[parscheese]

Just wondering if anyone has used a sheet of stainless steel for a BBQ plate?

You can buy proper SS BBQ plates but I was thinking of some 4 to 6 mm plate purchased from scrap metal place.

Cheers

Justin

 

[Ray!]

The thicker the BBQ plate the better, so that it retains heat and cooks longer. So you'd be better off looking at getting a piece of thick mild steel, which will be a lot cheaper and it won't rust as the oil will keep it in good nick. A half inch thick mild steel plate will let you cook for ages without the plate cooling, once it's up to temp.

Cheers

Ray

 

[Foo]

They would wont to be a lot better than SS frying pans. They have stuff stick like ****e to a blanket.:headwall:

 

[OSH]

The thicker the BBQ plate the better, so that it retains heat and cooks longer. So you'd be better off looking at getting a piece of thick mild steel, which will be a lot cheaper and it won't rust as the oil will keep it in good nick. A half inch thick mild steel plate will let you cook for ages without the plate cooling, once it's up to temp.

Cheers

Ray

x2.

and with stainless, u need like friggin acid to clean it up good, and then vinegar to stop it going chitty when ya not using it.

i surely don't miss the days of being a short order cook!
forgot what the acid is called, but definately burns ur skin.

 

[Ikbok]

I did a welding course earlier in the year and when the teacher showed us welding stainless he told us that ss bbq plates were crap because they centralise the heat too much.

 

[DeansGUIV]

**** sticking to stainless would have something to do with the stainless being a smoother surface than mild steel? Therefore more surgace area for which to stuck to, am i right?

Its the same as why aluminium seems to burn you easier, as it is alot smoother.

Is there some grade of stainless that wouldnt have such a smooth finish?

 

[Jamus]

You will need to buy food grade SS which will be a bit more exspensive

 

[ReefMagnet]

A lot of public bbq's around these parts have stainless hotplates and work ok, but I agree they are a bit "stickier"

 

[jackd]

We have Stainless Steel BBQ's at work which we hire out, personally I think they are @#$%. They have a tendency to buckle (plate that is) quite a bit. As was said earlier, you need acid to give it a proper clean. They can be a ba#$%^d to use. I would stick with steel.

 

[MikeH]

Nothing worse than trying to clean up greasy stuff with limited quantities of lukewarm water.
When camping I use a nice big scanpan non stick fry pan with the metal handle and lid.
Wipe it out with a paper towel and its done.
Bloody expensive fry pan though. But I think the time and annoyance saved is worth it to enjoy your holiday more.

 

[gqmad]

Check out the link below. Heatlie make the rolls royce of aussie made BBQs (IMHO). They have a pdf on their website about the pros and cons of stainless and mild steel. Stainless is not a very good conductor of heat which is why you see the discolouration on the plates. Ray is correct, that the thicker the plate (heatlie do both a 5 and 10mm steel plate) the better the bbq-ing.

BBQs

 

[parscheese]

Thanks guys!

Might go back to the drawing board on this one.

Cheers

Justin

 

[BeNos]

all my camping bbq plate is is a chunk of 10mm mild steel plate. cut to what ever size you want it. mine works out to be the size of 4 building bricks by 3.
when you first get it get it real hot. this will burn any little bits of rust off. along with a couple of wipes of wet paper towel. after this just wipe oil over it a few times. allow to cool to desired temp and cook to your hearts content. all i do with mine to store it is when still warmish. give it a good scrape with a egg flip or similar. then wipe clean as you can get it with paper towel. allow to cool and slide it into my car. when using next quick scrape just to get the dust off it and on goes the snags. couldnt be much easier than that.
few things ive noticed with mine and others over the years. when you are finished cooking especially over a fire. pull the plate off otherwise it cooks all the oil out of the plate and next time its all rusty again and everything sticks and you can buckle the place which also sucks.
think mine incliding cutting and them cleaning it up was about 100 big ones.

 

[andys MQ]

yer as was said stainless does not transfer heat well so it will warp easyer than other metals.
and Ali does tranfer heat really well which is why it can burn you better than steel does.
mild steel probably is the best bet if you ask me.
i have just been considering doing the same thing to my bbq and i think you just cant beat the good old mild steel