I need some seat of the pants opinions from people who know metal!
My local charitable organization needs to create some more grill space for a monthly "breakfast". They have a gas stove with a 2'x3' flat stainless grill (built in) which is used for grilling eggs, pancakes, french toast, etc. On the right side of the unit is a classic six burner setup - about 2'x3' also. The two burners in the middle are capped off so we really only have four burners in use. The middle two have all the hardware but no gas piping.
What we would like to do is to put a flat piece of metal over the burners, turn them on, and make the right side a flat grill too. However, it has to remain "convertible" since the burners are used for heating pots and such at other functions. We have an old commercial version of a removable grill which is a (roughly)
3/8" piece of steel with thicker edges. It ceased being flat about 25 years ago.So, we need to put a piece of something metal on there. We thought of steel but a 2'x3' piece 1/2" or more in thickness will be darn heavy. We can't really machine the edges like a manufactured piece so some thickness might be needed to prevent warping (although we could have a machine shop do something creative ?). We are considering aluminum, 1" thick, but we have some concerns about warping - particularly since there are no burners in the middle.
Thoughts on this ? Will the aluminum warp quickly ? Would some sort of runners machined (tapped/screwed) to the edges help stabilize it ? We need to keep the price somewhat reasonable as this is a charitable organization (low finding). Stainless steel might be nice, but the weight is a factor (it does have to be removed a couple times a month.
Opinions welcome, particularly on the warping factor, Bob