Meat Smoking for Beginners

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GrillGrates Review: Get Grill Marks and Prevent Flareups!

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If you don’t own a set of GrillGrates then the good news is that you have the perfect item to add to your wish list!  These are affordable, very handy and would be a welcome gift for any griller.

I bought a set to use on my Weber Jumbo Joe and I love them.  Let me walk you through a quick review of why I love these things.

GrillGrates for the Weber Jumbo Joe

What Are GrillGrates?

GrillGrates are interlocking anodized aluminum panels that contain ridges to hold your food and perforations in the base that allow grease to drain away.  GrillGrate panels can be used on any style of grill.

There are three benefits to using GrillGrate panels.

  • Infrared Grilling
  • Grill Marks
  • No Flare Ups

Let’s look at these benefits one at a time.

 Infrared Grilling

The GrillGrate panels absorb the convective heat from your grill and re emits it as infrared energy.  While the best infrared grills use special burners to emit infrared energy the same effect can be achieved on normal grills with these panels.

Grilling with infrared energy lets you grill hotter and faster without drying out the meat.

Crazy Grill Marks

The panels are made from aluminum which is extremely efficient at transferring heat.  When you place a steak onto a hot GrillGrate panel the meat is instantly start searing along the ridges of the panel.  The base of the GrillGrate protects your food from the direct heat of the flame.  This lets you leave your meat undisturbed long enough for the grill marks to form.

When it comes to grill marks these aluminum panels work ten times better than cast iron or stainless steel grates.

I have always used aluminum foil when grilling fish…no longer.  After I grilled these fish fillets on the GrillGrates I can’t imagine grilling fish any other way.

Weber Jumbo Joe Grilled Catfish

Prevent Flareups

If you have ever grilled on a Weber Genesis then you understand the magic of Flavorizer bars.  GrillGrates provide essentially the same benefit of Flavorizer bars but you can put them on ANY grill.

For those of you who are not familiar with Weber Flavorizer bars the basic concept is that dripping grease gets vaporized on a hot metal surface before it can come into contact with a flame.

The smoke from vaporization adds a great flavor to the meat thus the name “Flavorizer Bars”.  In addition to adding flavor you also eliminate problems related to flare-ups as dripping grease is no longer hitting the flame directly under your food.

The base of the GrillGrate is perforated which does allow excess grease (or marinade) to work its way onto the flame.  However, when that grease starts to flare the flame is blocked from your meat by the base of the GrillGrate.

I have grilled piles of burgers and steaks directly over the charcoal with GrillGrates and never had an issue with flare-ups.  Yes, you can grill lean steaks like sirloin directly over the charcoal with no problems but things change quick when you break out Choice Ribeyes.

Ribeye Steaks on GrillGrates

Grilled Ribeye Steaks

By eliminating flare-ups you get to use use more of the grill surface when grilling over direct heat. When you are working with a small grill like the Weber Jumbo Joe space utilization is at a premium.

You know that whole routine about keeping a portion of your grill as a cool zone so you can move your food in case of flare-ups? Forget about it!

If you want to see how the professionals grill ribeyes with GrillGrates then read Grilled Ribeye Steaks: How to Cook a Thousand Dollar Winner.

Makes Grilling Easier!

If you research how to grill tri-tip you are going to find a bunch of different techniques that are centered on the concept of searing the meat for some period of time combined with a period of indirect cooking.  People argue over whether to do a reverse sear or to sear first and then go indirect.

I simply lit two thirds of a chimney of Kingsford and placed them under a GrillGrate panel.  I placed a seasoned tri-tip on the GrillGrate and rotated after seven minutes, flipped at 14 minutes and took it off the Jumbo Joe at 30 minutes (142F internal).

The base of the GrillGrate protected the tri-tip from direct flames which let me cook at “Direct Medium” heat the entire cook.  EASY!  Oh, and did I mention this lets you lay down some grill marks?

 

TriTip cooked on GrillGrates

Make Grilling Fun!

I was actually excited to grill some boneless skinless chicken breasts because it gave me the chance to goof around and throw down more ridiculous grill marks.

Chicken Breast on GrillGrate Panel

You can purchase GrillGrates that will fit just about any grill, not just the Weber Jumbo Joe.

There are many configurations possible and it can be a little confusing figuring out which ones will fit your grill.

