Need to Replace Your Grill’s Grates? Have Your Grill’s Grates Seen Better Days?
Are your grill grates getting a little tired and are now full of rust, dirty, and hard to clean? Maybe you just want to get a better cooking experience from your gas grill or pellet smoker. Does your current grill exhibit hot spots? 
Are you able to get those nice grill marks on your current grill? Are your current grill grates difficult to remove and get clean? In this review, I’ll take you through why I think you may benefit from upgrading your grill to include a set of GrillGrates™.
Why GrillGrates™?
Made from One of the Best Materials… Rusting Grates? Never Again…
GrillGrates™ are made from anodized aluminum and will not rust. These grates will outlast your grill, so they are an investment you will make one time and used on any of your future grills. Grates come in many different materials, here is a list of different grill grate materials and how I would rank them:
- Anodized aluminum – Rust proof, seasons well for non-stick surface, easy clean up, and excellent heat transfer.
- Stainless steel – Rust proof (depending on steel grade), easy to clean, no coatings to worry about, and thin bars for food to rest on.
- Porcelain Coated – Rust proof (as long as coating lasts) and easy to clean. However need to be careful cleaning not to damage the coating. Eventually the coating cracks and they begin to rust.
- Plated wire racks – These racks are plated with either chrome or nickel alloys and offer some rust proof performance for a short period of time. The good thing here is they are cheap.
- Cast Iron – While great for holding heat, they don’t perform as well when it comes to non-stick and rust proofing. The cleaning process and the intense heat of the grill prevent the seasoning of the cast iron to last.
I’ve had my GrillGrates™ for 2 years now, and there are no signs of rust on them.
Better Cooking Experience
With the GrillGrates™ made from anodized aluminum, this will improve your grill in 2 ways. First, the grates will amplify the heat coming off your grill, especially when you close the lid to your grill. Secondly, due to aluminum’s superior thermal conductivity, you will get a more even heat across your grates from your grill. My first time using my GrillGrates™ I could tell the difference in the hot spots on my gas grill. While it didn’t completely eliminate the hotter areas, it did even them out.
No Need to Have a Water Bottle Handy!
Grill flare ups while using the GrillGrates™ are nearly eliminated. The design of the grates keeps the grease from your food from dripping down into the flames or hot surfaces. What happens is the grease drops down onto the hot aluminum most of it vaporizes. Now if you are cooking something very greasy like a high fat content hamburger or bratwurst, then you could get some minimum flare ups, but even if you do get a flare up, by design your food is protected from the direct flame.
A Whole New World of Flavor Possibilities Awaits!
The GrillGrates™ give you some different flavor profiles than just your standard grill grate. First, as I mentioned earlier, when the grease or liquid drips off your food it vaporizes on the grate, this vapor rises up and gives your food more of that signature grilled food flavor. I’ve noticed a stronger “grilled” flavor to my food since cooking on these grates.
GrillGrates™ also let you add wood pellets or chips into the channels of the grates. This wood will smolder on these grates and give your food that wood grilled flavor without the need to cook directly over a wood fire.
Versatile – More Than Just a Grill Grate
Since GrillGrates™ are flat on the bottom, they can be flipped over to form a griddle for your grill. This is perfect for grilling a pizza directly or placing your pizza stone on for making the perfect grilled pizza.
If you use these over the top of your current grates like I do, then you can easily transfer the grates from one grill to another. If you are like me, then you probably have more than one outdoor cooking apparatus.
They can be ordered In difference sizes to fit your grill. The way they work is they come in 5.25″ wide sections that interlock along the seam. Then you can order them in different lengths. I think it is best not to cover your entire grill surface, but leave at least an 1.5 to 2″ gap around all sides. This lets the heat from underneath roll up and over the top of your GrillGrates™.
Perfect Sear Marks
I have to say, the ease at which you can get those perfect looking sear marks on your food with GrillGrates™ is amazing. I had always found it difficult to get grill marks on my steaks and chops with the grates that came with my gas grill. 
Once I put my GrillGrates™ on top of my grill, it was easy to get those perfect looking grill marks. I think the best thing is that you get the nice looking grill marks, but it also nicely browns the surface of your meat in between the grill ribs. So you get that nice dark brown grill mark on a lighter brown surface of your meat which not only looks great, but taste even better!
Cleaning – A Little Good and a Little Bad
The Good
- With proper seasoning, nothing really sticks to the surface, everything will scrap off easily
- Can easily be removed and washed in the sink to remove grease residue
- The GrillGrate™ Tool helps with cleanup after each use, great for removing residue between the ridges
The Bad
- Grease will sometimes pool in between the ridges (especially when cooking greasy foods)
- Using sauces or other marinades can sometimes make a little more mess in between ridges
- Not as easy to clean as traditional grates, where you just burn off the surface and scrape. Here you need to scrape and also clean the “valleys” of debris and grease.
Who Needs GrillGrates™?
Indirect Grilling – Pellet Smoker, Komodo, Big Green Egg, etc.
If you are running a grill or smoker with an indirect heat source such as a pellet smoker, or ceramic grill like a Komodo or Big Green Egg then these are great as an add on to your existing grates. Because the GrillGrate will heat up from the indirect heat, it will allow you to still get some great grill marks even when cooking over an indirect heat source.
Add-on or Replacement for Gas Grill Cooking Grates
This is how I’m currently using my GrillGrates. I bought mine as an enhancement to my current gas grill cooking grates. I have porcelain coated grates that were starting to rust and I wanted a better cooking experience with better grill marks. I was also looking to even out the cooking temperature between the front and back of my grill’s surface.
New Aspiring Outdoor Chefs
GrillGrates™ are perfect for someone just getting into grilling outdoors. Here’s why:
- NO need to replace anytime soon, will be able to move to any future grill you buy
- NO more losing food between the grates and falling into fire
- NO big flare ups to deal with
- NO issues with hot spots
- NO food sticking
- NO cleaning issues
- Perfect grill marks with little effort. Will help you look like a Grill Master even while you are learning
- Versatile can be used to create wood smoke, can be used as a griddle
100% Money Back Guarantee
GrillGrates are backed by a 30 day money back guarantee.
These grates work period. So feel comfortable giving these a try, you won’t be disappointed.
What are Others Saying?
“I was so impressed with the GrillGrates as soon as I started cooking on them. They really make cooking on the grill easy. Usually my husband does the cooking on the grill, but cooking over these, I’m able to get great food without worrying about my food falling between the grates. The GrillGrate tool that is included makes flipping the food over a snap. I’m even able to get those great looking grill marks. Very satisfied.” – Holly
(Read more reviews on GrillGrates here)
The BBQToolbox.com Final Verdict
Are GrillGrates Worth It?
Absolutely YES!!
I would give the GrillGrates a overall score of 9 out of 10. The only issue I’ve had with them is in the clean up when cooking with very greasy foods or when adding sauces or marinades. Even that is not a deal breaker, as it just takes a little extra effort after those cooks to clean them. Heck, regular grill grates are harder to clean in this same situation.
Now, GrillGrates are not cheap, they are an investment in your BBQ equipment. I looked at it as these are not something I would have to be buying in a few years, this is one of those purchases that I will be able to use for years to come. So with the easy of cooking, the versatility of the grates, and the food quality, these grates are well worth the money!
Bonus Free Shipping for Orders over $25
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Good luck, and Happy Grilling!
George
