BBQ Seasoning

Submitted: Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 08:22
ThreadID: 74371 Views:11397 Replies:8 FollowUps:5
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Morning all, I bought a new bbq yesterday with cast steel hot plates. What is the best method of curing the new hot plates before cooking on them for the first time. I've heard all sorts of different methods in the past, so was just wondering what is the best way to go about it.
Thanks Jon
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Reply By: Bonz (Vic) - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 09:24

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 09:24
I have always just heated them up and poured in heaps of nice fat, not oil but fat
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Reply By: DIO - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 10:14

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 10:14
You could always ask the place you bought it from. I'm sure thay would be able to advise you.
AnswerID: 394861

Reply By: Fatso - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 11:42

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 11:42
Just clean it well (the dishwasher is great for that) & cook a feed of lamb chops on them.
People use all sorts of home remedies for cleaning the BBQ.
I reckon the dishwasher is the best by far & straight after the meal you cook. There is some mystical theories about leaving your BBQ dirty until you use it next & cleaning it with salt. All that using salt does is waste salt & makes your BBQ rust out. The burning of animal fat creates a salt that is also responsible for corroding BBQs.
Would you treat your stove or cast iron frying pan like that. NO WAY.
I actually gave away the BBQ at least 10 years ago. Too much trouble & every BBQ in North Qld gets cockroaches in it. I use a 13 inch cast iron frying pan on a 3 ring burner on a flat stainless steel bench on wheels. No cockies & not much cleaning. Put the pan in the dishwasher & spray & wipe the bench.
I get some strange looks at first when people see it. The mother in law offered us some money to buy a BBQ prior to a large extended family BBQ once. I think she was embarrassed.Turned out everyone was quite impressed. Heaps of heat gets it cranking & turns out steak faster than 99% of BBQs.
We use it to cook spaghetti, stews, pot roasts, corned beef & all that bulky stuff outside to keep the house cool.
AnswerID: 394865

Follow Up By: Fatso - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 11:51

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 11:51
I forgot to say. My neighbour, who spends 2 hours a month on the driveway with a preasure cleaner cleaning his BBQ, offered me his old BBQ for free when he went out & bought a $2000 upgrade.
"No way" I said. I wasn't going back there.
He sold it for $300.
That is about 6 times what my ring burner & cast iron fry pan cost.
Also, we cook all our meat, including fish, outside.
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Follow Up By: On Patrol & TONI - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 11:57

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 11:57
Hi Fatso,
we are all different ain't we????? LOL

I would never wash anything cast iron in a detergent, let alone the dishwasher.

Detergent causes the natural oils etc.. in the cast iron to disappear and then causing the plate to stick to the food cooking, as it would in a camp oven.

I recommend seasoning the plate for the first couple of times with olive oil and NOT cleaning the plate with detergent but rather fresh water and a rag on the still warm (not hot) plate.

After a few uses the plate will be better than Teflon for not sticking to food.
IMHO.
Cheers Colin.
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FollowupID: 663252

Follow Up By: CJ - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:00

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:00
I agree totally with Colin
Wheether it is a BBQ, camp oven, pizza stone, all the same; do not use deteergent and disshwashing is even wworse

CJ
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Follow Up By: Member - Russnic [NZ] - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 15:13

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 15:13
The secret to cast iron cooking vessels is to cure the cast from the start.
Heat the item to almost red, at least very hot, sprinkle a bit of water on, be careful as it will turn to steam, scrape off what comes out of the cast, keep doing that until there is no residue, reheat, add a little oil ,vegetable type, animal fats have a much lower flash point and will go rancid, a bit like blueing steel I suppose, the better job you do of the seasoning the better the meals will taste in the future and the easier it will be to clean.
Keep your wife away from using detergents and for health's sake avoid the dish washer with cast, the stuff they use is poison.
To wash.
Sometime, between one meal and the next heat up, sprinkle a bit of water to boil off, scrape and repeat till clean, only add salt, when finished, add oil while still warm give a bit off a wipe off, the oil stops the cast from rusting.
I have a Bedourie camp oven in Aus but as it is spun stainless it does not season, does not cook anything like as well as the 150 year old cast camp oven in a hut way out the back somewhere. The bread usually ends up being over done on the outside.
Better go back and have another go?.
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Reply By: fisho64 - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:00

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:00
make a new plate up out of 4 or 5 mm steel plate, with a lip around outside 15mm by 3mm. Welding lip on dishes the plate slightly also so you can drill a little drain hole in the middle.
Clean the scale off it with a flapper disc then all you need to clean it is a 4" SS paint scraper and its spotless.
AnswerID: 394867

Reply By: swampy66 - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:19

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:19
I cured mine with a kilo of cheap bacon. cooked it well, scraped it off and fed it to the dog.

I'm not sure if there is any real science behind this, the dog believes it should be done every month, but i don't always listen to him.

AnswerID: 394871

Reply By: Member - Allan B (QLD) - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:26

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 12:26
I got this teflon-coated glass overlay mat from the barbecue shop that lies flat over the steel hotplate. Fabulous, especially for marinated meat that burns on to the plate.

Just lift it off complete with all the fat & residue and wash it in the kitchen sink with detergent to come up like new. Barbecue hotplate is spotless.

$22 for 400 x 300mm. Best barbecue thingy I ever got.

PS. Leaving fat on the hotplate corrodes it. It is acid from the meat.

Cheers
Allan

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AnswerID: 394872

Follow Up By: PradOz - Monday, Dec 14, 2009 at 22:53

Monday, Dec 14, 2009 at 22:53
x 2 except mine is from Coles and cost about $14. Easiest ever to clean - just wipe over with paper towel to remove all the oil and fat from cooking process. Dont need to use any oil at all to cook anything - only exception is to spray the egg rings. Perfectly cooked meat and best eggs and also best pancakes i ever cooked since finding this BBQ cooking mat in Coles. Its got to be my best purchase ever, makes BBQing so easy for $14
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Reply By: Mad Cowz (VIC) - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 13:17

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 13:17
When i got mine i just ran it red hot for a while to burn off any oil and stuff then I think I cooked lamb chops. Maybe i put some oil on them, I can't remember. The lamb chops (not marinated) can be fatty at times, seasoned the bbq nicely.

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AnswerID: 394878

Reply By: dedster - Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 16:26

Sunday, Dec 13, 2009 at 16:26
Hi Jon,
Don't do anything above. Just put "Baking Paper" on the plate prior to cooking and cook on the paper. When you finish chuck the paper in the bin and NO CLEANING. Works a treat for me every time. Meat is always golden brown.Yum,yum.
Good luck
dedster
AnswerID: 394896

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