I am so excited about GrillGrates that I am going to give a set away!  All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment in the field below.  A random winner will be selected on April 30th and I will send them the same two panel configuration that I use on the Weber Jumbo Joe.

This configuration produces a grilling surface 13 inches long and 10 inches wide that should work on any Weber charcoal grill out there except for Smokey Joes.

Update 4/30/13…Thank you to everyone who dropped by and entered!  The winner is…

Russ M!

Congratulations Russ!

Update 9/26/14…I have been using the same two panels on my 22.5 inch kettle and on my Weber Genesis 1000.  I still love them and consider GrillGrates as the best upgrade to my grilling game since I switched over to Weber kettles.

Comments

  1. I’ve seen a few write ups about the grillgrates and they all say that they are fantastic, I just need for them to be available over here in the UK, I’d love a set for my new Jumbo Joe.

    Grate (see what I did there!) write up, keep up the good work 🙂

    Stewart

    • Pete, I didn’t know I needed these until after I bought them. I got these just to have something new to play with. Jackpot!

  4. I don’t own too many grilling accessories but I really want this if they are as good as you make them out to be — directly over the coals is really awesome. These would be perfect for camping!

    Give me a chance to show off some sweet grill lines on my twitter page by picking me!

  6. I had not heard of these until now. They’re intriguing. I’ll try anything to make a steak better! Really enjoying my Jumbo Joe. Thanks for the tip!

    • Scott, these are one of those products that is “silently taking the world by storm”. A secret weapon in the grilling wars! Glad to hear you are loving your Jumbo!

  7. I’ve seen these things in action a few times, and they seem to be the real deal. I can’t wait to get my hands on a set.

    • Jason, they are the real deal. There is a short learning curve that gies along with using them but once you get it figured out they are a blast. Good luck!

  8. We eat with our eyes first and grill marks are the quickest way to impress your guests. I’d love to give them a whirl!

  9. I would really like to have a set of these. Santa did not come through for me this year.

  12. These look awesome!! I can’t wait to try them out. As always, thank you for all the great reviews and info!

  16. Happy Easter! I’ve got a great recipe for rabbit…… Love to mark Thumper with the GrillGrates

  18. I have some already, so give them to someone who needs them. I just wanted to say that everything you have heard about GrillGrates is true, they are just amazing! Your post is spot on. I have used them on a cheapo 15 dollar portaple gas tabletop grill and food came out awesome! it is amazing how juicy typically dry meats like chicken and pork cook on them. I literally grill something nearly every day because of them.

    • Nick, thanks for the affirmation! I haven’t used them on a cheap gas grill but I can see exactly how they would make it better. Very glad to hear that you love yours as much as I love mine! Thanks again for dropping by!

  20. Looks like a cool accessory, and assume that they will work really well for brats and bacon wrapped stuff.

    • Big Hal, I grilled brats on them last night and they worked wonderfully. I haven’t tried bacon wrapped stuff yet but I there is no reason to think they wouldn’t be perfect for stopping bacon grease fires.

  21. Grill grates work fabulously. I used some the other day on a traeger smoker/grill and the grill marks were awesome. Would love to get my hands on a couple of these. Thanks David for the write up.

  22. Gearing up for healthy eating this spring and summer and these grill grates would be perfect! Thanks for the giveaway!

    • Mike, veggies are fun with these. I have done mushrooms and zucchini and they were beautiful. I almost grilled some eggplant just to play around but can’t quite bring myself to eat the stuff 🙂

  25. WOW. I wonder how they will work on my Weber Go-Anywhere Charcoal Grill. Of course, I do have a Weber 22.5″ One-Touch Gold that will handle it quite well.

    • HM, I think these would help your GA quite a bit. If I remember my measurements there is only about 2.75 inches between the charcoal grate and the grill grate on the GA. The GrillGrate should definitely help with direct heat issues.

  27. I’ve been salivating to try Grill Grates! All those delish pics want me to grill every night. Would love to try these one day. thanks

  29. ive been reading a lot all around bbq sites how kick ass these grill grates are.

  30. Amazing grill marks and absolutely perfect cross hatch marks on that steak. Those grates look like the winning ticket!

