Bullseye Griddle - cleaning rust & preferred oil?

[tnbear96]

I seasoned it well and used it several times, love it. I made a poor decision and left it on the grill while it was closed and covered and a small amount of rust now, so I'm going to remove, clean and re-season.

Just curious if anyone else may have already done this. Did you follow general cast iron cleaning, vinegar/water bath, baking soda, metal scouring pad, steel wool, etc?

Also wanted to see what type of oil / smokepoint you all prefer. Thanks!

 

[kennethk]

i used the instructions that came with it.
grape seed oil 4 me

 

[C. Keeper]

i used the instructions that came with it.
grape seed oil 4 me

Instructions, huh?

 

[tnbear96]

i used the instructions that came with it.
grape seed oil 4 me

Instructions, huh?

Thanks. I'll give grapeseed oil a try after I remove rust this weekend. I kept the original box just in case, was hoping I could figure out a way to store it outside since it's so heavy but will find a spot in garage instead.

 

[KRedman]

Bacon, canola oil, peanut oil, crisco, lard, tallow. I’ve restored dozens and dozens of cast iron pans over the years. Just clean off the rust with any of your ideas, lightly coat it and heat it until it just smokes. Wipe it off, let it cool and do it again. Then just cook on it!

 

[kennethk]

I had no luck storing it outside - still got rusty

 

[Stratratbj96]

Clean the rust off with table salt and a paper towel, then oil it up and heat it until it starts to smoke. When it cools down wipe off the excess oil but leave it coated. I store mine in a old pillow case on the bottom shelf under the grill. I’m in Florida where the humidity is high and it has not rusted yet. Just don’t let it get wet and you should be fine. I used 400 wet sand paper to smooth out the bottom a little bit and then seasoned it for eight hours and about ten coats of oil. This thing is slick as Teflon. When I’m done cooking I clean it with salt and a paper towel, re-oil and put it back in the pillow case.

 

[5galCan]

When I purchased my RecTeq Bullseye, I bought the Griddle with it. I had a griddle plate on my Kamado that I had purchased from Arteflame(R), so I knew I would like using one.

However, I found some immediate differences and thought everyone wanting this griddle might want to know of my experience with it.

First off, it was very difficult to season using RecTeq’s instructions. It just took hours, really, and never seemed to get hot enough to take in the grapeseed oil.

Warning! If you do any of the following, you might void any warranty provided by RecTeq for this plate, although I cannot imagine why.

So today I decided to strip off the existing finish down to the bare steel. The reason for this is that when I seasoned my Arteflame(R) griddle plate, it started out as shiny, smooth steel. It took on the grapeseed oil like a champ and was exactly as easy as in their videos, which you can Google.

So, I took this plate and using a 4.5 inch hand grinder, stripped off the existing finish, including what came from the factory. I’m not sure what this factory finish was, but I’m pretty happy about it being gone.

I also suggest you place a fan next to your working area to blow any dust away from you as you are grinding off this old surface. These days, almost everyone has a mask, so you could wear that along with some eye protection.

I started with a polycarbide abrasive wheel, which made quick work of the existing finish in about 20 minutes. Next I switched to a 120 grit flap sanding disc and smoothed the finish even more. I don’t believe you have to go all the way to a mirror finish, but that’s entirely up to you and your experience. The plate was smooth to the touch and ready to re-season with less than an hour’s work.

By the way, I have done this same thing to all of my factory cast iron pans before seasoning them and it makes for a much better cooking experience as far as a non-stick surface goes.

Once I had the plate down to a shiny steel finish, it was time to season it. I used the same instructions as I found online for the Arteflame(R) cooktop.

For heating this plate in the Bullseye, I placed it on top of two layers of firebrick pucks in a triangle pattern under the plate. This brings the plate up just past the top of the grill’s sides with the lid open. It’s what I use when I cook on it too, because that makes it much easier to move food around with a spatula instead of having to dip down into the grill with the plate a few inches lower. I made these pucks by cutting regular firebricks into thirds using a diamond grit circular saw blade.

Next I started the grill and set it to 500 degrees, but that wasn’t really hot enough. I then switched to riot mode and when the grill was at about 750 degrees, I was able to begin seasoning the plate. You really should watch the Arteflame(R) video on how to do this. It takes very little grapeseed oil and I think I put about 5 or 6 coats, taking only 30 minutes from start to finish (shiny steel to a black finish).

For those not wanting to watch any videos, you put the grapeseed oil in a squeeze bottle and squirt a thin circle of oil onto the plate. Then, using a cotton cloth (I used an old washcloth), you spread the oil across the whole surface of the plate and let it burn in. When it stops smoking, you’re ready for the next coat.

With the Bullseye, I applied one coat of oil and closed the lid for 5 minutes in riot mode, which was reading 749 degrees for the grill.. The plate is much cooler than this temp, especially with opening the lid, but it is, I believe, the perfect temperature for seasoning this stripped down surface with grapeseed oil.

It worked beautifully, just as it had with my Arteflame(R) plate. The key, I believe, is a smooth, cleaned surface and a hot griddle using thin layers of oil.

I understand that RecTeq probably cannot ship these plates uncoated from the factory or people would end up with rusty surfaces if it isn’t done right. Arteflame(R) manages it, though, and the results are night and day different.

I’m still experimenting with cooking on this plate, but know for certain that I have to start out with the grill set to 500 degrees and go up or down from there, depending on if I’m cooking with the lid open or closed most of the time.

See attached photos.

 

[kstone113]

The RecTeq instructions are not good. They say 400, that doesn't work. Run your grill at 500 while seasoning. I used this:
https://www.amazon.com/BuzzyWaxx-Or...efix=bee+wax+griddle+seasoning,aps,147&sr=8-5

This stuff works great!

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I've done this same process to some of the modern cast iron pans that now are sold with "as cast" rough surfaces, unlike the vintage pans that virtually all had machine ground smooth surfaces. They've gone cheap on us.

My square griddle that came with the 700 package, is a formed piece of mild steel, that appears to have been heavily sandblasted with the coarse grit like they use to remove stucco from your house. It must have been either hot formed or formed from hot rolled steel and they had a need to remove heavy scaling with sandblasting.