Enamel coated grates will not hold up to cast iron pans. They will crack, chip and the exposed metal will rust. I believe the manufacturer recommends hand washing using BonAmi or soaking in ammonia.

We went with edge to edge cast iron grates on both or our ranges. Like you we have cast iron skillets, Le Creuset Dutch Ovens and Calphalon pans - all quite hefty.

Do the specs reveal what kind the coating is?

I have cast iron grates and have put them in the dishwasher once. They were beautiful after. I'm thinking I would like to do it again but am worried they might be a bit lighter color than before.

I put my cast iron grates in the dishwasher about once a month along with the center griddle pan. Great results.

Mine got a bit of rust in the DW. I’m back to spray and wipe. One thing I miss about ceramic is how easy it was to clean.

It’s cast iron. Season it properly and call it good.

Most of the gas GE's I found, looked like this. Enamel pans, with cast iron grates. That's what I have on my WOLF. The enamel pans are high maintenance, loved it when I had ALL cast iron!

BTW I've been buying a LOT of GE lately. It seems to hold up. DH just installed two GE profile dishwashers, WIFI ready....and already have a service call in. The humidity fan comes on if I put a damp coffee mug in the dishwasher. So you may want to stay away from "too" many features. The bugs aren't worked out yet. 😁 (In order to get the decibels down I had to get "features", Bosch is out of stock locally, not ordering from another state). Being in-stock was a plus too.

Maire_Cate, the specs I've seen so far just mention that they're easy to clean. One consumer review mentioned enamel, but I wouldn't rely on that. I need to visit a dealer or two. Cast iron cookware is reasonably popular, so I don't know why so many manufacturers are coating the grates if that makes them incompatible with cast iron.

Nicole, I like GE too. I have a GE chest freezer, two dehumidifiers, and my present range. The NY Times tested 66 gas ranges recently, and a GE model at around $1,000 was their top pick. It has coated grates. I tried upping my price range, but I still haven't found a gas range with uncoated ones.

I sure as heck wouldn't rely on the manufacturer's literature or on Consumer Reports. Keep looking for a real-life person who actually cooks on one.

I've been disappointed in the white enamel coating on my GE stove. The coating is so thin it hasn't held up. It developed lots of little hairline cracks that hold onto each molecule of tomato sauce. Perhaps if it had been old-style thicker (?) enamel like my grandma's old kitchen sink it would have held up longer. So maybe you can find out how thick the enamel on the cast iron grates is.

Nickel, how old is your stove? I wonder if GE (and others) have improved the coating since you bought yours.

I paid over $1,000 for my stove 20 years ago. I was surprised that prices haven't risen dramatically since then for similar models, but I suspect it's because the new ones could be more cheaply made. I see storage drawers instead of warming drawers, for instance. As for new and exciting features, I have no need for WiFi in my stove. I assume that's what "smart" means.

just seeing your question now, Alisande. My GE stove is six years old. It was one of the cheaper gas models, we selected it for looks without doing much investigation. I think you're correct, new models of just about any appliance are more cheaply made than they used to be.

So it seems as though no one here has been cooking with cast iron on their gas range with coated cast-iron grates? I need to find some people who are doing this.

I stopped in at a dealer this morning and took a look at the GE model I'm interested in. The grates don't look as if they're coated with enamel; nor do they feel like it. They feel slightly rough, like regular cast iron. Obviously, a smooth coating wouldn't be desirable, as pots and pans could slide around. The dealer knew the grates were made out of cast iron and were dishwasher safe, but that's all she knew.

They're thinner than the grates on my current GE, and weigh less. They also didn't seem as tall, but I didn't measure.

None of the local dealers will do the conversion from natural gas to propane, so I'll have to set that up separately. Remembering how long it took to get my new dishwasher last year and have it installed, I'm thinking this will probably take a while.

We installed a new range at our PA place last summer and we were able to specify propane so it didn't need a conversion. Now that I think of it we also specified propane with our original GE gas cooktop. The LG dryer we bought last fall did need to be converted.

Any grate you find that is cast Iron and enameled will hold up, just as enameled case Iron sinks, bath tubs and wood burning stoves held up for decades or even a century as can be seen by those built in the 1920's. Just make sure it's cast under the enamel.

