BBQ Plate?

Ah, if that were true, there are hundreds of millions of people who are suffering from it, using stainless pots and pans, cookware, BBQ grills and so on.

Someone either is pulling your leg or is off on a tangent. Stainless is used for cooking, medical, and food-processing applications all over the world.

-- Ed Huntress

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

I think the issue is that you generally don't want to use any type of metal container for cooking acidic sauces like BBQ sauce, spaghetti sauce, etc. Supposedly, the tomato sauce will react with the metal container and "color" its flavor. The recommended container is glass for these types of sauces. Not sure I've ever been able to taste the "colored" flavor, however. I guess I don't have a refined palette...

Robert

We here all know the answer, you were just asking a bunch of idiots in the past.

Stainless steel is a very good material to cook on. Some of the best cookware and the best grills use it, as well as medical devices, eating utensils, etc. SS is required for many things in the food processing and restaurants business because it can be sanitized and has not ill effects on the food it touches.

GALVANIZED steel, the zinc plated stuff should not be used. Now you can inform the know-nothings of the past with the true information.

Nope.

That's pretty much what's used in cookware. Big manufacturers have proprietary grades but they're slight variations on "18-8," which is just a generic term (18% chromium, 8% nickel) for a group of common austenitic stainless steels, such as 304.

-- Ed Huntress

Thanks guys for the info. I cooked on mild steel plate BBQ's when abroad with excellent results. However due to our crappy weather in UK the BBQ won't be used too often. If I used mild steel here, it would rust up quite quickly.

What a crock. Make it. Use it. Be happy. - GWE

Look in the kitchen of any restaurant. Lots of stainless. Deep fryer kettles are nearly all stainless. In a tour of the Baxter's Soup factory in Scotland, I saw big stainless vats cooking soups.

What's the weather got to do with anything? I recently did a batch of ribs up on the WSM in a snow storm at 5dF (-15C). Yummy.

Compared to copper and aluminum, SST is terrible at conducting heat. That's why it's never used for grill surfaces and the best cookware always has it laminated with aluminum or copper to spread the heat more evenly.

BIGEYE wrote:

I always cook chicken cacciatore in a cast-iron skillet. Works fine, doesn't contribute any off flavors as long as you get it out of there promptly. The etching effect of the sauce does make the pan appear to have lost its seasoning, but it still works like a seasoned pan.

So should I use stainless steel, mild steel or what?

Tell us about your BBQ plate. Is it a plain, flat plate? How do you use it?

Stainless does conduct heat poorly, but the only real problem that causes is uneven heat distribution when you're cooking over a concentrated flame. That may or may not be an issue. It would be for a griddle used on a camp stove (yes, I made one out of 1/8" stainless sheet around 35 years ago, and it was worse than awful) but it could be completely irrelevant for other applications.

-- Ed Huntress

Plain flat plate with wood burning fire underneath.

You're talkin' bbq, but bigeye is talkin' grillin. Grillers are more prone to be sunny-only chefs :-)

That wouldn't be my first choice as SS is a miserable conductor of heat and you will end up with hot and cold spots. Try a thick piece of aluminum, 12mm or so. It will heat evenly and will not rust.

Matthew

Well, that sounds like an invitation to hot-spots with stainless. I'd opt for plain, mild steel. It distributes heat a lot better and it's easier to cure, which makes it less likely to stick.

-- Ed Huntress

The Mrs. cooked up some lasagna in a aluminum cake pan once. I took one bite and threw the whole works away. It had a very strong metallic taste. Greg

Stainless GOOD, Galvanized BAD. Remember the mantra and all will be well grasshopper.....

Darryl, in the frozen North.