Cast Iron Cooking Grate

Unknown

How does the cast iron cooking grate compare to the porcelain? Benefits or drawbacks of either?[p]TIA

haywyre

Eggo,
you cant beat it. Just take care of it like you would any good cast iron. I seasoned mine when I got it. But a Trex Sear will blast out the season.Just remember to put a thin coat of Crisco on the grid when your finishing up as the grid is still warm. The only Con I can find is I need to look up Lawnranger to build a nice lifter for the grid. I have to use the Lawnranger tool and the egg lifter to move the grid.
LawnRanger: Would there be a way you could mage some kind of scissor type lifter? one that would clamp when lifting force is applied?

egghead2004

Eggo,
Along with what haywyre said, you can get this thing super super hot without damaging it. The porcelain one can chip and the coating can melt off.

Citizen Q

Eggo,
I got the cast iron last summer, it rules. I don't use it for low and slows because the heft makes it a bit cumbersome if I should have to empty the egg quick in the event of an emergency restart, plus I think it would be real tough to clean 20 hours worth of baked on butt drippings. It does steaks and chops to perfection though, and its easy enough to keep clean with little effort, I keep a basting mop soaked in olive oil handy that does the trick. My original porcelain grid is over 7 years old and still in decent shape, the cast is just one of those toys that you gotta have.[p]Cheers,
C~Q