| I've had this problem in the past and now it's happened again with a cast iron (I think) grate: pieces of the darn thing start chipping off and stick to the food so that we get an extra crunch.
Before cooking, I preheat the grill to get it good and hot. After finishing a meal, I run it for another 5 minutes or so to burn off junk, then shut it down.
The current grill is a Char-Broil that works on natural gas. I don't think the grate is all that old (a year or two), but I guess it's time for a new one.
Why does this happen and what can I do to prevent it?
(We are in Southern CA so we use the grill year 'round. We've been having a drought, so extra moisture isn't the problem.) | 
