Cast iron grid

Orsi

New to BGE.  How many of you out there have switched up to the cast iron grid from the standard stainless steel grid?  Does it really improve results?  Thanks for the feed back.

Photo Egg

It adds pretty sear marks, that’s about it.

GrateEggspectations

Even though I love a good sear, cast iron grates can be a bit of a pain on the Egg. High heat strips the seasoning, charting the path for rust. My gasser features an infrared size burner for searing that had a cast iron grate. Bought an aftermarket stainless steel one almost immediately to fix this issue. If you like the crust created by cast iron, I suggest a better method is to throw a frying pan into the Egg when needed. 

cookingdude555

Early on in the egg journey I went cast iron. After the maintenance headaches, I switched back. Stainless is pretty great. 

paqman

CI grates are a PITA IMHO.  As it was said above, they get stripped easily on the egg and they inevitably end up rusting.

saluki2007

I have both the CI and SS.  I've had them for about 8 years and never had any of the issues stated above.  With that said if I had to do it all over again I probably wouldn't buy the CI.  There is no real added benefit.  If you are looking for something CI for the egg I would highly recommend the double play from Lodge.  I use this more often than the CI grid.

Amazon.com | Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Reversible Grill/Griddle, 16.75 Inch x 9.5 Inch, Black: Bowls

It's great for doing smash burgers or blackening fish among many other things.

Langner91

I wanted the cast iron grid for my Minimax so I could sear steaks, etc.  The wonderful people at the grill shop talked me into "Gill Grates" instead.  Similar money, but since they are aluminum, they don't rust.  Also, they produce fantastic steaks and wonderful sear marks!  Flip them over, and they are great for smash-burgers, etc.

No cast iron grids for me.

Botch

The CI grid is all I use, flat-side up.  I live in a high desert so I have no rust issues.  The wider bars also give better support to, say, a meatloaf.  And cleaning it off I just use a flat, wide metal scraper so no worries about stray SS brush wires.  
 
I also thought that BGE discontinued the CI grids; is that not the case?  

jtcBoynton

Stainless grids are superior.

Orsi

Thanks everyone for your input

Langner91

Botch said:

 
I also thought that BGE discontinued the CI grids; is that not the case?  

I hadn't heard that.  I see them at both BGE dealers I frequent.  They are still on the Website.

fishlessman

Langner91 said:

Botch said:

 
I also thought that BGE discontinued the CI grids; is that not the case?  

I hadn't heard that.  I see them at both BGE dealers I frequent.  They are still on the Website.

the design changed, wonder if it cracks like the older ones

4TheGrillOfIt

Complete waste of money.  Mine seemed to rust nearly instantly regardless of how much oil I used.  I even tried storing it in a zip lock.

fishlessman

never thought to season it, never even cleaned it til it was getting hot for the next cook. sears at lower temps than the stainless but still prefer the stainless grids

northGAcock

I had one for my minimax that I loved. That size is a searing machine. I do not have any for my other sizes. 

fishlessman

northGAcock said:

I had one for my minimax that I loved. That size is a searing machine. I do not have any for my other sizes. 

my small which is similar in vent size to a minimax doesnt get to the high temps of a large and i believe the castiron would be a better choice for those eggs. castiron for searing doesnt need the higher heat that the larger eggs put out

saluki2007

4TheGrillOfIt said:

Complete waste of money.  Mine seemed to rust nearly instantly regardless of how much oil I used.  I even tried storing it in a zip lock.

That’s interesting bc I’ve never oiled mine. Guess it comes down to your local climate. I would imagine anything cast iron in a zip lock bag is going to cause it to rust. 

TrippleRipple

I like the CI. I agree the Stainless is great as well. I have a PSWOO from CGS. When I am reverse searing I put the CI on the fire ring, the PSWOO on top of that with the plate setter in it. I do this because (I'm lazy and) I can just lift the PSWOO out and let the heat rise without taking it apart to put the stainless on the fire ring. I could have just bought a second stainless for the same reason, I like the grill marks the CI provides, also the flatter side is nice for smaller pieces like shrimp and veggies. 

As for the seasoning issue, I've never had it. That said, I cook on the egg between 4-7 nights per week. Maybe that's it? 

Corv

Have the cast iron grate and the wire grate for my medium BGE. The cast iron one seems best for some recipes and the wire grate best for others. When I work out a recipe that used the CI grate, I'll specify whether the flat side of the pointy side is up.