Got my first gas and coal hybrid grill, advice, tricks, do-not's and deadly sins around cast iron.

Just need someone to share this.
Had a rough start into the year but now with financials better in place, better outlook on the future, a money cushion for the future and my new job, fighting my way in court to sue the crap out of what the state and my X pulled off on me, and it is looking good. Second reason was that I do not have a gas cooker in my new home. The flat is on top of the building, so I do not need to worry a lot about smoking out or annoying the other tenants and got the OK from the owners of the place.

Bought a three flamed 10kwh BBQ with cast iron griddles, an additional cast iron two sided plate and a side cooker, where the cast iron plate fits, too, from CharBroil. Plus 800°C safety gloves because I can be scatterbrained sometimes. The reviews are good and it is just what I am looking for. Professionals maybe will chuckle now but this is a big deal for me! I bought it and yesterday I got a call from the trucking company that will drop it off. It will arrive one day earlier! Friday! YES!!! Endorphine rush

Have to assemble it myself but no big deal!!! My plan is to assemble it, it may take two hours and then burn it in during the course of Friday afternoon. I already got fresh eggs, beacon and the usual suspects for Saturday morning breakfast.

Naturally I have a lot of unsatisfied questions.

I read that it is best to crank up the heat for ten minutes to burn off the griddles after using them. The next morning, when it is cold, brush the ashes off the griddle with a soft brush to not hurt the patina.


Is this the moment where I need to oil it? I know cast iron will pick up rust if it is not treated right. I would use rapeseed oil because it does not have a lot of own flavors and a high burning point.


Can I keep the griddles inside the grill or is it better to take them off and oil them, then put them back? Or take them inside and wrap them in foil? Lots of different opinions out there. The thing will be outside all year but protected from direct rain and sun under a roofed terrace. The grill itself is stainless, just the griddles are non coated cast iron.

Happy to read your opinions, advice and tricks, I want to make the best out of what I have and I am excited to try new things. I will try smoking or low heat BBQ too but first I want to get confident around the thing. One step at a time.

My advice to you is to not worry about the petina of a BBQ. She's going to get dirty but it's like battle scars and memories of good meat eating

a reply to: Shibari

a reply to: hombero
I expected something around that because cast iron has been used for centuries and it can not be a rocket science.

But will it rust without additional oil or is the amount that I use while grilling enough? I do not want to make it complicated but also not ruin my precious treasure.

I cook on a large, 6 burner gas grill every day. [ I'm a cook at a bar and grill ]

NEVER put oil on cold cast iron. You'll just have a sticky, smoky mess when you get it hot again. Oil it while it's still very warm and don't be afraid to use a wire brush. If you don't clean it well after every use, you just get a blackened, chunky, smoky mess that will ruin your food. I clean several times a day with a wire brush and at the end of the shift I spray with Pam Sautee and Grill Spray AFTER I turn off the flame, but while it's still hot. Regular Pam smokes horribly and has a pretty nasty smell. The stuff I use doesn't smoke nearly as much and doesn't leave a nasty residue.

I can't stress enough DO NOT SPRAY WHEN THE FLAMES ARE STILL ON. Good way to lose your eyebrows, moustache and any other hair within range.

a reply to: DAVID64
So the right thing to do is:

Heat up the griddles to turn most things into ashes, brush it and while the griddle is still fairly warm, spray it with oil. Do I have to revisit the oil when I do not use the grill for a week or two?

Thank you for the reminder about not spraying the oil while the flames are on, kind of obvious but always good to be reminded, as a semi-prof scatterbrain I can be.

a reply to: Shibari

When you first get it, crank it up to about 400f to 500f and just let it go for about half an hour to burn off the factory oil. Clean and spray. After that, just whatever heat you normally cook at. Clean and spray. Try using it as often as possible till you get a good "cure" on the cast iron, after that, you should be ok to let it sit as long as it's out of the weather.

ETA : If you have grates like this my advice is the same.




If you have flat griddle like this, treat them the same as a cast iron skillet.


Tips from a Pro.

a reply to: Shibari

I strictly only use charcoal.
Its a deadly sin of mine - in a rush or not, to use propane for a BBQ,

What I always do is after im done cooking, I raise my coal rack so its about 6-7 inches away from my cast iron.
Close the lid and let it burn the sauces/food left over on the grill.
After about 20 minutes, raise the lid, give it a cleaning and lower my rack back down.

When its time to cook again, I get my coal-fired up in a chimney stack (Best way I've found)

Then take a bit of olive oil on a paper towel and wipe my grill.
Dump my coal out of the chimney when it's ready, replace my grill.
Then give the grill one more quick wipe when it's hot before placing the food on it.

Charcoal grilling is an art my friend.
But once you learn it, you will never use propane again.

That took away a lot of complicated steps that I read about caring for the griddle! The overthink is strong so it is refreshing to read it isn't that complicated from someone who does it professional.

I will post a picture when I assembled it on Friday, I feel like a child before Christmas evening and can not wait to start using it.

Luck for me I lost my winter bacon in the last months and a bit on top of it so I can sin without feeling bad at all

a reply to: Macenroe82
I used to scoff about gas, because I thought I miss the coal flavor, but I think found a good solution.

