Weber 7420 Gourmet BBQ System Sear Grate Set Reviews

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List Price: $79.99
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I have a Weber 22.5" One Touch Gold and wanted to obtain restaurant style searing. I was at odds between purchasing the Weber Sear Grate System and the Cast Iron Grates from Crayton. It finally came down to price, availability and ease of use so I ultimately ended up with the Weber Sear Grate System.

When the system arrived, I was pleasantly surprised that the non-cast iron grates were slightly heavier duty as well so I didn't feel like I paid the extra money for the cast iron grates alone. It was easy to setup you take off the original grates, replace with the new system grates, spray or wipe down with oil (I used olive oil), heat up the charcoal (I used the Weber charoal holders in the center) and cook. I waited about 10-15 minutes and placed 4 large strip steaks about 1 3/4" to 2" thick on the sear grates, flipped after approx 5 minutes and was done in about 8-9 minutes. They came out perfectly (medium to medium rare) and had absolutely beautiful sear marks (the best I ever made and I've been grilling for at least 15 years). I also cooked a large london broil and had the same results. As long as you know your cooking time will be shorter, you can't miss and you will end up with great results. When I was done, I left them on the grill to burn any fat or food particles, scraped them off, removed the CI grates to cool, lightly washed them off in the sink, dried, re-oiled and stored them in a plastic bag.

The nice thing is that you don't have to remove the lid to turn your steaks 90 degrees to get the nice sear marks so the steaks cook faster and are less likely to flare up. The other nice thing is they can be removed quickly and washed in the sink with relative ease.

Pros Excellant sear marks and searing, quicker cooking, easy to maintain, and available in most stores including Amazon.

Cons Price is a little high for grates but still about 40% cheaper than the Crayton grates.

Overall I highly recommend the upgrade to anyone that cooks a lot of steaks and wants to obtain better searing and sear marks.

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Cast iron grate is porcelain coated but that is OK, so far. I think this accessory is mainly for steaks and similar quick cook items, I can't see a benefit when roasting whole birds. Leaves a distinct grill mark with no problem. Due to the heat retention of the cast iron, I have had to reduce steak cooking times, which is fine as long as the cook is aware of it. The rest of the grate is heavy duty, and I figure that it will easily hold whatever cast iron wok I want to use. As for using a cast iron fry pan or "griddle", I don't see that this grate would be any more useful than if you put a cast iron skillet directly on a normal grate.

Update: 22.5" Weber Kettle, lid off during cooking. I attached Weber Charcoal Rails to the main charcoal grate with Type 302 safety wire. On top of rails, place a charcoal grate for the 18.5" Kettle. Use a single layer of charcoal, ashed over, with the sear grate assembly in place. This has the effect of getting the coals right up under the grate. Best method I have found for cooking the perfect steak and has little to no flare up. Thanks to Meathead at amazingribs.com for the basic idea.

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I have used this grate several times for steaks and love it. No more raising the lid and turning the steaks 90 degrees to get the good sear marks. I think the regular grate is better for burgers, chicked, and all other food. The sear grate I use for steaks only, and it does a fantastic job. Being able to leave the lid down except for turning half way through the sear and moving the steaks to the side to finish on indirect heat means much more uniform steaks. As with all Weber kettle grills, cooking on high heat requires monitoring the time cooked to sear and finish on indirect heat very closely. Don't spend too much time sitting down enjoying your beverage while using this.

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Superfluous....... But so is the olive in your Martini. Do you absolutely need it? No. Do you want it? Yes, if you want killer, neatly cross hatched, grill marks. I grilled some Fillet Mignons last weekend and found the final presentation awesome. Did the fillets tast better? Probaly not, but as with many things in life they were perceived to be better! I recommend this accessory to those who want killer grill marks.Weber 7420 Gourmet BBQ System Sear Grate Set

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Keep it short and sweet.... construction, outstanding. As others have mentioned I was struck by how much heavier this steel portion of the grates are than the stock ones that came with the Weber. I'm parking my stock one as a backup and leaving this thing in the Weber. The cast iron site ideally above the coal holder to suck up all that heat for searing power. The only way to improve these is to go all stainless on the grates but then it would be triple the price I'm sure. (assuming this is not stainless, descriptions don't expressly state).

Outstanding investment. If you're buying a 22.5" Weber, plan on an extra $50 for this addon.