Porcelain Cooking Grates and Stainless Steel Grates
Datetime:2014-06-25 Hits:
Steel cooking grates have been the standard cooking surface for outdoor grills for a long time. Porcelain cooking grates are beginning to be found more often as standard equipment for BBQ grills. If your grill is a standard size, you may be able to replace the original cooking grates with higher-quality grates. The biggest factors to consider when choosing ceramic or steel grates are durability, cost, cleaning requirements and cooking effectiveness.
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Steel cooking grates are very common. Steel cooking grates have been the standard cooking surface for outdoor grills for a long time. Porcelain cooking grates are beginning to be found more often as standard equipment for BBQ grills. If your grill is a standard size, you may be able to replace the original cooking grates with higher-quality grates. The biggest factors to consider when choosing ceramic or steel grates are durability, cost, cleaning requirements and cooking effectiveness.
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Steel grates possess obvious durability. High-quality stainless steel should be rust resistant, stain resistant, and last indefinitely under normal use. Ceramic grates are rarely made entirely of ceramic material, as all-ceramic construction makes for cooking grates that are extremely fragile. Ceramic grates usually are made of a ceramic-enamel coating over steel or cast-iron grates. Even with a steel frame supporting the ceramic material, these grates can be easily chipped or cracked. Care must be taken when choosing the types of grilling utensils to use, taking into account how likely the utensils will be to damage the ceramic coating.
Cost
When replacing original cooking grates with new ones, steel grates will be less expensive. Steel grates can be easily manufactured, and the material costs are low. Ceramic grates involve additional, more expensive materials leading to a higher relative cost.
steel.com Cleaning Requirements
Stainless steel is easy to clean; virtually any type of soap or detergent can be used. Steel will not absorb any chemicals from cleaning solutions, so a quick rinse will be sufficient to remove soap residue and prevent unwanted flavor form being imparted to grilled food. Ceramic grates can be easily damaged during cleaning. The grates will crack or chip if handled roughly, and steel or copper scrubbers will scratch the ceramic coating. The Char-Broil company produces a grill brush specifically designed for cleaning porcelain grates. Porcelain should be rinsed more thoroughly than steel, since soap residue sticks more easily and can contaminate food if allowed to remain on the grates until cooking. Porcelain grates can be cleaned by exposure to extreme heat without warping, unlike steel grates, but the frame of your grill will most likely be steel and can be damaged by over-heating.
Cooking Effectiveness
This is the area where ceramic grates surpass steel grates in performance. Ceramic transfers heat more evenly than steel. Steel grates are prone to "hot spots," where the cooking surface of one part of the grate is hotter than surrounding areas. Ceramic withstands high levels of heat without warping or losing temper; temper loss will cause small chips to form in the surface of steel grates. Chips and other uneven features in a cooking surface can cause food to stick. The superior cooking performance of ceramic grates is the primary reason many cooks choose ceramic grates over steel ones.