Customer Reviews

Weber Style 6434 Professional-Grade Vegetable Basket

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I hesitated to add this after a few comments made below - but boy am I glad I did. It is big, (takes up about half of my 3 burner surface on my Weber Genesis) but is SOOO easy to use and works great for veggies. Just chop and toss in.

Like a few suggested, I use peanut oil to keep the veggies from sticking.

And as for the comments about this being really tough to clean . . .I don't have any idea what the complaint is. A couple of drops of soap and a little water - this thing cleans up slick, with no food particles left. It is stainless steel, so of course it will tarnish and discolor, that is the nature of stainless steel when heated. If you want it to look new - then don't use it!!

We use this basket very frequently. It makes grilling vegetables and potatoes much easier than using aluminum foil or using skewers. True, once you use it, it will lose its shinny metallic luster, and will turn into a combination of black and brown, but rest assured, it is clean and safe to grill on.

Just saw that lacking in all the reviews before I bought this: EXACTLY how big is it? 12 x 14 inches, at the top, that's how big. In case anyone wondering, like I was.

I purchased one of these two years ago at a specialty grill store. I had read good things in Cook's Illustrated about it's larger cousin and I figured this smaller one would be worth a try.

I love this basket. I have tried every other product you can imagine to cook small veggies and such with very limited success. I have a closet full of gadgets that either didn't work or had so many design flaws they weren't worth using. Not so with this basket. The sides are high enough to allow you to toss around your veggies as you cook. The handles are just large enough to allow you to get a good grip on them and just small enough not to get in the way. The holes or slots are large enough to allow really good direct contact with heat and small enough so nothing falls through them. I started out doing the classic grill veggies such as zucchini, mushrooms and onion but soon realized I could now try pretty much anything. My families favorites are grilled green beans and grilled broccoli (my personal fave). Grilling these two really changes their flavor profile and will amaze whoever you are cooking for. Another dish my family loves is "grilled" stirfry. I 'stirfry' the veggies over a screaming hot heat on the grill before adding it to the rice and such. This basket also helps make a killer fajita by allowing your to get a good char on green peppers and onions. I can't say enough good things about this basket, definitely one of my absolute favorite grill accessories.

Ok, so I've read all the negative comments about clean up. I suppose if you are one of those people who simply must have shiny stainless steel cooking implements for your grill then, yes, this basket might be a problem. However, so will every other stainless steel item you cook with on a grill. The basket is cleanable and even to the point that you make it look like new each time if you desire but it's going to take a lot of work. While I loved how my basket looked new I resigned myself to have a basket that performed well instead of looking good. My basket has a dark patina on it, just like the inside of my stainless steel Weber grill, and it performs perfectly. When I'm done with it I allow it to soak in the sink (if there's any stuck on stuff) then give it a quick scrub to remove any stuck-ons then toss it in the dishwasher. Easy peasy...

One tip that will really help you grill with this basket - Put it in the grill when you do your preheat. The basket works MUCH better when it's already at temperature. I've never had any sticking problems after preheating. Also, let the basket cool down slowly. Leave it on the grill after turning off the heat so it cools down at a slow rate. Cooling it down too quickly will result in the metal warping. If this happens don't worry though..just put it in the grill as it heats up. Take it up to a fairly high temp. Then turn off heat and let the basket cool slowly inside your grill. It will be back to normal when it's done. Same principle if you are using charcoal..just let the coals die down instead of turning off heat.

This replaced one of those cheap, round teflon coated pans that was losing it's coating (can't be good for us!). I sprayed this with oil prior to use, then heated it and removed from the heat to spray again 4 more times. This created an "emulsion" coating on it which made it a cinch to clean up. And so far it is just as silver as when it came out of the box! I really think that taking the time to pre-treat it in this way (something I saw on America's Test Kitchen on PBS).

I just take some rough-chopped veggies like green beans, red bell pepper, onion, shallots and garlic and toss them in oil, salt and pepper and throw them in the basket on the grill. They come out great. Don't obsess about keeping the thing looking like new. Treat it like a seasoned, cast-iron frying pan. It will darken with age but over time things won't stick to the seasoned surface. Just give it a good wash and the heat of the grill will take care of the rest.

I've used this many times for the past two summers and it is great for grilling vegetables. Usually we put in some squash, zucchini, onions, asparagus, and mushrooms. Have not noticed any metallic taste and we do not keep it shiny clean. It has turned black and brown in places due to the food browning. We wash with soap and water and use it again kinda like we would a skillet.

So this is exactly what you'd expect it to be. Stainless Steel and does a good job of holding things that are larger than the openings in it.

Importantly, why to get this for a Weber Grill over more generic ones that I've also purchased. It actually fits under the secondary grate. Other ones I've used don't fit under the secondary rack so you end up having to take it off in order to use the basket. This one actually fits under it on a Weber grill, which makes dealing with that secondary rack much easier.

This has performed very well over the past six months. It cleans up fairly easy, sometimes I attack the more stubborn spots with baking powder and elbow grease. It fits perfectly on one side of my Weber "Silver" grill. Pre-heating is key, I normally put the empty basket down when I first fire up the grill. For what it's worth, "Cook's" magazine rated this near the top out of a dozen or so baskets tested in 2009.

This grill basket is very versatile for cooking any type of vegetable. Just toss with oil and throw on low heat on the pre-heated grill. Our favorites are fingerling potatoes, escarole with garlic, and asparagus. After the first use the pan gets discolored with a grilled-on patina. It's not worth trying to scrub it off. It's 9" square at the base and 11" square at the top. We sometimes have to cook in two batches when serving more than four people. We've already offered one as a gift and will likely give this again. We're even thinking of buying a second one so we can cook two batches at once. A very nifty invention!