Does anyone have any information on bringing an old cooking grate back to life? I have a stainless steel and a couple regular grates that have rust and I was hoping there might be an old thread somewhere or just some good advice. Thanks

once the finish is gone your going to be fighting rust non stop. the only thing you can do is scrub em down with steel wool to remove the rust and keep them seasoned with lard or cooking oil. do not store them outside once the rust starts. you will have to re-apply oil/lard after each use.

When they wear down...its best to buy new ones.

i take a 3in brass wire wheel in my drill to my old rusty/gunky grates. takes about ten minutes and yer good to go. makes grates last a long time. as you go make sure they are oiled, even the new ones.

If you can get most of the rust off with a drill with wire brush you could take them to a plating shop and have them electroplated with nickel or electroless nickel. They will pickel any remaining rust off the grates.
Don't know the cost of new grates in the US, refinishing may not be viable.

Burt

As the grilling season has (in the minds of retailers - grilling season is year round for us)drawn to and end, check Lowes and Home Depot to see if they might have marked down their Weber replacement grates. If you can find the hinged grates for a reasonable price, you're really in business!

If you're on a tight budget, check Academy for their store brand replacement grates. The wire stock isn't as thick and I doubt you'll consistently get the killer grill marks, but they'll work and around here they're about $5 each. At that price you could use them for a season, toss them and buy new ones for the next year if you needed to.

Pat

Best to just replace the grates when they wear out. They're readily available and not that expensive.

The thing is these are just some old grates that I have laying around. I have some good ones on my WSM. I have gotten these free and I don't want to throw them away because they may come in handy for a modification of some sort or even an extra charcoal grate. I actually thought the stainless grate would be a nice addition to my WSM if I could clean it up. I like the idea of using the 3 inch grinder so I may be trying that soon.

not grinder. a wire brush.

Sure thing George, Thanks again.