care of SS grill grates...

[Wade Lippman]

I just got a set of SS grill grates; made of steel rods.
My wife says that it is important to get them hot and then oil them.
Weber says to never oil the grate, but to oil the meat before cooking.

Odds are that Weber knows more than my wife, but I don't have to live with Weber.
Any opinions?

[Jim Koepke]

Are you any good at slight of hand to convince your wife you oiled them without oiling them?

For me it is better to argue with Weber than the wife.

jtk

[Jeremy Hamaker]

getting cooking metal hot and oiling it sounds like a seasoning technique to me, which from what I understand is what you do to iron and regular steel surfaces, not stainless...

[Bruce Page]

I've never oiled the grill, or the meat. My Webber SS grills are at least 10 years old and still in great shape.

[Eric DeSilva]

Basically, as I understand it, you want oil between your grill grate and whatever you are putting on it to prevent sticking. I heat up the grill for 10 minutes, then scrape off any ashes from the last grilling session, then oil the grill--wadded up paper towel dipped in high temp oil, then rubbed over the grilling surface. I might skip oiling it if I'm putting on something like fish that has been in a marinade with a lot of oil. But I don't think I'd ever oil a ribeye regardless of what Weber says. For those, I'll oil the grate then put them on dry--I want a crust, and that isn't going to form unless the surface is dry.

I oil mine, and they are ceramic coated steel. I don't see why SS would be different.

[Larry Frank]

I have cast iron grates and clean them off and then spray PAM on them. I have to tell you that I am not a member of the clean grill club. Like mentioned above, I brush them off and then spray them just before I put meat on the grill.

I do not think that the oil will damage the SS grate but will likely cause the oil to kind of burn on and discolor.

[Curt Fuller]

Man, I thought you were talking about a REAL SS GRILL!
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[Tom Fischer]

I never oil my Weber Genesis (with SS), but I rarely cook direct heat on the propane, use my Weber charcoal grill for that.

BTW, on the gas grill, good technique to clean the SS is to steam them.
Heat to 450, then rub the grates with a wet scotchbrite scrubber, the type with the plastic handle (may need a kitchen mitt too).
The blast of steam melts most of the old stuff off, sterilizes too.

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[Brian Tymchak]

Man, I thought you were talking about a REAL SS GRILL!

Yep, that was my first thought too. And then I was trying to make sense out of SawStop grill grates...