bringing back lightly rusted cook grates

[toolhead]

Anyone ever bring lightly cook grates back to life?

I cleaned some grates lightly rusted and its clean but i see the zinc plating has worn in if some areas?

If you have pls share process...thanks

[1buckie]

Vinegar bath.......followed by a scrub of baking soda......rinse, fire up to dry off & coat in bacon grease......

[Saugust]

^ This didn't really work for me I have two grates I need to get cleaned up and need more details. @1buckie any more details? I know there's a thread but that doesn't really provide any more details.

[1buckie]

Not quite understanding......didn't work in what way?

Are you trying to bring back the coated shine of the nickel plate?

Not sure you can once it's flaked off even a little.......

Best option I know of is to begin to treat it as cast iron type thing.....but, you could try gently going over it with lite steel wool......maybe look back into the Triangle Restoration guide up front & sort of go by that?
I think that coating may be similar?

[Saugust]

It didn't work in that it didn't take the rust off. Maybe I didn't soak soak it long enough or use enough vinegar or baking soda. But after soaking for a few hours it didn't look much different, and overnight didn't change things.

[toolhead]

@Saugust

Heavy rust that you are describing can be removed with either

Barkeepers friend and steel wool or scitch brite.-moderate rust

Heavy rust buildup: sand it down...probably best with dremel..or manual with sandpaper till you hit metal.

Then once at metaln..use barkeepers friend to clean remaining light rust.

You can try naval jelly...im using it now and it works ...not sure if it will remove heavy rust.

[Saugust]

@toolhead thanks for the thoughts. Don't have a dremel, so it sounds like manual sanding for me. Might try to scrape with a razor too and see.

Part of the issue with the vinegar soak, for me, is finding a good place to do the soaking. I had to use a kitty pool!

[1buckie]

"I had to use a kitty pool!" 

You put your cats in the pool?   Grate!!!!

@toolhead   I think the stuff that's being described is that lighter type rust, just when the nickel is starting to wear thru......the Barkeeps idea would seem good for that......if they are still mostly intact, grinding away is maybe too much far of a step?

Rust? What Rust?

[addicted-to-smoke]

Yeah if you have plastic tub of some kind with sufficient width you'll have a place to soak it. I've only removed a little rust that way. Getting it all won't happen with vinegar/baking soda in my experience. Gotta scrub or sand it too.

Also in my experience, it only takes a short while for the nickel plating to disappear, and then only frequent, greased use will stop rust from appearing. Just like with cast iron.

For grates that don't get regular use however, this is a problem. After cleaning yes, you'll want to coat with oil, spray oil is easiest, but you have to then worry about oil sitting on grates that potentially goes rancid.

Wish I had an answer/regimen for all this but the best thing that *seems* to work is to just leave them gummed up with food grease, then scrape off the top layer when the coals get them hot. Just like 1buckie shows above!

[toolhead]

@1buckie

Agreed.....thanks.to reseason...basically the method of not scraping the grates till next cook .   Next cook.. burning/preheating /brushing grate to develop coat of black permagunk...lol

@Saugust ..sounds like he has more than surface rust..

If his isnt coming off with vinegar soak and scrubbing..then its probably rusted to the point of needing sanding or tossing the grate
....saugust..you mentioned no dremel..i highly recommend it...i call it the problem solver...manual sanding is tiresome..

Dremels r cheap now...but a cheaper option i bought is the black and decker rtx tool...basicallt dremel clone and uses allbthe same bit and mandrels ..its cheaper and can be bought at walmart and probably online....

Just keep an eye on the metal...you only want to sand down to shiny metal...what you may find is by the time you sand awaybrust..you may have toothpick width grate left

[AZ Monsoon]

Evaporust is pretty amazing stuff although I've only used it on motorcycle parts. Not sure how toxic it is... It's available in gallons or quarts.
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-gallon-evapo-rust-rust-remover-96433.html

[Jeep]

I just used my grinder with a wire wheel to get heavy pitted rust off my triagle...then hit it with naval jelly...seemed to work good

[Saugust]

This is all really helpful. I think both grates I have can be saved, but I'll take a closer look and see if it's worth it.

[1buckie]

This is all really helpful. I think both grates I have can be saved, but I'll take a closer look and see if it's worth it.

I have DOZENS of old ones that will get fixed eventually....I'll let you know how they come out.....


This reminds me.....the wife bought a kitty pool for the dogs......that'll never work.....

[wrehfield]

Probably frowned on here, but I use a grill brick. Works great.