  31. Have read many great reviews about the grill grate. I have a Charbroil “Infrared” gasser. I knew that when I bought it that the panels would go out within a year or two. Well it is time. I really would like to do a complete replacement and am on my way to that goal.

    • Grizz, if you do swap them out with GrillGrates you will have one heck of a grilling machine on your hands!

  32. Those are awesome grill marks! I have a couple grills that could benefit from being topped with these! Thanks!

    • Brian, that’s another nice feature of GrillGrates, you can use one set on many different grills!

  33. I saw these on the GrillGrates website and I love the idea. I sure would love to win them!

  34. I have a friend that just turned me on to these! All I can say is wow! I cook pizza on my grill all the time….would love to see how these would work…especially when they are well seasoned….sign me up for the drawing please!!!

  35. Awesome grill marks and no flare ups! What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, to win a set!!!

    • Glad to hear you are liking yours so much. I hope your BIL gets the chance to up his grilling game.

  37. Fantastic grill marks and no flare up! These would really improve the appearance of any grilled item.

    Thanks for the review and chance to win a set of GrillGrates.

  42. I have not seem these before but the grill marks are awesome. Would love to own a set!

    • Dale, I hadn’t paid any attention to this product until about a month ago and now it seems like I am seeing it everywhere!

  44. I have heard about these, recently. I so glad I have found the site. I’m going to wait

    un till 4/30 maybe my Luck will change for once and win a set.

  46. Thanks for the grate review. I have been looking at these for awhile now. Hoping 4/30 will bring me a set!!!!

  47. Been wanting a set but haven’t forked over the money yet to convince myself these would be better than a full on cast iron grate. You may just have made up my mind!

    • Miles, I would throw my vote in favor of GrillGrates over cast iron. You can get great grill marks with cast iron but maintaining them is a pain. With GrillGrates you get the added benefit of minimizing flare ups. Of course you could always just get both 🙂

  48. Thanks for the opportunity, and great review! Would love to get a set of these on my grill!

  49. I’d love to try these out. They look to make excellent grill marking and work wonders in a steak comp

    • Clint, I believe several teams are bring home cash in steak comps with these. Good luck!

  51. Hey David. Thanks for the opportunity to win these. Love the review you did. These seem like a great product. Thanks !!

    • Nathan, good question. The reverse side is pretty smooth. I was thinking about using this side as a pizza stone for a thin crust pizza. Ought to work but I haven’t tried yet.

    • I hope you get the chance to make some marks with GrillGrates. It’s embarrassingly easy!

  61. Giving a shout out to a Brethren! Thanks for the post here, I have read about Grillgrates and seen some write ups but never one as thorough. Thanks for what you’re doing here too BTW! I may hit you up for some help on getting a blog going soon, I wanna try to start soon too and may need some guidance on being successful with it.

    -Cory
    Birmingham, AL

    • Cory, drop me a line whenever you are ready and I will be glad to help you get started. It’s pretty easy and affordable to get things set up…as far as being successful…man that’s tough!! You will need a better coach than me!!

  66. Would LOVE another set! These work absolutely awesome! And if you use them upside down, you get an incredible sear!

  68. Would love to have some Grill Grates! Several folks have recommended them as well as yourself, and they look like they work better than advertised. Thanks for the opportunity to win some.

  69. Just bought one of the new Jumbo Joe’s from Target, a set of these would be perfect

  73. I have read nothing but good stuff about these things. I would love to have a set of my own. Thanks for hosting the contest.

  75. The grates look pretty interesting. I have a tough time gettting good grill marks from my bbq. I usually have to cook on high which gets good marks most of the time but ends up overcooking. I’d like to try the grates, I have a feeling it will eliminate my issue.

  78. Funny thing, I saw a co worker looking at every side of his Arby’s roast beef sandwich while he was eating it. My thought was I need to buy some grill grates. That sandwich looked as interesting as notebook paper, but he was eating it with his eyes.

    Wonder how long he would have stared at that beef. lol

  86. I saw your write up on the BBQ Brethren website. VERY NICE!
    I need to get a set

  87. These grill grates look like a great way to do some cookin on the grill to get the grill marks.

  90. These are cool, especially since they leave grill marks and keep flare ups in check. Thanks for the write up.

  91. Keeping flare ups to a minimum is key to successful grilling. These grill grates are exceptional at that

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