Broken fire grate

WillieC422

Started up my Egg for a cook today and disaster struck.  The fire grate broke on me.

WillieC422

RRP

It may be covered by warranty if your egg isn't too old. If not consider opting for a Kick Ash Basket instead of replacing it since that cast iron will break again. Cast iron is inferior for that hot environment IMO.

Carolina Q

Got a Weber Smokey Joe? If you need to cook tonight, the charcoal grate from that will fit the Large egg. I haven't tried a cook with it, but I do know it will fit. Similar to the High-Que grate, but not stainless. My OEM grate has about had it and I plan to give the Weber a shot. Not a chance I'll spend $60 on a KAB.

WillieC422

I just switched to the weber. And had to cook my steaks on it like a commoner. 

Carolina Q

That Weber will cook a steak every bit as well as an egg. But don't tell anyone I said that!

Canugghead

Carolina Q said:

... Not a chance I'll spend $60 on a KAB.

me neither, I made this (bottom one) Cheap A$h grate out of scarp metal that I paid peanuts for   still doing well after almost two years.

Tony_T

I like that one.  You should consider selling them.
(You could also get a SS grate from http://michaelscustomgrillworks.com - $30 for a large Egg)

Eggcelsior

I have a kick ash basket for tailgating and the expanded steel one like Canugghead. Both work well, though I prefer the expanded steel since it doesn't waste charcoal like the kick ash does.

WeberWho

5 year warranty on the fire grate. Definitely grab another grate if you're within the warranty 

dougcrann

Heavy expanded metal on top of a piece of grate. The nay sayers say it won't last.....folks use theither same type of grates in Reverse Flows...and get several years out of it.. 

Austin Egghead

Someone, once pointed out they were floor drains and available at most hardware stores.  Never have checked it out but might be worth a try. 

Chubbs

Hi-Que

YukonRon

What size egg? I have 2 I do not use anymore 1 XL AND 1 MM. After my fire grate exploded, and chipped the lid, I bought KABs. Best move I have made.
yours if you want them.

BBQBuddy

@YukonRon - I haven't heard of a fire grate exploding.  How/why did that happen?  I did notice, while prepping for my brisket cook this weekend, that my grate was cracking.  Luckily, my nearby True
Value store had a replacement and at 25% off.  Disaster averted.  

WillieC422

@yukonron I have a large egg.  Thanks for the offer though.  I just bout it about 3 weeks ago so its shouldn't be a problem just getting a new one from my dealer

Jupiter Jim

All of the grates above will get the job done....... I have had the stock grates and they crack, get clogged with ash and can be moved while cleaning with an ash tool or stirring to get ash to fall below the grate for the next cook. I have had the High Q and it never gets clogged, does allow small pieces of lump to fall through and it rust even though it's made from Stainless. High Q is a much better product than stock grate. I now have Kick Ash Baskets in my 2 larges, the small and Mini Max, So now I get the great air flow, easy cleaning of ash in the left over lump from previous cooks, easy access for removing ash from inside egg and much fast cool down of the egg if I need to travel after cooking. For me Kick Ash Basket is the best product out there and I'm happy to spend the $$$$ for something that will last a lifetime and makes my egging life easier.

Griffin

BBQBuddy said:

@YukonRon - I haven't heard of a fire grate exploding.  How/why did that happen?  I did notice, while prepping for my brisket cook this weekend, that my grate was cracking.  Luckily, my nearby True
Value store had a replacement and at 25% off.  Disaster averted.  

That should still last you for a year or two. I cooked on mine for at least two years after noticing it was cracked like yours. Just put in a new one.

RRP

Austin Egghead said:

Someone, once pointed out they were floor drains and available at most hardware stores.  Never have checked it out but might be worth a try. 

That is what I retro fitted all my eggs with at one time or another. But the drain covers from hardware stores - locally at least - were seldom but one size so I bought mine at a plumbing supply store. Also the quality was far better!

BTW this floor drain revelation came via egger pioneers long before BGE switched themselves! Also Lodge trivets were popular! 

Mosca

Mine broke, I wired the pieces so they held together. Then someone here in the Pay it Forward topic sent me a fire grate. I kept the wired one, I figure if one breaks the next one probably will, too.

YukonRon

Griffin said:

BBQBuddy said:

@YukonRon - I haven't heard of a fire grate exploding.  How/why did that happen?  I did notice, while prepping for my brisket cook this weekend, that my grate was cracking.  Luckily, my nearby True
Value store had a replacement and at 25% off.  Disaster averted.  

That should still last you for a year or two. I cooked on mine for at least two years after noticing it was cracked like yours. Just put in a new one.

@BBQBuddy It was my second or third cook on my XL, I had only done low and slows previously, nothing higher than 275F dome.
i was getting it set for 400F, with the lid closed. At 325F dome, about 20-25 minutes in, it exploded into two large pieces, and a few smaller pieces, with such force it chipped the inside of my dome, after traveling through the food grate.
Inspecting the grate afterwards, it was extremely porous when it was broken open, so I suspect a pocket of some sort of vapor or gas had been trapped in several of the pockets and when heated the massive expansion exploded the grate. It was loud, it sounded like a .223 round.
I ducked, instinctively, it was that loud. I heard it hit the metal grate for food and a very loud knock on the dome, as if someone used a small hammer on the inside.
I suppose I was lucky the lid was closed when it happened. 