I cook in a cast iron skillet on cast iron grates. Never knew I couldn't or shouldn't. It works fine for me. No problem. However my grates don't have a heavy coating on them, if any. They don't rust, I do know that. I probably got you all confused.

kevin9408, I'd be wary of modern enameling. How thick is the coating compared to what was standard years ago? And if you're lucky enough to have something truly vintage, hold onto it!

Jkayd, there's nothing wrong with using cast-iron cookware on cast-iron grates. I do it all the time, on my heavy, uncoated grates. My concern was that if the grates were coated, sliding the heavy iron pots and pans across them might end up doing damage.

Kevin, same concern. Enameled sinks, etc., aren't subjected to heavy cast-iron cookware being dragged across them. But as I observed today, I don't think enamel is the coating GE is using. I need to do more research.

Maire, did you get a Viking? The dealer I spoke with yesterday told me Viking is the only line she carries that offers a choice of natural gas or LP. I wish I'd bought a Viking or a Wolf or something wonderful back when I was cooking 3x a day every day for my family. I would have made such good use of it--and for the first time just now I realize at least part of it could have been a business expense since we had the tofu business then and I was conducting workshops and demonstrations. Sigh.

When we moved 4 years ago we bought a Blue Star and love it. No electronics, no self clean, doesn't even have a clock. But it does have high BTU burners and DH loves to stir fry with the wok. Because of the high BTU's you need a hood exhaust which adds to the price. I think they were the original Garlands that were used in commercial kitchens and are made in PA near Reading.

We liked it so much that we bought another one for PA.

I have had my Samsung gas range with iron grates, no coating, for a few years. I hand wash the grates monthly, and they look as hood as new!

My range shopping was starting to feel discouraging, but this model cheered me up.

Frigidaire Gallery Gas Range

I need to do more research, but I haven't found any significant negatives about Frigidaire gas ranges. As always, I welcome your opinions.

I like this model because it has a single oven, no integrated griddle, and the grates can't go in the dishwasher--so it's likely they're not coated. They look a bit more like the ones I have and love: heavy, in a somewhat similar shape. Also, the range isn't "smart."

I do have a concern though. My 20-year-old GE Profile range has the controls on a 10.5" rise on the back. The stove was part of my kitchen design, so there's no backsplash behind it--just a painted wall. And my countertop backsplash stops at the side edges of the stove. So replacing my stove with one that doesn't rise at the back is likely to result in an unfinished, messy look. But fixable?

I like that range too. Does it require a non-combustible backsplash?

Good question, Maire. This is something I'll have to find out.

We had to research that with our gas range. Ceramic tile and grout on top of drywall isn't non-combustible. In PA our range is on an island so it wasn't something we had to consider. But it's more involved when a gas range is placed against a wall . In our house here in NJ we have ceramic tile over a cement board with steel studs behind that, and it extends about 8 inches below the top of the range. The other option was to allow 5 or 6 " of open space between the range and the wall with a tall metal backguard that was screwed to the range.

The Appliance store wasn't at all helpful - I found better information here in the Appliance and Kitchen forums.

I don't know what the PA code requires or if all gas ranges need that kind of install.

Thanks, Maire. I don't know either, but our local appliance repair shop also does installations, and they've been helpful about things in the past. I'll start there. I'll probably have them install whatever I buy anyway, as the stores won't do the gas conversion.

We have a Bertazzoni range (2015) that has cast iron grates, and it came with a wok grate and a simmer grate, to use with small pans.

Bertazzoni also sells an LP adapter, if you need one. We installed the stainless steel backsplash ourselves, since there was otherwise a painted wall.

We bought this when a lot of ranges did not have sealed tops, but fortunately that has changed, and the Samsung that we bought for Cathedral City has a sealed top and cost a fraction as much, but then it is not red.

Frigidaire sounds like an odd name for a stove, but I realize that it is just a company name. The managers of the apartment complex where I lived in Culver City called all refrigerators Frigidaires. They were originally from Pennsylvania, and so that might be a regional thing.

I would not want coated grates on a range.

Very soon, gas ranges will be discontinued in either Los Angeles or all of California.

That's a great looking stove, Lars. I grew up in NYC, and a lot of people in my parents' generation called refrigerators Frigidaires. I've been in PA for over 40 years, and I haven't heard it used that way in a long time.

Lars: I love your red range!!