Now I know that there are many food connoisseurs on this site and maybe one of you could answer this question for me.

I have built myself an open fire BBQ for cooking steaks on. I now am looking for a good grill to cover it. I would like one of those grills that have the diamond pattern on it. Problem is that I don't know where to get one. Are most of these type of grills custom made jobs or does anyone know of a good store in the PS area that would have something like this? My BBQ pit is a pentagon shape with a diameter of about three feet.

I do have a gas grill but nothing tastes better than cooking a steak over a fire of mesquite and hickory coals!!!.

Maybe this post people could ad some of their favorite BBQ recipes to share?

Here is a nice side to have with some steaks:

Garlic Shrimp
Ingredients:
36 large shrimp
18 Sweet Tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, minced (for marinade)
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. ground pepper
3 T. white vinegar
2 T. olive oil
1/4 cup butter
12 garlic cloves, minced (for dish)
2 T. fresh lime juice
3 cups wild rice, prepared
6 sprigs parsley
3 lime wedges
Instructions:
1. Shell, devein and butterfly shrimp. Cut tomatoes in half.
2. Mix garlic for marinade, salt, pepper, and vinegar together in
bowl. Add shrimp and tomatoes. Marinate for 30 minutes, stirring
occasionally.
3. Heat the oil and buter in a skillet over medium heat or over the fire. Add the
remaining garlic and sauté until golden brown, about one minute. Add
the shrimp and the tomato mixture (undrained). Cook for 1-2 minutes
or until the shrimp are opaque. Sprinkle with the lime juice and
remove from heat.
4. You can serve this over rice if you like.

I would call some BBQ places and ask them PMartin. THey ought to know.

Here is a recipe that I marinade ALL of my steaks in. From the Playboy gourmet cookbook circa 1965.

3 cups Vinegar
1 cup soy
3 tbls Brown sugar.
3 tbls minced garlic
1/2 onion diced
1 tbls pepper


Stir and put in one gallon zip lock bag, put steaks in marinade overnight then cook while basting with some of the sauce and minced onion.

Once you try it you wont go back to naything else baby!

That diamond shaped grill materail is called expanded steel I believe. I have an open pit outside in the back fourty too. You can pick it up at lowes, or home depot I believe. I dont know if they'll cut it for you or not. If not, try calling your local high school and see if they have a plasma cutter, or some other means of doing that for you. (My father in law cut mine) The hardest part is keeping it greased up so it wont rust. I treat it like I do my cast iron... bacon grease, get it hot, then put it in the garage out of the rain when I'm not using it. Its awesome for cooking salmon over alder outside!

Elkrun you can also use a fiber cutting wheel on a die grinder to cut that material. Or a jigsaw with a good quality metal cutting blade works ok too.

Thanks Elk. I'll stop on my way home and see pick some up? School is back in Lake Steven's and if they still have the same shop teacher as when I went there that shouldn't be a problem.

Sound good Sky! I might give it a shot this weekend.

Planning a "Fall" BBQ this weekend in this terrible Washington weather we are having

Check this place out for starters.

Metal Supermarkets

They carry stainless steel expanded steel. It might be a bit pricey, but should last a long time without worrying so much about the rusting.

If you could find a place that has that baked enamel finish you'd be golden. That stuff is fantastic for grills.

Regarding that pretty diamond pattern you see on steaks in most resturants, that is put there by rotating the steak when it is about 1/2 cooked on a side. Most resturant grills do not have a diamond pattern. It is a bit of artwork by the chef.

What surecatch said ....

Keep it good and greased with olive oil...

Elkrun , you are corect. It is called expanded metal. Earlier in the season I was building some safari racks for my vehical and I could not for the life of me find it any where, Home Depot , Lowes, Mclendons, you name it they didnt have it.

Finally I found out what it was(expanded metal) and found tons of metal shop in the Renton/Auburn area.
Try Grating Pacific in southcenter, I had mine cut for a small fee. They have it in all thickness and styles.

http://www.gratingpacific.com/

Do they make that expanded steel in stainless?? That seems like the ticket.

Pmartin
Don't remember the name of the place, across the street from Lowes (south) in Everett. There is a scrap and new metal dealer, they out to have what you want.

Yes it is called expanded steel. The name of the metal yard in Everett is Everett Steel (south of Lowes).

Don't know if they have stainless, but they could probably get it. It is the only way to go as far as upkeep. With proper care, the steel grate will work as well.

Pick up some angle as well (1.0" would be perfect) Take it to a local steel fabricator, and have them weld you up a frame to fit your Queue.

It will be the cat's meow.

Thanks all. Some great ideas.

I think I'll stop by the place by Lowes today, I think I may have actually been in there before? I like the idea of having some reinforcement welded on, would also like to have a couple handles welded on it also.

I just like the expanded steel better that the traditional straight grates, it works much better for cooking on I feel. You don't have stuff getting stuck in between the metal. I have done the rotating of the steaks to get that diamond shape before, works pretty good too.

Sky, I am putting my steaks in the marinade you mentioned tonight. Sounds great! Picked up the Mesquite last night, hopefully get that grate going tonight and I'll be cooking with fire!

Man, I'm getting' hungry!

Make sure ya reinforce it good, I had a 4 ft piece I bought from Everett Steel and after about a year, it had a nice bow in the middle from the heat.
I used it almost daily however.
But cooking on the open fire was hard to beat.
I even bought a few smaller pieces and cut em to fit my gas BBQ, I like the diamond grill marks on the burgers and steaks, it looks good! that is all that counts.....right

J/K Have fun!

WW