Bit of an odd one this. Flame/heat retardant Metal Mesh?

[eyedee]

I hope I've posted this in the correct area of the forum. Sorry if it's in the wrong place. I did search. Anyway, it's a slightly strange topic, but it is DIY so here goes...

I wish to make a simple metal mesh 'plate' to sit above my gas burners on my gas barbeque. Reason being, I will sit Penrock briquettes on the mesh plate that add a more traditional BBQ taste to the food that cooks above them. I have already tested this theory by making a tray out of some old aluminium mesh I had sitting around and it works a treat! - except the aluminium melted of course! So, I'm wondering if anyone knows where I can get a metal mesh that can withstand food cooking temperatures long-term without warping or falling apart etc. I have looked in the local DIY shops and asked around but haven't had much luck. I have thought of hunting down specialist mesh/grid metal workers, but I reckon that'll cost a small fortune for something that's really very simple once I can obtain the metal mesh/grid. All it would need is an angle grinder to cut the metal mesh/grid to the correct size. But where to get metal mesh/grid from thats strong enough and heat resistant up to (I would guess) about 300 degrees fahrenheit??? Told you it was a bit of an odd request! Thanks all.

 

[Watchmaker]

Is there a steel fabrication/structural Co anywhere near to you? If you don't know of one, Yellow Pages should help. My local steel supplier stocks "expanded metal". This is sheet steel which is pierced into a mesh type formation and is used for walkways, fencing etc. If you can find such a Company, they would, no doubt, have an offcut in their scrap bin and, I should think, this would suit your purposes.

 

[crazycanuck]

Check around for your people that make stainless restaurant kitchen hoods and like, they might have a stainless steel expanded metal piece left over from an old range.
it might need a couple of stainless bars welded to it to aid in stiffening.

 

[eyedee]

Thanks guys! Watchmaker, the walkway style expanded metal mesh looks very similar to what I had in my head, so I'll give a few local steel fabricators a call tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

except the aluminium melted of course! .....heat resistant up to (I would guess) about 300 degrees fahrenheit???

The melting point of aluminium is 660.32 °C, 1220.58 °F.

 

[Symptoms]

eye - you want stainless steel welded mesh; get it from Baco Metal Centre, just across the border in Edenbridge, Kent.

 

[TicklyT]

With something similar in mind (a 'bakestone' - great for making welsh cakes!) I picked up a square piece of cast iron from a local blacksmith's workshop, where such is a normal part of the smith's stock materials. It is flat one side, and corrugated on the other, with about 6mm deep grooves every 10mm, so you can use whichever side suits the job. All it needed was a bit of emery cloth and elbow grease.

It's much heavier than most of the commercial griddle plates. It holds a lot of heat, and distributes it evenly.

 

[eyedee]

Thanks for all the help and advice guys. I ended up solving the problem in a rather unexpected way. I was shopping for some veg seeds in B&Q and a barbeque grill caught my eye. When I walked over to the BBQ section I saw you could actually buy replacement chrome griddles. So I picked one of these up for £7, took it home and got the angle grinder out. After chopping off a couple of inches and attaching two metal bars to give it greater strength I popped it in place and it does the job a treat. Fits snug and doesn't bend under the extreme heat from the gas burners. Looking forward to a summer of BBQ's! Thanks again.

 

[Trazor]

Chrome plate will not last too long, thats why they sell replacements.

Stainless steel is the way to go.

 

[eyedee]

That shouldn't matter. It's not viewable (sits inside the BBQ grill above the gas burners but below the penrock briquettes and griddle.