Repainting a barbecue's grates.

So my barbecue is old and the grate is dirty and difficult to clean. I want to take it to my shop and sandblast the shit out of it. I'm sure ill take the grates down to the metal. What do I repaint them with? Will regular barbecue paint suffice for the grates that I will be cooking on? Or is there something else preferred? Or will the grates be fine without any coating? Thanks, guys!

 

Buy new grates. Please don't spray paint them and cook.

 

This.

After sand blasting/sanding/grinding down to the bare metal, rub them down with vegetable oil and heat them up to 500 degrees. This will season them and make it rust resistant. The more you grill meat on them the better it will become.

 

What kind of grates? Stainless steel, cast iron, or ceramic coating? If they're nice stainless steel just use them. If they're cast iron and not rusty you can oil them up again "seasoning" (Google it). But if they are ceramic coating ones and they are all messed up you'll just need to buy new ones.

 

This, I'd NEVER cook on painted grates. Mine are cast and need to be refurbished as well.

 

The price of new grates are really overpriced but I don't think painting them is a good idea.

 

I tend to use a good shake can paint like Krylon. The chemicals in these paints tend to add a nice bouquet of scent and flavor to most cuts of meat. The toluene and butane are good for pork and the acetone adds substance to any cut of beef. The ethylbenzene really spices up chicken.

 

Thanks for the feedback, guys! I don't know what kind of grates I have. They have some coating on them but I don't know what. I think I'll do the "seasoning" thing though. Thanks a lot everyone!

 

They're usually enameled cast iron.

I'd just hit them with whatever you want, leave them raw and reseason them as suggested.

Barbecue paint isn't for cooking surfaces