Building a grill for resturant... What would you use?

Hello all,

I need to build (re-build) two grills for a local resturant. One is a simple gas grill that gets upward of 350 degrees for 10 hours. The other is a larger unit that gets near 500 for up to 10 hours as well. I have not seen them in person yet but from the info gathered, the current set-up is near 16g stainless. It has lasted only 6 months. Is there a type of S/S or other material that will last longer and still work for a food-industry grill? Has anyone built a similar unit?

Thanks for any and all help...
Jimmy

317L, horrible to machine, fine to weld and very corrosion resistant at elevated temperatures. Used in pulp mill digesters.

atomarc said:

317L! Would the "L" indicate lead...as in "12L14. Would this be something suitable for contact with food?


Stuart

Click to expand...

That is a really good question because normally an L designation does mean lead containing.

However, in this case L means low carbon; 317 is up to 0.08% carbon but 317L is only 0.03%. As far as I can remember (I am going back 29 years here) the low carbon content improved the weldability.


EDIT:

After posting this reply in which I quoted a post from atomarc (Stuart) I discover the post I quoted does not exist, at least not ahead of my reply. This puzzles me, am I guilty of time travel?

From my information any of the 300 series stainless steels should easily handle 500 degrees C continuously. Maximum recommended service temp equals or exceeds 900 deg C continuous. For the burners that I build, components of which operate up to 1100 deg C, I use grade 310S, but the price is near double that of 304. The handbook from Columbus (our local SS mill) specifies that grade 430 should not be used in the 450-500 deg temp range. This could be the problem.

What type of "failure" is happening? Are you sure it is heat related? Has the material been contaminated by carbon steel in the original fabrication? In this case the material could be corroding, although in a grill application I would have thought that there would be enough grease around to inhibit rust.

Hope this helps.

Regards
Tony

I have a propane grill, not in a restaurant, but I use it a lot. I grill oysters all the time, which means hot salt water drips down, and corrodes mild steel in a short time.
I replaced the grill with 304 stainless about 5 years ago- no corrosion, no damage, its as good as new.

But I used 3/8" round, on 1" centers. So the grill itself weighs a bit. I made it in sections, that pop out for cleaning, and arent too heavy- about 9" x 24" each.

It would cost more than 16 gage sheet metal, but its pretty much a lifetime grill.

If you mean a flat griddle, and up to 500F, I have used 1/2" A36. Part of our (EAA533) "cultural heritage" is putting on public high cholesterol breakfasts a few times per year as fundraisers and as support for other events such as Pride Ride, and the Southern Tier car show held adjacent to our hangar.

We have a range of commercial equipment dating back probably to the '40's though some is being retired, and have started using Sam's club grills, but they don't have flat griddles. Hence the recruitment of YT to make them. We figured at least 1/2" thick for flatness, and for thermal mass and even heat. I weld a 1/4" x 1-1/2" lip around them to contain the grease and to stiffen the edges.

These do not season as well as CI, but seem to be preferred over our commercial stainless top unit as a cooking surface.

You have to be sure the guy shearing it understands it has to be dead flat, or have it plasma cut.

YMMV

smt.

Hdpg,

Sorry...I deleted the post you replied to. I did a mini-search on 317L and immediately realized it wasn't leaded, so to save looking like the north end of a southbound horse I dumped my post.


Stuart

Food safety guidelines

Also, if it's to be a grate -- i.e. rods/bars with space between, assembled by welding -- vs. a griddle -- i.e. a continuous flat surface -- you may want to familiarize yourself with NSF (National Sanitary Foundation) guidelines regarding crevices in food service equipment.

I was considering building a grate for my own gas grill by notching 1/4 x 3/4 stainless bars and creating a grid. My brother (who wanted a similar grate for his own grill) did some research and discovered that NSF guidelines would require that each joint be fully welded around the entire interface of the two bars, and ground smooth to prevent trapping bacteria which can cause food-borne disease. Not impossible, but a PITA and labor intensive.

One other point of interest is that McNichols http://www.mcnichols.com/ sells perf products in 304, and may offer thick enough material to be used directly as a grate. If only thinner material is available, stiffening braces could be added. It would be real nice to use an off-the-shelf material instead of reinventing the wheel.

Racer Al said:

Also, if it's to be a grate -- i.e. rods/bars with space between, assembled by welding -- vs. a griddle -- i.e. a continuous flat surface -- you may want to familiarize yourself with NSF (National Sanitary Foundation) guidelines regarding crevices in food service equipment.

I was considering building a grate for my own gas grill by notching 1/4 x 3/4 stainless bars and creating a grid. My brother (who wanted a similar grate for his own grill) did some research and discovered that NSF guidelines would require that each joint be fully welded around the entire interface of the two bars, and ground smooth to prevent trapping bacteria which can cause food-borne disease. Not impossible, but a PITA and labor intensive.

Click to expand...

That's exactly why all restaurant grills are made of cast iron. They spend the money one time, on the pattern, then they cast a whole production run. Commercial cast iron grills are available in 12x36x1" sizes at restaurant supply vendors everywhere.

metalmagpie

Unfortunately, grilling oysters causes cast iron grilles to disintegrate in a very short time.
But, since I dont run a restaurant, and dont get inspected, I can weld up any grille I want.

Hey Guys,

Sorry for the late response....been busy..... Thanks for all the great info!! I will be able to see it in person next week at which time I'll get all the info needed. I usually overbuild a project if there is a chance the working limits may be challenged.... In this case, the grills could be on for even longer. So I'll come back with some firm info soon...

Stephen Thomas...
Just a side note.... I grew up in Upstate NY....Dexter/Watertown area. I used to hunt whitetail deer in Southern Tier area. The last time I was there hunting was in '91, while on leave from the Air Force. I believe the 5 point antlers are still in my family's house!!

Thanks again for all the help!!! I'll be back with the info on Tuesday!

a bit of a tangent but the Keating brand Miraclean grill is considered by many to be the cats meow in terms of flat top grills. while in the restaurant business i never met a person that had one that spoke bad of it.

http://www.keatingofchicago.com/products/miraclean/

i had always been told that they were stainless steel but it looks like they are just chrome plated. they are very easy to clean and keep clean, you just have to keep the tards with the grill stone away from them .

Hello everyone,

Okay, I was able to meet with the manager this morning to see what the issue is.... The "grill" is actually a rotisserie type set-up that uses charcoal and/or wood briquettes in the center of the unit. The meat is placed on skewers, that rotate around the said briquettes. This is a vertical set-up, not horizontal...This is a (I am being very generous calling it this) a "shop built" unit. There is a VFD drive motor, that turns the gears/skewers from underneath the "grill"..... This setup produces 2 major problems for them....

First, the 16g S/S "drip" pans, warp within 3 months. They would like to have them last a bit longer/ They don't need to be S/S as the food does not touch them...

Second, they want to develop a new system, using natural gas with stone bricks to hold the heat. ALSO, a mechanism for feeding/burning wood pellets is needed for flavor. This is where it will need to be engineered. I am not an engineer....

I have spent the last hour trying to post a picture....either my computer won't let me or my brain is slow...Pretty sure it's my 6 y.o. computer... If anyone would allow me to email them personally, then post them, it would be greatly appreciated!!!

You can email me direct at [email protected]

Thank you once again!