Stainless plate 102 cm with opening for fire bowl Cookking

This 102 cm plate is pierced at its centre with a 48 cm opening, left clear. No grate : a hole. The fire stays visible and reachable, and you cook on the steel ring around it.

A hole rather than a grate, and what that allows

The opening changes three things. You can feed the fire without dismantling anything, sliding a log through the centre, where a solid or grated plate forces you to take everything off. You keep the view of the flames, which is the whole point of a fire bowl. And you can hang or set a pot, a wok or a kettle directly above the live fire.

The trade-off is that you grill nothing at the centre. If what you want is to mark meat over a direct flame, it is the grated version you need, not this one.

A ring of twenty-seven centimetres

Between the outer edge and the opening there remains a band of steel about 27 cm wide all the way round. That is a considerable griddle surface, heated by the perimeter of the hearth, and it goes the whole way round : several people can cook at the same time without getting in each other's way, each on their own sector.

The heat is not uniform there, and that is an advantage once you have understood it : very hot near the opening, gentler towards the edge. You sear on the inner edge and let things wait on the outside.

Sixteen kilos, four handles

The stainless steel is about 3 mm and the whole weighs 16 kg. The four handles welded around the edge are no ornament : they let two people set the plate down and lift it off, with gloves, with the fire lit.

Stainless is justified by the upkeep rather than the cooking. A plate that lives outdoors and takes fat and rain needs only a scrape here, where ordinary steel calls to be oiled after every use. It is handmade.

For which fire bowls

It rests on the rim, with no fixing. The manufacturer gives it as compatible with the BALI, POLO, VIKING, INDIANA, SANTIAGO and PANAMA fire bowls in large format. Measure the outside diameter of your hearth before ordering : a plate that is too tight will not sit, one that is too wide overhangs harmlessly but loses heat.

Before you order

It is made in Europe. This item is not kept in our warehouses : it ships directly from the manufacturer, so check the lead time announced on this page before confirming your basket.