Speaking of Kettles - cast iron grates ?

[Smokin Okie]

Watching Cooking with Ry's review of the Mallory Cast Iron grates and its gotten my attention. Anyone with experience with these ? But more importantly, why cast iron over regular grates ?

 

[gmc2003]

I would say for more pronounced sear marks. That's an awful lot of added weight. I can see why he wouldn't put that in a tri-pod kettle. I store my kettles in my garage and bring them out back every time I use them. That means going up and down a couple of stairs. I could see my kettle quickly becoming a paraplegic after a couple of uses.

Chris

 

[JLeonard]

it do look heavy!

Jim

 

[Smokin Okie]

Ry says in the vid, that along with the Mallory Firewall, which looks to me to be a cast iron version of a SnS, that tipping can be a problem cuz it makes them top heavy.

Grill marks are not that important to me, in fact, when it comes to a steak I prefer and all over sear. Ry says they retain heat. Not sure I see an advantage with that.

 

[sawhorseray]

That wouldn't be for me at all! While my 26"er lives covered in a shed my 22" stays outside, uncovered all year long. The first time you forget to put the top back on after the cook maybe you wake up to a 27 pound anchor full of rust. Goes without saying I could care less about grill marks. I've had a lot more grills than kettles in the 46 years I've been cooking on them, when one wears out get another down the road at Home Depot. RAY

 

[pit 4 brains]

I'm a no vote. Clean grates do just fine for sear marks. Oil the meat and not he grates and cook on.. I would be more concerned about the higher center of gravity there. You try to move anything and you just might be tossing dinner, hot grates and burning coals to the ground.

And for the price... might as well get a chargriller with CI grates. That will give you the option of adding a side fire box to make a decent little offset cooker.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

I'm in the "no" category on this one. Spend your money on meat. The standard grates work fine.

 

[mike243]

I have had a lot of grills over the years with different grates and prefer stainless, cast will rust and enamel will chip , if you cook high heat all the time cast will last longer than cheap plated grates, good stainless just flat out work great and last.

 

[chopsaw]

I use the stock Weber grates . I have 3 that I use with my 22 . One that is hinged , but only gets used for steaks / grilling . One hinged that gets used with sauce . I tend to sauce heavy , so I dedicate a grate for that . One non hinged that I use with the rotisserie ring up high . I can cook at 2 levels .

 

[clifish]

yeah not sure I see the cost to benefit in that equasion.

 

[motocrash]

This is a Weber cast Iron grate circa 1980's -1990's, it has flip up sides and the CI is recessed so it's the same height as the flip up sides. Still working well... don't know why they stopped making them or why they haven't brought them back.

 

[pit 4 brains]

This is a Weber cast Iron grate circa 1980's -1990's, it has flip up sides and the CI is recessed so it's the same height as the flip up sides. Still working well... don't know why they stopped making them or why they haven't brought them back.

That may be something to ask Weber. If there's a demand, maybe they would resurrect it.

I for sure would buy that.

 

[Smokin Okie]

My Masterbuilt 560 Gravity Feed has a lower cast iron grate. Owned it two years and not had any rust issues. But I'm battling rust on an expanded metal grate I had built for it.

 

[babydocsmoker]

My Masterbuilt 560 Gravity Feed has a lower cast iron grate. Owned it two years and not had any rust issues. But I'm battling rust on an expanded metal grate I had built for it.

Those CI grates hold heat beautifully. That's the whole purpose of CI for searing. Not that the grill marks need to look good...unless you need that killer pic to post to the forum ;)... but when you throw that steak on the stainless grate the temp of the grate where the meat is touching it goes way down. Not on the cast iron. It might be a little thing, but it sears faster and uniformly that if the temp fluctuates.

Again, its just a little thing. But some are adamant about the little quirks that make our food and cooking style unique.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

No, for all the reasons above. However, if you really want half moon CI grates and a griddle, KAMaster has this:

https://www.amazon.com/KAMaster-Accessory-Replaces-Charcoal-Extension/dp/B081PN3QVQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[motocrash]

That may be something to ask Weber. If there's a demand, maybe they would resurrect it.

I for sure would buy that.

Yeah, outdoor cooking has definitely gone the foodie direction since back then and you'd think it would sell well. I have a no name CI rectangular griddle that is the same length, but skinnier in width that drops in place of the CI bars. So if they were to resurrect it they could make a griddle that would probably sell well also.

 

[gmc2003]

That may be something to ask Weber. If there's a demand, maybe they would resurrect it.

I for sure would buy that.

I wonder if they're available across the pond. Weber seems to have a wider selection of products over there then here.

Chris

 

[pit 4 brains]

Of course you could always put a small CI grate on top of the standard grate and achieve the same result. Just another cool thing to try on a kettle..

 

[SlowmotionQue]

I would say for more pronounced sear marks. That's an awful lot of added weight. I can see why he wouldn't put that in a tri-pod kettle. I store my kettles in my garage and bring them out back every time I use them. That means going up and down a couple of stairs. I could see my kettle quickly becoming a paraplegic after a couple of uses.

Chris

I agree. That's approximately an extra 50lbs of weight.

 

[BandCollector]

I have always been a fan of cast iron grates. I have them on my Broilmaster propane grill which has a cast aluminum body and solid base which can handle the weight of the grates, A Weber kettle. . .Well that's another story.

John