my friend gave me a gas grill and it only has maybe 10 ceramic
briquettes lining the bottom of the pit. The flames shoot directly to
the grill. Now the grill is made out of pretty thick cast iron and I
assume this is enough to retain the heat of the barbecue because the
food gets cooked. Is there any other reason to include ceramic
briquettes other than retaining the heat? I do notice that the food
gets pretty charred from the direct flame would adding enough
briquettes to cover the flames mitigate that?

"Joe" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> my friend gave me a gas grill and it only has maybe 10 ceramic
> briquettes lining the bottom of the pit. The flames shoot directly to
> the grill. Now the grill is made out of pretty thick cast iron and I
> assume this is enough to retain the heat of the barbecue because the
> food gets cooked. Is there any other reason to include ceramic
> briquettes other than retaining the heat? I do notice that the food
> gets pretty charred from the direct flame would adding enough
> briquettes to cover the flames mitigate that?

Most grills have a grate to hold the ceramics above the flame. This helps
distribute the heat evenly and turns the dripping fat into a smoke for
flavor. Some grills use sheet metal baffles to do the same thing.

In your case, it sounds like the grate is missing.

On May 14, 10:35 pm, "Edwin Pawlowski" > wrote:
> "Joe" > wrote in message
>
> ups.com...
>
> > my friend gave me a gas grill and it only has maybe 10 ceramic
> > briquettes lining the bottom of the pit. The flames shoot directly to
> > the grill. Now the grill is made out of pretty thick cast iron and I
> > assume this is enough to retain the heat of the barbecue because the
> > food gets cooked. Is there any other reason to include ceramic
> > briquettes other than retaining the heat? I do notice that the food
> > gets pretty charred from the direct flame would adding enough
> > briquettes to cover the flames mitigate that?
>
> Most grills have a grate to hold the ceramics above the flame. This helps
> distribute the heat evenly and turns the dripping fat into a smoke for
> flavor. Some grills use sheet metal baffles to do the same thing.
>
> In your case, it sounds like the grate is missing.


You are correct, thanks! Upon further inspection the grate above the
burners is missing. Now to find a replacement. It's one of those
rectangular grills are there standard size replacement grates? Or can
I make one myself somehow?

Joe wrote:
> Upon further inspection the grate above the
> burners is missing. Now to find a replacement. It's one of those
> rectangular grills are there standard size replacement grates?

I've had good luck buying from these people- >
http://grillparts.com/default.htm
but there are a number of companies on the net selling grill parts- just
depends on who
carries the brand of grill you have. The "one size fits most"
replacements you'll find at the
big box home stores never worked for me.