How to fix bbq plate

is this a serios question? all cast iron products come with some kind of coating otherwise as you found they rust which doest look good on the shelf. It is only a light film of rust and is easily washed off although the best way to prevent it is to not clean your barbie but leave it covered in fat etc and just clean it efore use

Troy,

A cast iron, or steel plate needs "seasoned" like a camp oven. The "black" stuff was probably burnt machine oil or some other protective coating used to protect the steel surface after manufacture.

Give it a really good scrub using detergent to get rid of the rust, etc. Even use a wire brush if necessary. Then apply a thin coating of peanut oil and place on your cooker. Heat the blazers out of it, allow to cool, then repeat the process one or two more times until you end up with a black coating all over the plate. Having obtained this, DO NOT WASH AGAIN WITH DETERGENT.
The coating provides a non-stick cooking surface and protects the plate from rusting and only needs the occasional wipe to clean. This is the "seasoning".

After each use, finish off by applying another light coating of peanut oil (or other high temperature oil) before putting away and you will have a plate that will give you years of service.

rust proofing with a spray on cooking oil is also an easy way to keep it looking good.
I just never wash mine and it dosen't rust. If sticking the BBQ over a fire and heating it to about 200 degrees dosen't kill the bugs that may be living there, a quick swill in some tepid water with detergent certainly isn't going to do it.

After seasoning the plate all should be OK.
But like a camp oven, after using my BBQ plate I recoat my BBQ plate with a light coat of cooking oil.
Next use, heat it up hot, give it a scrape down, even apply some salt if you want to help kill any bugs, and start cooking.

As others have said, that film etc on a new product of this type is usually the S H I T they use in manufacturing it ( in the presses) or to stop it ending up a rust bucket before landing on the retailers counter.

I have always done the following before using them to cook with:

(1) Heat the sucker up on a camp fire, gas fire ( whatever) until it is smoking and all the above S H I T burns off. (Don't have it glowing red)

(2) Carefully put it in or put in it (which ever is applicable) water with some detergent in it.

(3) give it a scrub and rinse it off with clean water.

(4) Have a look and repeat above if ncessary.

This only gets that stuff off and the following is the important bit.

(5) Heat up again an either tip in or spray on a vegetable oil ( peanut oil is best because it takes heaps of heat)

(6) Get it smoking and make sure all the cooking surface is covered in the oil

NOTE: If using a spray oil , don't do it near a naked flame or you run the risk of firing up a flame thrower.

(7) remove the article from the heat source, let it cool down a tad.

(8) Wipe it out with a paper towel and DON'T wash it.

(9) Let it cool down , wrap it it a paper towel/bag and pack it away for next time.

Cleaning there after.

BBQ plate I heat in camp fire etc tip a cup of water on it, give it a scrape with the egg slice (tip off into fire) re-heat and spray with oil and wipe off.

Camp oven - Well! you just have to figure some things out for yourself.

Have a good one all

Troy,

As stated it's best to season your plate before use as described.

Occassionally I give my plate a clean (in particular when SHMBO says 'your not going to cook on that are you!!) - I then re-season it straight away.

A trick I learned doing 'Mess duties' in my younger days in the Army was to use unsweetened grapefruit juice from the can to clean cooking plates - it did them a treat, especially after the 'baitlayers' burnt the cooking plates.

Karl

Sacrificial sausage

Everyone has done what you have done Troy so don't be too hard on yourself.

Your hotplate can be saved but if you’re like me when I do something regretful you might just wanna start again with a new plate.

Whatever you do the next time you cook and when you cook on it always sacrifice a sausage.
By this I mean, when you are heating it up next time and its ready to cook on I always whack on a banga and squash it and mush it up on the hot plate. I work the sausage fats into the plate and flip it scrape it off and pretty much just destroy the sausage cooking it into oblivion ensuring I have used the sausage to scrape any dirt or whatever from the cooking plate.
The process of this will also help you learn about cooking & heat and generally speed up your learning curve.
I will give you more confidence so you can put your nasty experience behind you.

Funny Story: True. About 15 years ago I bought my first house with my girlfriend and dutifully her family came to "approve" the purchase, you know give us their acceptable nod on our move. Lol.

Well they kind off overstepped the boundary and while I was out the back cooking a BBQ lunch for them all they were inside moving our furniture around to where they wanted it ( in-laws are always smarter than you ). My girlfriend is the baby in her family so it was awkward for her to stop them. I came inside to see my house re-arranged and I was simply bamboozled. She pulled me aside and explained she had no control over them.
I burnt, destroyed, sacrificed & mutilated all their food. I piled up their food high on the plate. There was plenty to go around and we (girlfriend and me) sat and watched them eat every last bleep ty burnt disgusting chop.
I think that's where the sacrificial sausage comes from, I'm not sure.

I put a few links here for you to look at.

Happy cooking.

iMusty

And here