Ghargrill cast iron grates

[ikinya6]

My Char-Griller has the cast iron grill plates. When I was purchasing it, I thought, how cool is that! I love using cast iron cooking ware and know how to take care of it, keeping it seasoned and all.

I seasoned them like I was used to with cast iron, and in accordance with the instructions. When I was done cooking, I coated them again with cooking oil, and let them sit in the heat to set. But after a couple of weeks of not using it, I found that they had rust on them. So I scrubbed them down, and re-seasoned them. Cooked on them, wiped them down (no soap, of course), and then coated and heated them to set the oil.

After a couple of weeks, guess what... rust again.

This time, I lightly dusted off the rust, wiped them down and oiled them really good, then went ahead and cooked. This time I didn't clean them off, just sprayed real well with oil and put it away. There is stilla little rust showing up, but where I have been cooking, there is a build up of blackened oils. I just figured I'd rather cook on that than on the rust, so I have been doing that. Every now and then, though, some of it flakes off and gets in the meat.

I was hoping I could get those grates to look like my frying pan cooking surface and avoid the rust.

Any ideas?

 

[up in smoke]

Your problem is probably condensation, which you donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have in your pot drawer in the kitchen. I had a grill with cast iron grates, and I kept them in the kitchen after I cleaned them til I had a real good buildup on them, before considered putting them back on the grill. Thats my 2¢ :roll:

 

[ikinya6]

Thanks, Carl. Seems to make sense. I'll try that.

 

[cheech]

I have used hard suet type of fat on the grates. It works fine with out the build up of grease on the sides of the grill

 

[mrgrumpy]

I have so far had no problems with mine. I keep it outside, uncovered, and oiled.

After cooking, I leave mine as is. Coated with the cooked meat fat. Before using, I heat the cooker up real hot, brush it real good with the wire brush, and spray with oil before using. That is basically all I do with my CI grates. After using my SFB, I let it cool, and just spray it with veggie oil using a spray bottle.

I know a lot of people cover their cookers. I do not. In my opinion, covering them just asked for condensation, and rust. Wherever the cover rests, whenever there is a temperature change there can be a chance of condensation. If it is not dried, it will just sit there wet, and then start to rust. When it is uncovered, it will dry.

Think of it as a wood pile. What happens when you cover a wood pile as tightly as a cooker is. It does not let out the moisture and the next thing you know, you have mold and mildew. Not enough air flow. The same with a cooker, no air flow = rust.

Bill

 

[deejaydebi]

You might try poping a few holes in the plastic cover so it can breathe and dry out.

 

[ikinya6]

Thanks for all the advice. I took them out and scraped them down real good, rinsed them off and dried them. Then I brushed them with cooking oil and put them in the oven on about 200* for about 6 hours. That seems to have done the trick! Since then, I have used it a couple of times, had some rain in between, and haven't noticed any problems.

 

[cool85k5]

So far I have not had any problems with mine.The first time I used it I just wiped them down with vegtable oil and cooked,then I rubed them down again after cooking.I just repeat this pattern everytime I grill.