Oh yeah, when you use GrillGrates on your pellet cookers, have you ever tried covering the entire grilling surface with them? If that were to work without screwing with the temp probe reading/airflow....that would be an awesome setup for grilling. I used to have a Weber Genesis setup like that. LOVED IT!!!!Please allow me to inject my experience in this....and try to save you a lot of frustration, and potentially...danger: I thought it was a good idea to cover the entire grilling surface with Grill Grates. I tried it in my MAK 2 Star. It works. It works so well that you can really get decent grill marks with a controller temp. setting @ 350F .... Impressive!
HOWEVER.....you do NOT want to do this. Because the while the MAK has a fantastic controller and can minimize any negative effects - the heat build up in the belly of the grill can lead to some issues. I warped the metal on mine doing this. On the MAK...not too bad and - when I re-finished it, you can't tell.
BUT WORSE....and to illustrate more clearly the potential downside - and before I understood what I was doing that could cause harm - I absolutely destroyed a Weber Genesis 310. How? Again - I filled the grilling area end - to- end with Grill Grates. And - turned the grill on HIGH. I left it on for an hour or so - because I was using the Weber to clean the regular grates from the MAK.
It cleaned off all of the carbon an grease, beautifully so...But the Weber's needle on the temp. gage was pegged - and did not return from that position even when the grill cooled down.
And - when I used it the next time - I noticed that soot and staining began to build up on the front lower corners of the Weber - where their had never been a problem before. And - for some reason - the lid did not seem to "fit right" when I lowered it.
What happened was this: The cast aluminum lower half of the Weber body had gotten SO hot from the heat trapping from the Grill Grates covering the surface - that I had softened the cast aluminum to the point that it began to bow or - sag. I shudder to think what may have happened had I not turned off the grill when I did.
Now - let me be CLEAR...and if you read NOTHING else in the above "Saga of Stupidity" on mY PART...Know this. THE event above was MY FAULT..... NOT ANY MANUFACTURER.But, like most of us - I often look at a product and think..."wonder what would happen if I used it this way - or in a way other than recommended"?
So, please allow my experience in this regard to merely give one pause - to reason out further why or ..more importantly -
why not to do something off-script.
I do not want to create fear or panic....Just up the "
careful consideration" aspect of our having fun when playing with fire. That is not just an expression!
