What’s the Best Material for Grill Grates?

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top 1000The Barbecue Bible
The Barbecue Bible

By Steven Raichlen

Published 1998

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For me, the best material for grill grates is cast iron, followed in order of preference by stainless steel rods (a quarter inch in diameter), stamped steel, porcelainized enamel, and finally the chrome-plated wire grates found on inexpensive charcoal grills.

So what’s the big deal about cast iron? It holds and evenly conducts the heat and produces dark, well-defined grill marks. (After all, when cowboys brand cattle, they use cast iron, not porcelainized enamel.) The only downside to cast iron is that it rusts, so you need to season it. If you have a grill with a porcelainized enamel or chrome wire grate, you can buy a cast-iron Tuscan grill grate to place on top of it.