Grill Grates (https://www.grillgrate.com/) . Some questions for owners

[starsfaninco]

Hiya folks,

When I bought my Rec Tec Bull, I opted for 3, interlocking Grill Grates that they recommend for searing. I figured what the hell. So I've tried them on the Rec Tec. Ran the pit temp up to about 475, put a couple ribeyes on, and was very dissappointed in the overall function. I wound up completing the cook on my Vermont Castings grill. Since then, I got the bright idea to move those grates over to the VC. They cover about half of the original cast iron/ceramic grates that came on the VC and I was considering just replacing the original grates with more of the Grill Grates. The original grates are starting to show their age (19 years or so?) and some of the ceramic coating is coming off in places. After doing another couple of cooks with them there, I'm not getting near the sear, nor char marks on anything that I cook on them. It was my understanding that the Grill Grates are supposed to get a lot hotter than the grates they sit on, or replace. I don't think this is the case from what I'm seeing. I don't have a temp gun to verify this though. Any others with experience with them?

 

[Ishi]

I have them and really like them but I’ve learned that the grates must get up to temp to work probably. Try to let them get good and hot before the sear.

 

[starsfaninco]

I would think the grill grates would heat up much quicker than the SS grates in the Rec Tec, and a LOT faster than the cast iron. The surface area alone is much much dense with just a few holes. I do know, it reflects a LOT of heat back into the body of the gas grill. I'm going to keep playing with them for sure.

 

[brian985]

I'm no expert in thermodynamics, but I don't see how one grate could get hotter than another with the same hear source. Sounds like a marketing gimmick to me.
A thicker, heavier grate like cast iron would maintain temps better, but even those don't somehow magically get hotter. 450 just may not be hot enough to get the kind of sear you are looking for.

 

[sweetride95]

I have the grill grates for my rec tec too. I used them 2-3 times and have had 50/50 experience with them. They've been hung up on the peg board a few months now. I wish I wouldn't have spent the money on them, but plan to keep working with them. At the end of the day, charcoal is damn hard to beat on searing a good steak.

 

[GA Tom]

I use GrillGrates with my Camp Chef WiFi 24" pellet grill all the time. ISHI is correct in that you need to get the grill up to temperature for the GrillGrates to do their job. They will add about 100 degrees to the surface temperature; as well as adding infrared energy. So, at 400 degrees on the grill thermometer the GrillGrates will be at approximately 500 degrees.
I use them to grill hamburgers, steaks, and fish. They grill great; and my wife loves the super grill marks.
Take them out when smoking ribs, pork butts and other smoker items that use lower cooking temps.

 

[tpGAsmoker]

I have the same issue with my GrillGrates. I bought GrillGrates and tried them in my GMG smoker atleast 10 times so far, every time, the GrillGrate would read the same or a little above temperature I set the smoker to. I even waited 30 minutes at 350 degree setting, and the GrillGrates only read 358 degrees... I've never seen the GrillGrates read anything above 50 degrees to what I set the smoker at.

I've tried everything (oiling the grates, not oiling the grates, leaving them in for 30 minutes before reading the temp, on top of the existing stainless steel racks, without the racks, etc..)

I'm about to give up on these GrillGrates and just use my 20 dollar charcoal grill for searing...

 

[bill1]

I think the idea with the grill grates is that with cookers that move a lot of air (namely propane and pellet grills) there is considerable pressure drop and turbulence around the small holes which heats the grate itself better than if they were just thick open bars holding up the meat with hot air rushing past them. (The grill grates have to be cut to fit your cooker dimensions, otherwise the hot air/smoke will just take the lower resistance, albeit longer, path around their ends/edges, avoiding the small holes and your meat altogether.)
Plus those resistive small holes tend to equalize the heat across the entire gg, where a normal grate is hottest in the areas on the least resistance path between burner and exhaust.
The other benefit of gg's is that they catch the dripping meat juices in their V-channels and, if above the smoke or boiling point for fats/oils (~350F and 500F), the gg's are more effective at heating the meat up close than if the juices were to fall down many inches onto a burner or diffuser plate.
So far those are convective heating benefits. Finally, gg allows you to eliminate heat shields over burners whose main purpose is to redistribute the infrared energy of the heat source. The grill grates then become the IR absorber and it's then only a short conductive path to the meat on the other side.
The downside is they're expensive. I'm waiting until you can buy a 4x8 sheet of the stuff for $20 and you cut it with tin snips to the sizes you need. :-)

 

[1MoreFord]

I have mine on a gasser so I don't know how that would compare to a PG.

I've not measured against the temp of the old PCI grates the grill came with but the GG's do run about 100-150°F higher than the good aftermarket thermometer on the grill. I can get ~700°F with natural gas and enough warm up and they provide better grill marks than the old PCI grates for me.

 

[bill1]

Anyone want to comment on the slotted spatulas that come with them? For rare burgers, they look like they could be a game-changer.

 

[rmmurray]

Anyone want to comment on the slotted spatulas that come with them? For rare burgers, they look like they could be a game-changer.

I use them on my brand x members mark 5 burner and they are awesome. The tool really helps with flipping burgers or anything I’m grilling . They are so much better than the crap grates that came with the thing. Flare ups are minimal to none even with 40 burgers on there.

 

[GA Tom]

Anyone want to comment on the slotted spatulas that come with them? For rare burgers, they look like they could be a game-changer.

 

[lacough]

Anyone want to comment on the slotted spatulas that come with them? For rare burgers, they look like they could be a game-changer.

being that i LOVE the flat side of the grill grates for burgers, I wouldnt know.....Give it a try......the FLAT side is a game changer.....All over crust on the burger.....I have only used the slotted spatula to clean the valleys on the grates when i use that side :)

 

[Bdole0139]

being that i LOVE the flat side of the grill grates for burgers, I wouldnt know.....Give it a try......the FLAT side is a game changer.....All over crust on the burger.....I have only used the slotted spatula to clean the valleys on the grates when i use that side :)

This is how I was intending to use the GrillGrates, too. Any thoughts on with our without the holes since they offer it both ways?

 

[GA Tom]

I could be mistaken, but I think that most all GrillGrates come with holes in the part (bottom)/(flat side) that fits on your existing grill; or replaces the factory grill. That is how mine are; and I can just flip them over. and use the bottom/flat side to cook burgers, etc. They work great either way.
The only ones I have seen without holes are the commercial ones.

 

[Bdole0139]

I could be mistaken, but I think that most all GrillGrates come with holes in the part (bottom)/(flat side) that fits on your existing grill; or replaces the factory grill. That is how mine are; and I can just flip them over. and use the bottom/flat side to cook burgers, etc. They work great either way.
The only ones I have seen without holes are the commercial ones.

Indeed, most of them do have holes. This may be a new release. I think I'm going with the holes to allow more ambient airflow during indirect cooking.
https://www.grillgrate.com/18-no-holes-half-moon-for-kettles-kamados-pit-barrel-cookers/