Guide to Restore grill grates

No one likes a rusty grill grate. But whether you want to restore your old grates or replace them entirely, it’s important to know the whole process. Besides that, if you want to know how to restore grill grates, or how to season them with salt and pepper, just keep reading!

Here are some helpful tips for restoring your old grates, replacing them entirely, or seasoning them with salt and pepper. So, let’s get started.

Why do Grill Grates get dirty?

Grill grates are made from cast iron, which is a very hard material. Not only do they need to be made from super high-quality material, but their heat distribution is also critical to their function.

If you were to pick up a charcoal grill’s grate and shake it, the bottom of the grate will stay damped down. This is because the grates have a whole tonne of excess material sticking out. This extra material, along with the weight of the charcoal and coals, cork up and hold in all the smoke most won’t be able to get to as it burns.

The same goes for gas grill grates. You can see that there’s even more excess material on the bottom of a gas grill grate than there is on charcoal or propane grill grates. This has a lot to do with the heat distribution as well because they have to keep in more heat than a charcoal grill.

How to Restore Grill Grates?

If your grates are a little rusty and you’re afraid that you can’t restore them to their original state, don’t worry! You can easily learn how by following our tutorial below.

Even if you don’t care about the quality of your grates and are looking for a quick fix to make them look shiny, this process will help you get them looking like new in no time!

To restore your grill grates, all you need to do is to fill up a plastic bag with some vinegar and scrub your rusty grates with it. Let it sit on the rust for around 5-10 minutes, and then wash them clean. The vinegar isn’t just for removing the rust, but also for getting rid of any food and grease trapped in your grill.

It’s a great way to restore rusty grates, but it will also remove most of the seasoning and color from your cast iron. So if you prefer a more natural look that won’t seem artificial or chemical, we recommend cleaning them with salt and pepper instead.

Seasoning a New Grill Grate

If you’re replacing your grill grates, you’re going to want to season them. Seasoning will help prevent rust and preserve their natural beauty. You can season them before or after you install the grates. But we recommend that you do it right after the installation.

Follow our step-by-step tutorial below to learn how to season your new grill grates. We recommend using vegetable oil-based seasoning when using this technique.

The first step is to make sure your grill is well-cleaned so that the seasoning can be applied evenly. You’ll also want to get rid of any food and grease that may have been on your grates beforehand.

Now you can go ahead and apply the oil evenly across the surface of your grates using a paper towel or cloth. You’re basically making sure that every square inch of the surface of your grates has a uniform coat of oil. Once you do this, lay the paper towel or cloth over an empty pan, and let it sit for about 2 hours.

After the time is up, you can wash them clean and start seasoning them with salt and pepper. For this process to be effective, we recommend seasoning your grates just after they come out of the oven.

You can apply the salt and pepper evenly across the surface of your grates. So that every square inch of them has a uniform coat.

Cooking with Seasoned Grates

Once you’re done with all this, you may be wondering how you’re going to use your newly restored grill grates. If you want to keep your new grates looking nice, it’s best to cook the food that doesn’t stick.

Typically when you use cast iron on the BBQ grill, you’ll need to season your grates with salt and pepper. Once your grates are seasoned, this won’t be an issue anymore!

So if you really want to preserve their beauty, and help prevent future rust and corrosion from forming, you should use them for cooking. You can use them during grilling, smoking, or roasting over indirect heat.

How can you make your grill grates look new?

A lot of the time, people don’t realize that they have to clean their grill grates each time they cook. Regular cleaning is extremely important. It is because it prevents rust from forming and creates a nice layer of seasoning on your grates.

You also want to make sure you season your grates after cooking so that you can preserve their natural beauty. To make your grates look as new as possible, you need to clean them thoroughly every once in a while.

Final thoughts

Well, that’s it for now. We have discussed how to restore grill grates in this blog so you can now go ahead and restore your old rusted grates. We hope you found our guide useful and we also hope you have a nice grill ready for use.