Cast Iron grate will cook anything you need to cook. But it does 1 thing REAL GOOD that a steel rod grate can’t and that is searing a steak. Searing a steak seals the outside by use of a term I can’t remember right now but that’s what you want on your steak. The metal mass of the CI holds way more heat and it can also move the heat within the grate faster than the thin steel rods.
Think of it like this... even a room temp steak is cold compared to searing hot grate above smoking hot coals. When you lay that beautiful T-Bone on the grate some strange things happen.. the grate wants the cool from the steak and the steak wants the heat from the grate! So they start swapping heat and cold energy and if your thin rod grate is.. thin.. then the heat is quickly sucked out of the grate and pumped into the steak.
If you have heavy cast iron grates then you have way more metal and normally wider grate metal compared to thin rods. This mega mass of metal holds more heat and the steak has a harder time pulling the heat out of it.
This will give you deeper sear and wider sear marks.
If you look at the photo you can see the contact points of the cast iron Sear Grate and the effect it gives. Even tho the steak is directly over the coals the part not touching the cast iron is not seared!
The ultimate sear comes from a cast iron skillet or griddle because of the flat surface of the pan.
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