Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Cast Iron Grates Seasoning Question.....

corey24
corey24 Posts: 386
edited March 2017 in EggHead Forum
What's up guys? We had our local egg fest this weekend and it went well.  I cooked up a whole ham injected with a praline honey, a couple of pork tenderloins, and Cazzy's wings.  My son entered the kids cook-off with Hawaiian Ka-bobs and won first place.  Overall it was a fun time.

For cooking we received a 15% coupon for accessories and I used mine for the BGE cast iron cooking grates.  I was wondering what I need to do (if anything) to initially season them?  Are they easy to keep up with out rusting in the southern humid conditions I live it?  For those of you that have these do you know cook everything on them and do away with the originals or still use both depending on what you cook?

XL Egg Owner Since Dec 2013 - Louisiana

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Rte1985
    Rte1985 Posts: 304
    I'm a ss grate guy but I'd treat it just like any other ci.  Cook, clean with salt and water mixture, fully dry then wipe down with oil.  Never had a single problem ever with ci pans. But maybe someone with ci grates can chime in
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Brush or spray some oil on and start cooking.I bought mine when I bought my egg. That all I used for 2-3 years. Never even put the stock grid in the egg. The trick is, never clean it. Scrape off the lumpy bits of crud, but don't go nuts trying to keep it clean. After the first few cooks and smearing some oil on, it will start to look well used.

    Every so often, you will use it to sear something and burn the seasoning off. That's when you'll see the rust that hides under the seasoning layer. Can't be helped. Just apply more oil and cook on.

    I got tired of the heavy thing and put the stock grid on. Never went back. I had always wanted one, so decided to splurge. Oh well, one of the items I bought that I could have done without. 

    I actually have three of them. The first one cracked after a couple of cooks, still usable, but they gave me a new one. It cracked too so they gave me a third one. I didn't even take it out of the plastic bag. I figured if the other two become unusable, I'll have a spare. At the rate I was going, I coulda had a dozen in a month or two.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jtcBoynton
    jtcBoynton Posts: 2,814
    I would take them out of the egg, toss them in the trash, and insert a ss cooking grid.
    Southeast Florida - LBGE
    In cooking, often we implement steps for which we have no explanations other than ‘that’s what everybody else does’ or ‘that’s what I have been told.’  Dare to think for yourself.
     
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Rte1985
    Rte1985 Posts: 304
    jtcBoynton said:
    I would take them out of the egg, toss them in the trash, and insert a ss cooking grid.
    I do really love the ss grate. I bought an extra when I got some goodies from cgs and between the two I don't think I'll ever need another grate
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    Yeah, I wish I had SS. I bought my egg when they were still using the porcelain grids. Maybe I could trade in my never used CI for a stainless grid. =)

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited March 2017
    I use the SS for hells searing, or indirect bbq cooks. Direct, raised direct, gets CI.
    Two of my personal favorite live fire influences, Rick Bayless, and Francis Mallmann, advocate for the use of CI on fire.

    Some here, quite honestly, don't have a clue, and have a hard time understanding the concepts of warping, cracking, stripping, when tossing CI directly above, practically inside, a hot fire.  

    If you put them in the sweet spot, allow for a good preheat, and season inbetween uses like a CI pan, you will have zero issues. After scraping the chunks, if there are any, follow with a simple spray of Pam as the egg is cooling, that's it.

    Letting your egg go nuclear with CI grids standard setup, and most definitely, you will have problems to address.  It took me stripping, warping,and cracking multiple CI pieces to learn this.

    Burgers are a good, fatty, cook to gets things going.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jtcBoynton
    jtcBoynton Posts: 2,814
    CI cooking grids have been fashionable, but I have never seen any advantages over SS other than cost.
    Southeast Florida - LBGE
    In cooking, often we implement steps for which we have no explanations other than ‘that’s what everybody else does’ or ‘that’s what I have been told.’  Dare to think for yourself.
     
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    Carolina Q said:
    Yeah, I wish I had SS. I bought my egg when they were still using the porcelain grids. Maybe I could trade in my never used CI for a stainless grid. =)
    You could send it to me, I'll give it a good home.  ;)
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,597
    i just cooked on mine, scrape as it heats up, maybe hit it with oil on a rag and throw food on it. it will get some dusty rust on it at times that you wont notice on steaks and burgers, use the stock grid for white foods like chicken and fish. make a raised grid with the stock grid. it sears well at lower temps than the stock grate, theres two sides, if you want wider sear marks on burgers etc, flip it over. i used to sear at 800 with the stock grid, with cast iron im more like 650/700 dome. i dont use it much since getting an adjustable rig
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    jtcBoynton said:
    CI cooking grids have been fashionable, but I have never seen any advantages over SS other than cost.
    So a CI skillet in the kitchen is fashionable? 

    My CI grids do help minimize flare ups, and store energy/heat, by absorbing the hot spots, distributing it evenly through the iron, where this shines if you prefer to cook in the BGE's sweet spot, raised direct.   

    I say this often, it seems like we always believe in a "one and only", " best" option....but one is not better than the other.  Use the right tool, for the right job. 


     
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jtcBoynton
    jtcBoynton Posts: 2,814
    Focker said:
    jtcBoynton said:
    CI cooking grids have been fashionable, but I have never seen any advantages over SS other than cost.
    So a CI skillet in the kitchen is fashionable? 

    My CI grids do help minimize flare ups, and store energy/heat, by absorbing the hot spots, distributing it evenly through the iron, where this shines if you prefer to cook in the BGE's sweet spot, raised direct.   

    I say this often, it seems like we always believe in a "one and only", " best" option....but one is not better than the other.  Use the right tool, for the right job. 


     
    No, a CI skillet is quite different from a grid. There are several functional areas where a ci skillet excels. Same for ci Dutch ovens.
    Southeast Florida - LBGE
    In cooking, often we implement steps for which we have no explanations other than ‘that’s what everybody else does’ or ‘that’s what I have been told.’  Dare to think for yourself.
     
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • corey24
    corey24 Posts: 386
    Thanks for info and opinions. Keep it coming

    XL Egg Owner Since Dec 2013 - Louisiana

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • smbishop
    smbishop Posts: 3,061
    I use CI on my Large and Small 100%  I did season my grates with Flax oil in the oven.  Other than that, they never leave the Eggs.  I just preheat, spray with water, scrape, and spray with oil before each cook.  Love them!
    Southlake, TX and Cowhouse Creek - King, TX.  2 Large, 1 Small and a lot of Eggcessories.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • GregW
    GregW Posts: 2,678
    No need to season the cast iron grid. Using it for it's purported use of searing you will burn the seasoning off each time you cook with it.

    It will be an eternal rust bucket.

    I had a CI grid and included it in the sale of a old broken egg that I sold.
    I sleep much better now knowing the CI grid is rusting away on somebody else's deck.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories