GrillGrates - maybe not a fail after all

Theophan

I've been frustrated by burgers on my Eggs all these years.  In some ways they're great, but usually there's enough burnt fat smoke on them that it makes them less wonderful than anything else I cook on the Egg.  I finally decided I'd try GrillGrates, hoping that they'd trap some of the fat and cut back on that "bad smoke" flavor.

At first, I was disappointed because it looked like there was still a lot of smoke when the burgers went on:



But when I got them inside and tasted them, they actually tasted pretty darn good, and I really do think there was less of that burnt fat smoke taste, so maybe they're helping after all.  More cooks will tell.  Here are the burgers (ground chuck with a little DP Raising the Steaks on them):





And, just for comparison, here are some burgers I made a few months ago without the GrillGrates.  



On one hand, the GrillGrates make pretty grill marks, but I've never cared about grill marks, really, and I think without the GrillGrates there was a darker char across the entire face of the burger.  So maybe the GrillGrates darken the grill marks but at the cost of lightening the part between the grill marks.  Dunno.  Anyway, so far, so good, I think.  I'll definitely try them again.

HeavyG

Many folks cook burgers with the flat side of the GrillGrates facing up. You'll get more crust that way.

bgebrent

Looks good to me.  However, my Blackstone is my burger cooker.

Hokiejacket

I've been real happy with mine.

Gandolf

I always do burgers on raised grid. Always great. 

Photo Egg

"usually there's enough burnt fat smoke on them that it makes them less wonderful than anything else I cook on the Egg"...

I so agree with you. Even as other point out, raised direct, I still get the smokey grease flavor over powering the burger. Honestly, same issue with a fatty ribeye. That's why so many people use the Grillgrates in competition.

Focker

Photo Egg said:

"usually there's enough burnt fat smoke on them that it makes them less wonderful than anything else I cook on the Egg"...

I so agree with you. Even as other point out, raised direct, I still get the smokey grease flavor over powering the burger. Honestly, same issue with a fatty ribeye. That's why so many people use the Grillgrates in competition.

An SCA Comp would be a fun time.
 https://youtu.be/OwNSAr7lJow

Theophan

HeavyG said:

Many folks cook burgers with the flat side of the GrillGrates facing up. You'll get more crust that way.

Thanks!  I'll give that a try.

bgebrent said:

Looks good to me.  However, my Blackstone is my burger cooker.

We all have different tastes.  I like a good smash burger, but my own favorite burgers are charcoal grilled.  Unfortunately, my REALLY favorite burgers are thick, juicy, medium-rare, VERY pink on the inside practically charred on the outside over charcoal, but I'm scared to eat pink burgers, these days.  I've read a lot about how to do that safely, and I think one of these days I'm going to try a method I've read about, "blanching" the outside of big chunks of meat briefly in boiling water to kill any bad bacteria, then grinding them myself and cooking them as rare as I want to.  Just haven't gotten around to it, yet.

Photo Egg said:

... I so agree with you. Even as other point out, raised direct, I still get the smokey grease flavor over powering the burger. Honestly, same issue with a fatty ribeye. That's why so many people use the Grillgrates in competition.

That's interesting!  I had thought it was mostly for the sharp grill marks, but I know nothing about competitions, and this was my first try with GrillGrates.

Thanks, everybody, for the helpful comments!

Photo Egg

Focker said:

Photo Egg said:

"usually there's enough burnt fat smoke on them that it makes them less wonderful than anything else I cook on the Egg"...

I so agree with you. Even as other point out, raised direct, I still get the smokey grease flavor over powering the burger. Honestly, same issue with a fatty ribeye. That's why so many people use the Grillgrates in competition.

An SCA Comp would be a fun time.
 https://youtu.be/OwNSAr7lJow

Great video. Solid looking steak.

Theophan

So far I'm happy with my first try of burgers on my GrillGrates, but the more I think about the grill marks, the more I think I disagree with most people here about this.  

When I look at my burger picture at the beginning of this thread, they're really pretty because of the grill marks, but the part of the burger between the grill marks is less charred!  Here's a steak I grilled a while back compared to the steak in the video above:



Here's the one from the video:


Now, it's not exactly a fair comparison because the picture from the video isn't as sharp and clear as the one from my phone, but I think you can see that most of the steak in the video is pretty light, UN-charred, even though the steak was cooked medium, whereas mine was more evenly and darkly seared across the whole steak even though it was cooked medium-rare.

I think grill marks look sorta cool, but I think there's a better overall sear on a regular grate at a very high temperature.  (I probably seared my steak above for a minute only per side at 600° or maybe even 650°.)  Here's a picture of the whole steak:



You can see some faint "grill marks" from my regular, non-CI, non-GrillGrates grid, but the whole surface of the steak is seared, unlike the steak cooked on the GrillGrates in the video.

I think I may reserve these GrillGrates for burgers.  Dunno.  I'll probably experiment a bit.

Photo Egg

Theophan said:

So far I'm happy with my first try of burgers on my GrillGrates, but the more I think about the grill marks, the more I think I disagree with most people here about this.  

When I look at my burger picture at the beginning of this thread, they're really pretty because of the grill marks, but the part of the burger between the grill marks is less charred!  Here's a steak I grilled a while back compared to the steak in the video above:



Here's the one from the video:


Now, it's not exactly a fair comparison because the picture from the video isn't as sharp and clear as the one from my phone, but I think you can see that most of the steak in the video is pretty light, UN-charred, even though the steak was cooked medium, whereas mine was more evenly and darkly seared across the whole steak even though it was cooked medium-rare.

I think grill marks look sorta cool, but I think there's a better overall sear on a regular grate at a very high temperature.  (I probably seared my steak above for a minute only per side at 600° or maybe even 650°.)  Here's a picture of the whole steak:



You can see some faint "grill marks" from my regular, non-CI, non-GrillGrates grid, but the whole surface of the steak is seared, unlike the steak cooked on the GrillGrates in the video.

I think I may reserve these GrillGrates for burgers.  Dunno.  I'll probably experiment a bit.

The butter bath done in the video might add flavor but killed any chance of continuing the color and char after the flip.
Your steak on the other hand looks picture perfect!

Focker

Like bbq, you are trying to impress with one bite.  Rub, butter all play into that.
Wall to wall medium pink on Malcolm's, a tick overdone to my personal liking, but possibly a hit on score...no gray banding overdone to medium rare on the cross section.  Your steak looks great btw.

Keeping it from the brunt of the heat, may be a factor.

Judy Mayberry

I'm trying to remember...don't GrillGrates have a flat side on the back? I could be wrong. The flat CI char is fantastic, so if GG IS flat, that would give an even char too.

I often finish steaks by lifting off the grid with tongs and putting it down on the concrete patio floor, then charring the steaks caveman style right on the coals for a very short time. It's the best.

YEMTrey

Yes, they are flat on the bottom.  I've seen some posts with folks doing smash burgers on the flat side of their GG's but I've yet to try that.

MikeInTO

YEMTrey said:

Yes, they are flat on the bottom.  I've seen some posts with folks doing smash burgers on the flat side of their GG's but I've yet to try that.

Have been a huge smashburger fan but have been doing them crowded on a CI skillet. Didn't even consider the flat side of the GG's. Will try this tonight!

MikeInTO

Wow, smashburgers were phenomenal on the flat side of the grill grates. Ran it at 450 or so with 80-20 fresh chuck and didn't get a single flare up. Maybe it was partly due to the bottom vent that I closed before putting the burgers on. 

This arrangement will do just fine until I get a Blackstone.