Gas powered hibachi grill, top material?

admin

I've been wanting one of these hibachi style grills and decided to look them up online and saw they cost 2000 dollars and up for the cheap ones.  I figured it would be pretty easy to make one out of old propane grills and a huge piece of steel plate.My question is, what kind of steel should I use as the cooking surface.  Obviously I want the heat to distribute pretty evenly so it's gotta be a little thick, I was thinking 3/16" plate would work alright with the burners places nicely.  Total size of about 2'x4'.  What kind of steel should I use?  I know you can "cure" regular steel with oil and heating it up to about 400 degrees and letting it settle in.  I'm not sure how long that lasts, how often i'd have to do that, or if that'll even protect the grill surface from corroding to fast so then I was thinking stainless steel.  I'm not quiet sure where to get a big piece of stainless steel from for a decent price but it would seem like that would be the best material to use for a top.  If I could find a decently price piece of SS to use then I wouldn't even be thinking about regular steel.Hobart Handler 1871998 VW Jetta TDI - 1997 VW Jetta Project Carhttp://calebhammel.com
Reply:I don't think you want to use stainless steel for this. For one, you'll go broke buying a piece of 3/16" thick, 2'x4' stainless plate.   Regular low carbon steel plate is fine.  I think the trick is getting it so it has a smooth surface for cooking on.  You might look at cold rolled steel that has a smooth top surface finish.  Then you'd want to season it with oil, just like a new cast iron skillet.I'd look at 1/8" sheet as well.  It wouldn't take nearly so long to heat up, and should be stiff enough with some clever bracing on the back side...I hope you're planning on putting a hood in overtop your new hibachi grill, if it's indoors.  The heat coming off one would drive you right out of the kitchen while you were using it and for hours afterwards.  If it's outdoors, then you've got to fab up a cover to protect it when it's not being used.Benson's Mobile Welding - Dayton, OH metro area - AWS Certified Welding Inspector
Reply:You don't think I'll have to worry about corrosion at all from the heat cycles or anything.  One guy told me that heating it up for cooking will make it corrode faster or was he just saying that thinking it was going to be out in the elements?It's going to be outdoors and I already have a way to enclose it.Hobart Handler 1871998 VW Jetta TDI - 1997 VW Jetta Project Carhttp://calebhammel.com