I can do both simultaneous! I can insert coals on one side and even ignite them with the gas, turn off the gas and go indirect heat or give some on top of it. Or light up additional burners.

I expect a lot of flexibility from the thing. I do not need the chimney stack anymore, that is really the best way I found, too to light up the coals. But this is all theory until I have it used

I like the slow process around charcoal but since it is also intended for replacing my beloved gas stove, I wanted something that I can fire up quick and not have to hassle with a second batch of coals.

Hope I got the good things from both worlds.

Grapeseed oil has a higher smoke point for seasoning your cast iron with than rapeseed oil. Buy a box kosher salt to wipe out and clean your cast iron with.

Good luck and Sally forth.

a reply to: Shibari

Oh for sure my friend.
You got the best of both worlds.

It can be an inconvenience having charcoal for sure.
Especially when you want that rack of ribs now! lol
It used to take me a long time to get that B fired up.
But that chimney stacks saves a lot of time.

It takes me about 30 minutes now to get the grill ready for the meat - unless im using smoke chips, then the soak takes up some time as well.

a reply to: TheAlleghenyGentleman
Thank you, kosher salt is also something I will need for brine, but one step at a time

a reply to: Macenroe82

I will see if I got the best, it is, I think, always definition and what one needs and likes. They say 10 minutes on low gas and the coals are ready. I am unsure how I would regulate air to the coals because it is also a gas grill but I will figure that out in the process of learning. It could be a big fail or great success, I will report back on this.

It will come with a smoking box with apple, hickory, cherry and a forth one I forgot, each bag a pound. There is one fun challenge I set myself, as soon as I get confident. I want to prepare a pizza completely on the grill and at best time it up perfectly. Use it for dough resting, making the sauce and baking it on a stone.

Whenever I grilled I had to use the oven for baking the buns or baguette and that annoyed me a bit. Wasting a lot of energy and running between the kitchen and the garden. Now I have a outdoor kitchen soon

a reply to: DAVID64
Sorry for the third post in a row, I just now noticed your addition! The griddles, I have ones like these but I think they are triangle shaped rods with a flat tip.

Got a skillet like on your picture. It is flat on one side and rippled on the other one. It fits into one of the three segmented griddle inserts and is about 1,5 foot long and a bit less than a foot wide. It also fits on the side burner and has a little notch so the fat collects there, away from the flame

I will look into the video, I really appreciate your and the other members input

Buy a weber charcoal starter. They are like 15 bucks. Easiest and most assured way of getting your coals ready each and every time.

Now, just rip out all that gas # and you are truly good to go

a reply to: TheAlleghenyGentleman

I had one of these chimneys, not from Weber though. They are awesome good and convenient but I got rid of the grill, it was old, rusted through, too. I saw a similar for a few Euros at the hobby shack a while a go. Not a big loss. With that the chimney flew out since it was also old and the handle was not to be trusted. I tried welding it last summer and just made it worse.

But these chimneys are awesome for lighting up the coal, if one is not enough just use two or make your own with a chimney pipe, a holesaw and weld a cross onto the bottom. I will miss the workshop though, now that I realize I could not even do that now anymore.

a reply to: Shibari

Ok, I’ll bite. What happened to the work shop?

a reply to: TheAlleghenyGentleman
Had to sell it together with my part of the house I owned, but I still have the tools. I thought I had this info in the first post but seems I went back and deleted it.

Just miss the opportunity to do such mundane things like take a chimney pipe, cut a strip, cut that strip in half, flatten, weld to bottom and hole-saw the hell out of the pipe with a 1" hole saw. Doing things with my hands and be creative I mean.

But now I have a new hobby

Here's a much easier way to deal with your grates. Some here might take issue with this method, but it's worked for me for nearly 50 years of grilling, BBQ'ing and smoking all manner of fare. And, not to boast, but I would consider myself a master at the grill (and many others would agree).

Get yourself a decent brass bristled BBQ/Grill brush (NOT steel mind you). When the grill and/or the brush is new, you'll need to oil the brush with olive oil or grapeseed oil a few times before use, but after that you won't have to do a thing.

Light your grill (charcoal or gas) and get your grates in place. Scrub down your grill with the brush initially, and then again right before you cook. Cook your food. When you remove your food, give the grill a once over with the brush again and shut it down. That's it! That's all you have to do. Forever. It's really this simple.

So here's why this works. After the first couple times the brush will begin to get coated with debris from the grill. This is a good thing. You don't have to clean it. And, you don't have to oil it every time anymore. When you start your grill some might think there could be bacteria on the brush, and there may be, but it doesn't matter. Once your grill gets hot it will kill any and all bacteria. Once hot, when you brush your grill again before cooking, you're preparing the surface to cook (and oiling it). The grill is so hot by this point no bad ju-ju can survive. After your done cooking, the final brush down just removes the big stuff from the grates and also re-oils your brush for next time.

Repeat each time. Easy-peasy!

No complicated processes, no formulas; just brush and go.

a reply to: DAVID64
Got to watch the video. Learned a lot, the apartment question resolved all other questions I had about storing.