MAN GRATE

Some people watch the home shopping network. I have a weakness to browse Craigslist, specifically the barbeque section. You never know what  bbq treasure somebody wants to sell or barter. My latest find is the Man Grate. This is a cast iron grate that sits over your existing cooking grill. Cast iron will hold a higher heat for a longer time producing better carmelization and superior grill marks. I do own a cast iron grate and use it all the time but this was a deal this Mad Meat Genius could not pass up.

The Man Grate considers itself a grill enhancment system. This is a fancy way to say they want you to buy more than one grate. I say this because the measurements are 15' long by 4 1/4' by 1 2/8' high. A little over 4 inches is not a lot of room to cook a large steak. We only have the one to play with today so lets give it a try. The first step is to cure the grate. This is standard procedure for any cast iron pan. It is cleaned and coasted with oil and then baked in high heat. This will form an almost non-stick character to the cast iron. Once this was done a rib-eye steak would be put to the test. A hot charcoal fire was built. The Man Grate was placed on my old existing grate and given 10 minutes to heat up. I placed the steak on the great to hear a wonderful sizzle. This sound was music to my ears. Several minutes went by and I rotated the steak to brand those wonderful grill marks. The steak was flipped and cooked to a medium rare.

The Man Grate delivered what was promised. It is a heavy duty cast iron grate that will only get better with age and curing. It was practically non-stick in its first use. Cast iron is the way to go grilling steaks. The next time I will let the Man Grate heat up even longer for a faster cook. The only problem is I will have to purchase steaks that are only 4 inches wide or wait for another Craigslist find.