Care of a cast iron grate

Papzi

I received a cast iron grate for my LBGE.

Does it need to be "seasoned"?

Does it need any special care?

Any advice would be appreciated.

pgprescott

Don't need to season, but never hurts to coat with oil if you want and repeat periodically. Just try to keep it dry. If it gets some rust, I just put it in the hot egg for a while and put some oil on it.

Greeno55

+1 @pgprescott - I do exactly that.  I've even forgot it in the rain one weekend, it started to rust, high heat, and some grape seed oil.  Back to new.

It also doesn't hurt to throw it on the egg at 350 to heat up and give a few good wipes with oil to season it before first use.

Handcyclist

Have cast iron grates on the Mini, Md., and Large--love them as they are so much easier to clean than the stainless steel.  Get a good brush and use it to clean the grate after cooking while the grate is hot--food comes right off, even in the difficult places to clean.  Leave it in the egg until the next cook.  Wipe it down with flax seed oil prior to the cook and it's ready to go. The wipe down removes any burnt reside.  I find that PAM leaves a "gunky" sticky residue that I don't like, so that's why flax seed oil or even plain old vegetable oil is a better choice.  The key is to keep brushing the old food off and allowing the heat of the grill as it cools down to finish the job.