Cast iron grills

BobDanger

I noticed a lot of you are using cast iron grills vs the stainless that comes with the egg.

what are the advantages...of course I’m thinking of buying one.

Thanks

Photo Egg

Pretty grill marks.

HeavyG

Probably should also ask about the disadvantages.

fishlessman

have one, dont use it anymore. too heavey, prone to cracking and breaking, leaves dirty marks on chicken and fish, rusts etc.  i like them better with gas grills because they sear better at lower heat, egg gets plenty hot for searing on a stainless grid.  some like them though

unoriginalusername

I bought the 18” steel keg raised grid accessory as for the same price as the egg CI grid I got a CI grid with a raised alloy grid which I’ve used heavily over the past few years until getting a CGS setup. 

Tom doesn’t support the egg CI grid on the Woo any longer so I had to hack saw the CI to fit my woo whixh it now works great on. 

I use it on nearly every cook 

jtcBoynton

None

Jupiter Jim

None...….. Please send me 1/2 of the cost for saving you the other half! Your Welcome.

Legume

I bought a small one for searing down low on the woo and my Akorn jr came with one.  They rust, so you need to use them to keep them greazy, otherwise you need to clean them up now and then.  They’re fine, but not needed.

Theophan

I think they're just a bad idea.  Don't waste your money.

The only advantage, as others said above, is "grill marks," but please, look at any photos on this forum or elsewhere that have pretty grill marks and then look BETWEEN the grill marks!  What you'll see is less-seared, or often, UN-seared meat.

Now look at meat that people seared on CI skillets or griddles (as opposed to CI grid), and those of us who prefer to sear at high temps on a standard grid.  You'll see dark sear across 100% of the surface!

Now go back to the ones with the "pretty" grill marks again...  See what I mean?

What matters to me is the flavor of well-seared meat, NOT pretty grill marks that tend to wind up with poorly seared meat across most of the surface.

bgebrent

@Theophan sums it up well.  The Maillard rxn cannot be dismissed but real world is save your money.  And never battle rust.

SonVolt

Leave the cast iron for making corn bread.  

Carolina Q

Save your money. I have one, never use it any more.

BobDanger

Thanks for the reply's...I'll save my  money.:)

SaintJohnsEgger

BobDanger said:

Thanks for the reply's...I'll save my  money.:)

@BobDanger sounds to me like there are several guys on here who could "gift" you one if you really want to try CI. 

How abut it guys? Anyone interested? I'm sure Bob would cover shipping.

NPHuskerFL

I've had CI grids in both my LG and MM since when I purchased each of them. I've had one crack on the large about 4 yrs ago and replacement was free (5yr warranty).  I've never had either CI grid corrode likely because they're seasoned & they mostly stay inside the egg.  I use a lot of CI and carbon skillets/pans.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with the SS grid that came with your egg.  It's merely a preference.  

NPHuskerFL

@Theophan I respectfully but, emphatically disagree

SonVolt

NPHuskerFL said:

@Theophan I respectfully but, emphatically disagree

You proved his point

Jeremiah

Put me in the cast iron camp. Love mine. 

SonVolt

What did you disagree with exactly? The pic clearly shows deep grill marks and underdeveloped crust formation between them, as Theorphan pointed out. 

...this was all in jest btw, in case that was lost on you. NPHusker's food looks wonderful. 

bucky925

Put me in the camp of "I got one and wish I had the $ for other options "   It's very heavy and will rust if you don't soak it in .....well grill stuff...

Legume

Grill mark debate, lol.  Flat surface > cast iron grill > stock SS grill.

Jeremiah

SonVolt said:

What did you disagree with exactly? The pic clearly shows deep grill marks and underdeveloped crust formation between them, as Theorphan pointed out. 

...this was all in jest btw, in case that was lost on you. NPHusker's food looks wonderful. 

Wasn’t lost on me at all. Some prefer the little grill marks, some larger, some burnt to $hit. Your call. And yes, Blake can cook. 

Theophan

Your steak looks well-seared.  Great job!

But as @SonVolt illustrated, the tuna demonstrates exactly what I'm talking about:  The grill marks look great!  They're pretty.  We all agree.

But look BETWEEN the grill marks.  What you see is gray, UN-seared meat (or in this case, tuna).



Look: I just did a Google search for "grill marks," and here are the first images that came up.  LOOK at them!  In some of them there's a pretty good sear, but in MOST OF THEM the meat between the grill marks is gray and un-seared:



Now I searched for "cast iron sear" and see the difference:



Now, I don't use CI, but just sear on the grid that came with my BGEs, but I sear for around a minute at 600°-650°, and you can usually see a bit of the grid marks, but what you mostly see is a sear across the whole surface of the meat.

bgebrent

NPHuskerFL said:

@Theophan I respectfully but, emphatically disagree

You old school bastich you!  CI pans only for me. 

Legume

Tuna?

SonVolt

If it is tuna then that isn't a bad sear job at all.  I thought it was a steak, but the exterior color is kinda throwing me off. 

Theophan

@NPHuskerFL: I agree with you that it's mostly a personal preference, and honestly, I think I'm in a small minority among grillers.  Most people just really love grill marks, and think they're important, a sign of skillfully grilled meat, and work very carefully to get their precious grill marks "just so."  

I don't care about grill marks, and I really want the flavor of the seared meat, so the more of the surface that's seared, the better I like it.  But I really do think I'm in the minority, and most people love their grill marks.  For them, CI grids are a great idea.

NPHuskerFL

@Theophan Personally I just like cast iron .The grill marks are okay I guess but, one can achieve the same using a SS grid.  Give me a skillet and fire & I'm happy.

NPHuskerFL

SonVolt said:

What did you disagree with exactly? The pic clearly shows deep grill marks and underdeveloped crust formation between them, as Theorphan pointed out. 

...this was all in jest btw, in case that was lost on you. NPHusker's food looks wonderful. 

Thanks for the compliment and I know it's in jest.  I'd still disagree on the underdeveloped crust part (not to mention that was cooked in a CI skillet direct).  Sliced pic dissecting is deceiving. I'm NOT a grill mark fanatic. A uniform crust is much more desirable for my liking.  I tend to move my proteins around to do exactly just that. Occasionally I'll do the hashtag grill marks but, rarely.

SaintJohnsEgger

I couldn't care less about sear marks. With or without searing I'm in it for the taste. But I know perfectly aligned sear marks are a badge of honor for some people. I think this fostered the idea on people that the meat is authenticity grilled over fire. 

Seared steps are good but they don't need some fancy pattern. Since I don't have a CI grate I can't compare the two. 

My wife has cut my budget drastically since I've retired so unless some one wants to donate some CI for a LBGE or a MiniMax then I will never know the difference.

Canugghead

I believe BGE discontinued the Large round CI grate, replaced by half moon ones to fit the Eggspander system.