Stainless High Heat Charcoal Fire Grate Upgrade for Large Big Green Review

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This product is absolutely perfect for the Big Green Egg. Love the BGE but the company needs to ditch the ash grate they are using now and use this one instead. It allows the BGE to hit and stabilize faster at high temps. But much more important to me..........it's make low and slow smoking a thousand percent easier. Before getting the High Que grate and during 12 to 28 hour cooks (Brisket and Pork Butts) I would have to get up a couple times during the night and use a wiggle rod to keep the temp stable at 250 dome, now I sleep like a rock all night and the temp holds steady. Oh, that is so nice. I have two friends that recently purchased BGE and I told them to order the High Que as soon as they decided to get the Egg. If I ever get another Egg there will a High Que grate waiting for the Egg to get my house. Yes, I believe it's that important. The grate arrived two days after placing the order. Wondeful service. You will use a bit more lump because the ash openings in this grate are bigger, the diameter of nickel (give or take) can fall through to the fire box. Whatever, when I cooking a $40.00 dollar brisket or 30 pounds of pork butt, I personally don't care if I use a "extra" half pound of lump. Just Saying! If you have BGE this a must have for those long and slow cooks! Happy Smoking!!

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This grate has made my BGE life so much easier it's incredible. Everything they say about it is correct. Newspaper lighting really works, ash falls easily, and air flow is greatly improved (this is the big one for me). Yesterday, I lit some paper under the grate, then a couple of minutes later tried to light it from the top with a starter. The up-draft kept blowing out the starter! Over 400 in 10-15 minutes. Every egg should have one.

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I have used this grate 3 times now and have to say that it is indeed an instant upgrade. As others have said, I think the BGE company should make this standard issue. With the cast iron OE grate, I usually had a bit of trouble adjusting the temps... probably just me. With this grate in place, I have a fire ready for cooking in about 15 minutes and can maintain accurate temperatures quite easily. I am in the middle of a brisket cook right now...I started the Egg with my new electric BGE charcoal starter, let it heat up to 225 degrees (which only took another 8 or 9 minutes) then put the meat on. I adjusted the daisy wheel so just the "petals" were open and closed the bottom vent to about 1/2 inch open. The temperature settled to 225 in about 1/2 hour as the meat warmed up and remained exactly there for the next three hours. I have put the meat into a foil pan for the remaining time. The temp is still rock steady at 225. Others have commented at the relatively high cost of this upgrade, but I think it is definitely worth every penny. It is very solidly made and truly a quality item made in the USA. You get what you pay for, and this grate should last a very long time.

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This product is well built with heavy duty bars. I have had it for 2 months now and I suspect it will outlast the original fire plate it replaced.

Now the good and the bad:

Pro:

1. Lighting the grill is extremely easy now. I use a parafin lighter block, drop it below the fire grate and I am up to cooking temps in 15 mins.

2. Clogging of airflow is now a non issue.

3. Much easier to get up to high heat for searing steak, pizza. Easily reach 700 in 20-25 mins.

4. I use a bbq guru (PID device) for my low and slow cooks and with this fire grate there are zero air flow problems and temperature is spot on.

Cons:

1. The fire will quickly stoke up with lid open and can run away from you if not paying attention

2. Increased fuel use. More fuel will fall through grate and there is increased ash production.

3. I beleive without a bbq guru (PID device) it would be challenging to hold the low temperatures where you want as it seems even with the vents cracked temp creeps up. But, as said I haven't personally been using it for this.

Overall, I think this is a great product. Just be aware (as the product actually says) you will have to grow accustume to the new temperature profile. Personnally, a little extra fuel use is a no problem for the ease of lighting, speed to cooking, ease to get to high heat steak temp, and ease for bbq guru.

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The cross bars are spaced too far apart from each other, so pieces of lump fall thru to below. I bought two grates, placed them 90* from each other, and bolted together with 2 carriage bolts/nuts/washers, so I had square spaces to below and 2 handles sticking up to give a shake to clear the ash. Works great with the 2-grate setup, but expensive. Should last a long time, but shouldn't be a problem to begin with if the cross bars were closer. Way better than the factory grate from BGE (awful).