Dropped $250 on a custom offset smoker grate and it warped on first use

Bought this heavy duty 1/4 inch steel grate from a local fab shop in Austin thinking I was upgrading my stick burner for good. Fired it up last Saturday for a brisket cook and by the time I hit 300 it was bowing in the middle like a hammock. Meat slid right to the center and messed up the bark on one side. Now I'm stuck using my old rusty grate till I figure out a fix. Anyone found a grate that actually holds up past one session without bending?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah3201mo ago

Wait, $250 for a quarter inch steel grate? And it still warped on the first go? That's insane, I'd be livid. My buddy picked up a cheapo from Academy for like 40 bucks and it's still flat after three years of hard use. You paid for "heavy duty" and got a hammock instead, that's just wrong. Have they even heard of proper heat treating in Austin?

lily571mo ago

Tell them to refund you @hannah320, that's trash work.

susansingh1mo ago

Are you kidding me, $250 for that kind of failure? I had the same thing happen with a custom gate I bought from a local shop thought I was getting something solid and it sagged in a month. They gave me the runaround about metal fatigue and proper installation but I know full well a quarter inch plate shouldn't bend like wet cardboard. I haven't used them since and tell everyone I know to avoid them. It's like paying good money for a promise they can't keep, isn't it? You're not crazy for being mad, that's just bad business.