NonaScott

Mosca said:

Mine broke, I wired the pieces so they held together. Then someone here in the Pay it Forward topic sent me a fire grate. I kept the wired one, I figure if one breaks the next one probably will, too.

How old is your egg. If less than five years, why don't you just go to a dealer and get a new one free. It's covered under warranty.

YukonRon

Jupiter Jim said:

All of the grates above will get the job done....... I have had the stock grates and they crack, get clogged with ash and can be moved while cleaning with an ash tool or stirring to get ash to fall below the grate for the next cook. I have had the High Q and it never gets clogged, does allow small pieces of lump to fall through and it rust even though it's made from Stainless. High Q is a much better product than stock grate. I now have Kick Ash Baskets in my 2 larges, the small and Mini Max, So now I get the great air flow, easy cleaning of ash in the left over lump from previous cooks, easy access for removing ash from inside egg and much fast cool down of the egg if I need to travel after cooking. For me Kick Ash Basket is the best product out there and I'm happy to spend the $$$$ for something that will last a lifetime and makes my egging life easier.

I absolutely agree. I tell everyone, that is going to buy an Egg, to order the KAB prior to the purchase of the BGE. Those that do so never will know what a pain in the backside it is to clean. Those that wait, usually get one after the second cleaning. 
If you are considering a KAB, order it now. You will be glad you did.

@Jupiter Jim with Rockwood and 4 chunks of cherry, using only a level basket load on the XL, I got 17 hours at 225F. Ambient Temps started at 64F, 58%RH and peaked at 92F, 78%RH, finishing at 81F, 72%RH, and that was the KAB doing the airflow. I thought it was very impressive. A regular grate would have been clogged and the fire would have suffered.

dougcrann

BBQBuddy said:

@YukonRon - I haven't heard of a fire grate exploding.  How/why did that happen?  I did notice, while prepping for my brisket cook this weekend, that my grate was cracking.  Luckily, my nearby True
Value store had a replacement and at 25% off.  Disaster averted.  

Mine started with just a crack from the outer hole inward. Took several years for it to crack all the across. It now is cracked all the way to the last hole. Have only used the grate I have made a few times. I did find a stainless one that was a lot less $ than what BGE wants....

dougcrann

Not looking to start an arguement...would love to hear how a KAB gets "hotter faster" and reaches a "hotter temperature" in the XL when you have to leave the fire grate in the Egg.
Their site says...
"Fact: Your grill's stock charcoal grate limits airflow and prevents reaching high temperatures very fast."....
So let me get this straight....you put this basket, that is claimed to flow more air than the original grate, on top of the restrictive grate? This is the equivalent of having a half inch piece of hose connected to a water supply and connected a 2" hose to it,and claiming that you now have more flow....no matter what is after the half inch hose you will never get more flow than the half inch hose permits. 
Couple of questions to the folks that use this miracle basket...so you never have to remove the fire box-ring and vacuum the Egg out anymore? 
And is putting a pair of gloves on and stirring up the firebox to get rid of the ash and verify that the firebox holes are clear really that much of a big, time consuming project? If you are in that much of a hurry why not just go and pick up a $100 Charburner from Wally World?  
Hell, I will openly admit on spending money on something that really ain't necessary. I just bought a  Yeti Colster. Compared to "back in the day" when I do drink a beer or two now it is at a very slow pace....but it is still fast enough that the beer runs 0 risk of getting warm. 
No disrespect meant to anyone here, just fail to see how that basket, in my XL, is going to yield faster warm up and higher temperatures. 

YukonRon

I don't use the grate. Haven't in either of my eggs. Won't use it either. KAB only, no grate. Used the KAB only for many cooks over the last couple of years. Zero issues.

Mosca

NonaScott said:

Mosca said:

Mine broke, I wired the pieces so they held together. Then someone here in the Pay it Forward topic sent me a fire grate. I kept the wired one, I figure if one breaks the next one probably will, too.

How old is your egg. If less than five years, why don't you just go to a dealer and get a new one free. It's covered under warranty.

When it broke it was about 45 days away from the end of the warranty. My dealer is almost an hour away, in a direction I don't usually travel, and instead of a photograph of the grate he wanted me to bring it there. Since a member here offered me one, that was easier than filing a warranty claim.

(I paid it forward after that by sending a half-moon baking stone to a member in Canada, chuckytheegghead.)

NonaScott

Mosca said:

NonaScott said:

Mosca said:

Mine broke, I wired the pieces so they held together. Then someone here in the Pay it Forward topic sent me a fire grate. I kept the wired one, I figure if one breaks the next one probably will, too.

How old is your egg. If less than five years, why don't you just go to a dealer and get a new one free. It's covered under warranty.

When it broke it was about 45 days away from the end of the warranty. My dealer is almost an hour away, in a direction I don't usually travel, and instead of a photograph of the grate he wanted me to bring it there. Since a member here offered me one, that was easier than filing a warranty claim.

(I paid it forward after that by sending a half-moon baking stone to a member in Canada, chuckytheegghead.)

Ahh....makes sense. I live in a large metropolitan area with probably a dozen egg dealers within 30 minutes. Sometime I forget that it isn't that easy for some folks.

BBQBuddy

@YukonRon - You are damn lucky the dome was closed.  Was it a cast iron grate?  My egg is so old that my first 2 grates were clay.