. Steaks get the cold grate method with the SnS.

Kathryn

[FireMan]

I’m somewhere in the mix with fzxdoc, jgreen & Steve R. They are ok, I just question if I needed them in the first place. The flare ups on my Napolean were of a minor nature. Since I have the IR side burner, no use for reverse sear. On my kettle I don’t use them at all. I have used a small set on my wok oven which has no grate. Now that I have written what I have written, it dawns on me that I have parked mine, not worth the hassle.