Whether it’s charring, grilling, or smoking, cooking over a fire is a practice that dates back hundreds of thousands of years ago. Fast forward to today, and cooking over an open flame still continues to satiate this primal need. In addition to environmental factors, the biggest difference is better equipment.
Portable barbecue grills, cast aluminum gas grills, and other kinds of snazzy personal grills were simply not a thing when man first began cooking food over an open fire. Nevertheless, these things are a reality now and the kind of equipment you use has a direct and major impact on how well the food is — or isn’t — cooked. In other words, food cooked on even a simple or classic grill is probably going to taste a lot better and be safer to eat than food cooked on a stick over an open fire — just saying.
So if you’re serious about the quality of your BBQ, it’s important to become acquainted with the best kinds of grill grates Home Depot has to buy. Grill grates come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. Understanding the unique properties of these materials and how they impact the way your food is cooked can help you seriously upgrade your BBQ game, taking if from “you should probably quit” to “straight up legit”.
Here are a few examples of the best grill grates Home Depot or other hardware stores have to offer and their inherent properties:
Steel
Compared to the other high quality grill grates Home Depot sells, steel grates are usually the most affordable. However steel and stainless steel grill grates also have some cons to consider. For example, regular steel grates can lose their temper over time after regular use and develop chips. This causes the surface of the grate to become rough and uneven, allowing food to stick.
Similarly, this can also happen to stainless steel though it may take a little longer. Once chipped however, stainless steel grill grates lose much of their non-stick abilities. Keeping both regular and stainless steel grill grates clean is key, however their lifespans are still much shorter than their cast iron and porcelain counterparts.
Cast iron
The cast iron grill grates Home Depot offers aren’t for the faint of heart. They’re best left in the hands of dedicated, seasoned, and serious grillers that know their BBQ like the back of their hand. As with cast iron skillets, cast iron grill grates are durable, heavy duty and able to hold a lot of heat. This helps to cook food faster and more thoroughly while leaving behind those classic oh-so-delicious grill marks.
Another benefit to using cast iron grill grates is the ability to use metal tools, which means you can invest in high quality grilling utensils that are likely to last as long as the grill itself without causing damage to the grill plate. The only drawback to cast iron grill grates is that they require specific maintenance, such as regular cleaning and oiling to prevent rusting. Over time however, this maintenance becomes fairly routine and is no harder than maintaining a cast iron skillet.
Porcelain
Cast iron and steel grill grates are often coated with porcelain or enamel in order to make them easier to clean and maintain, however a porcelain coating comes with drawbacks of its own. Though it may seem fairly durable, porcelain coating has a habit of chipping over time, especially when the incorrect cookware is used to prepare meals.
These chips can expose the steel or iron underneath to moisture and result in rust and deterioration over time. In order to avoid this, it’s important to invest in a high quality porcelain grill grate and never use hard metal scrapers or cooking utensils for food prep or cleaning.
So what are the best grill grates Home Depot has to sell? Thought the aforementioned grill grates all have their inherent pros and cons, the answer depends ultimately depends on what you’re cooking and how you’re cooking it. Your grilling habits and level of experience will determine which kind of grill grate is best for you.
