OT: BBQ Plate

There are stainless steels that are food-rated, but I don't know if they are good when you get up to BBQ temperatures.

Try rec.crafts.metalworking. Lots of political noise, but also lots of people who know their stuff.

I've eaten food cooked on stainless steel for 65 years that I remember, and probably more that I don't. Many of my pots and pans are stainless, including one of my pressure cookers. I think you're riding an urban legend. What makes stainless steel stainless is its inertness. i.e., resistance to chemical attack.

Jerry

Yes but isn't the SS used for cookware surgical SS grade (whatever that is). I would probably be using 304 or 316 grade.

Actually it's food-grade, and certainly seems safe for that. It isn't inert -- chromium is quite reactive but (like aluminum) it has a very strong oxide which forms a layer over the metal. The problem is that I don't know what happens when you bring this up to BBQ temperatures as opposed to mere stove-top temperatures.

I'd do just what you are doing -- check and see. Perhaps a quick look at a home store to see if the BBQ equipment there uses stainless? Or check & see if there's any info at

"Surgical stainless", so called because it's hardenable and holds a polish well, is usually 304.

sky won't fall if you use it for a grill top, but it may warp from uneven heating if you don't weld or bolt on bracing.

Jerry

Hello,

All I heard is that stuff burns easily on stainless. Many serious cooks would not use anything but cast iron cookware.

You'd also have to worry about messy drippings into the barbeque. That is one reason why I prefer a pan if I have to prepare something that cannot go directly onto the grill.

BTW, one outdoor cooking set I used for years if not decades is stainless steel. But I remember that it wasn't easy to fry meat without it sticking to the hot surface so I never used it again for that purpose.

Regards, Joerg

Some (most? all?) grades of SS have pretty low heat conductivity and make lousy cooking surfaces unless they're pretty thin. I tried a 6mm slab of stainless years ago for barbie cooking and it was useless.

If you use 316, beware of chloride pitting, it is not impervious as everyone thinks and does succome to corrosion. So go easy on the salt ;-))

I have a nice stainless pan that I use for omlettes and scrambled eggs. It will get very hot without passing the "wave the hand over the pan" test, probably because of it's shine and therefore low emissivity keeping the IR down. As long as I'm careful to test the temperature by listening for the butter sizzling I'm fine.

I don't get that at all. Whatever heat goes in the bottom comes out the top (eventually), and the thicker the plate, the the more even the heat at the top. Stainless, cast iron, or aluminum, thicker plated are harder to have a hot spot in. In my very-thin stainless stock pot, useful only for spaghetti and the like, The outline of the burner below is clearly visible in the bubble pattern as the water starts to boil.

I don't doubt your observation. I can't explain it, either.

Jerry

Hello Tim,

Yes, with butter as "the interface" between steel and food it's fine. But when something has to be done with miniscule quantities of butter steel gets to be difficult. However, I guess it is all in what you are used to, for the same reason that I can't cook on any gas appliances or on a gas grill. It just won't come out as planned.

Except for the really thick bottom stainless steel pans we got rid of all the others. They warped over time. The old cast iron skillet that probably dates back to the gold rush is still perfectly flat.

Regards, Joerg

I have worked on many food projects and they uses lots of stainless. I think it is 304 or 316 but that's not my area of expertise I do know that they had a big corrosion problem with Salad Cream and I thikn it was 316 in one plant. Francis