Stock Plated Grates or Upgrade to Stainless - What say you?

[bamakettles]

Hello group, just completed a rescue of a '69 22" Statesman and a '73 18" Easterner both is fair shape.  Going to polish the legs, paint some new whitewalls and do a thorough cleaning.  The grates (cooking and charcoal) are rusted beyond my desire to scrub them clean and I'm looking at replacement grates.  I figure this is a chance to get some stainless grates - whether I use them on these or other Kettles in the corral and the cost difference is up there.  I can get amazon Weber parts for about $70 for all 4.  Looking at KillaGrilla which will last until my demise will be about $250.  Is it worth it?

[JEBIV]

killa grilla for cook grates!!!  absolutely love mine, wouldn't spend the money on SS charcoal grates myself

[kettlebb]

Don’t throw away the old grates. Get them hot and use the Weber brush to clean them off. Hit them with oil and season them up. I still cook on the old grates using this method and it’s all good. Stainless is fine too.


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[SixZeroFour]

Hello,

How often do you expect to cook on these grills? Will they be your main cookers?

Weber's plated grates are good quality and for most folks are a pretty solid option for the price (look around for sales)

But if you are a heavy user/serious griller then the ss might be a worthwhile upgrade as it will certainly outlast the plated especially with heavy use. Maintenance wise the ss is a lot more resialiant as well - give it a scrape and close the lid. Being solid SS you also dont have to worry about any sort of junk flaking off the grate once the coating has been compromised.

There are also cheaper stainless offerings out there. A company called Grill Care sells a fairly affordable stainless grate that is essentially a copy of the standard Weber grate but in stainless and for roughtly the same $... it wont be nearly as heavy as the KillaGrilla but might be a happy middle ground...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=grill+care+17436&_sacat=0

For what its worth I cook on a SS grate and love it

Good luck and enjoy those sweet grills!

[ClubChapin]

I use Weber and SnS stainless grates. Both are excellent.

I’m not a fan of the killa grilla cooking grates. The bars are too thick for my preference.

I do have a KG charcoal grate. It works well and has not deformed at all after a few years of use (I do wish it was shorter [sns is a tight fit between kg charcoal grate and tabs], could be done with a smaller circular rod. KG dude was not interested in entertaining this.). It has held up extremely well.

I think the charcoal grate takes a lot more abuse than any cooking grate.

[Foster Dahlet]

After years of battling different chrome plated grates, knocking off the rust, oiling them, etc., I was gifted a Killa Grilla grate and it is fantastic.  The KG makes nice sear marks on high heat if you want them and when you do run high heat, you do not have to worry about losing the plating and eventual rust setting in.  No more long running battles against rust on the grates. 

[bamakettles]

Thanks all for the responses and input.  I think of all the things I enjoy in grilling, cleaning grates has to be the one thing that I dread.  Before I really gave a @#$% about it (past 30 years) I'd just scrape the grates before and after a cook, throwing away the rack usually in the spring that was covered in rust.  I'll bet I've thrown away a dozen or more 22 racks away over the years.  Now I'm a bit more detailed and clean them down and oil them with canola after each cook which is a bit cumbersome.  I know it's not necessary to get them totally clean, but that's what I've been doing since I've gotten more serious about grilling. 

So, I may do the standard charcoal grates and spring for the stainless KG cooking grates with the larger flip up side (like a SNS but heavier).  Will post pics of the rescued reds in a sec using my phone.....

[bamakettles]

My new little buddies.... should be fun bringing them back to life!


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[wildeagle]

This is the same situation that I have often been in with vintage kettles, heavier thicker grates are great but they also heat up more & retain the heat longer. I have always been worried that this would be bad for vintage kettles. Is this stupid? I mean that's the whole reason of the smoke n sear correct? I want the cast iron grate such a side flip up on I want the cast iron grates that is a four separate pieces I do not know the names. My personal favorite that I have I got from a company called the burn shop. It is a griddle like you would get from Spitfire or others but mine is custom made and it has some words on it that are meaningful to myself so to speak. I want every awesome add-on or modification that I have ever seen but I always forget what they are called

Hello group, just completed a rescue of a '69 22" Statesman and a '73 18" Easterner both is fair shape.  Going to polish the legs, paint some new whitewalls and do a thorough cleaning.  The grates (cooking and charcoal) are rusted beyond my desire to scrub them clean and I'm looking at replacement grates.  I figure this is a chance to get some stainless grates - whether I use them on these or other Kettles in the corral and the cost difference is up there.  I can get amazon Weber parts for about $70 for all 4.  Looking at KillaGrilla which will last until my demise will be about $250.  Is it worth it?

[bamakettles]

This is the same situation that I have often been in with vintage kettles, heavier thicker grates are great but they also heat up more & retain the heat longer. I have always been worried that this would be bad for vintage kettles. Is this stupid? I mean that's the whole reason of the smoke n sear correct? I want the cast iron grate such a side flip up on I want the cast iron grates that is a four separate pieces I do not know the names. My personal favorite that I have I got from a company called the burn shop. It is a griddle like you would get from Spitfire or others but mine is custom made and it has some words on it that are meaningful to myself so to speak. I want every awesome add-on or modification that I have ever seen but I always forget what they are called

Hello group, just completed a rescue of a '69 22" Statesman and a '73 18" Easterner both is fair shape.  Going to polish the legs, paint some new whitewalls and do a thorough cleaning.  The grates (cooking and charcoal) are rusted beyond my desire to scrub them clean and I'm looking at replacement grates.  I figure this is a chance to get some stainless grates - whether I use them on these or other Kettles in the corral and the cost difference is up there.  I can get amazon Weber parts for about $70 for all 4.  Looking at KillaGrilla which will last until my demise will be about $250.  Is it worth it?

I was in touch with the burn shop last week getting a quote on a stainless custom grate..... Nice for sure, but pricey and still deciding.  I think if I got one of those it would hang on my wall and never be used lol.

[bamakettles]

Still thinking it over....


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[cookingjnj]

that looks really cool bama.

[Kneab]

I use the Easy spin SS grate from Slow n' sear on my 22's and the stock SS Grate from weber on my 26".
The Easy spin 22" has more bars that are thinner with less space between them then the killa grilla. I really like it, it has very small openings by the handles which means no lost wings. I vortex through both of them all the time. The bars are discolored but are damage free.

Search the wkc for a complete comparison of all of the options. Weight, bar diameter, number of bars and spacing of bars. It is out there somewhere.

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[captjoe06]

Put me down in the Killa Grilla camp.  One grate for a lifetime. Love it.

[HoosierKettle]

Get a 26”. They come with a stainless grate [emoji3]

My plated ones in my 22’s work fine for me. I don’t clean them beyond a quick scrape. If I had to clean them well I would probably stop grilling lol


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