Putting in an outdoor kitchen and am picking appliances at the moment. I've decided to forgo a gas grill and roll with this instead

http://www.blazegrills.com/product/blaze-30-built-gas-griddle/

Will also have a Kamado Joe Iarge as well. Wondering now if I made the right call. Is there any thing I will really miss by not having a gas grill? What about a side burner? Not sure it's worth the $600 extra either.

Depends on your stage of life. If you've got kids and a job that takes a lot of time, nothing better than firing up the burners and having a scorching hot grill in 10-15 mins. I'd do the side burner and get them both plumbed in to your house's gas line. If you've got more time, then by all means charcoal away.

I went your route with our outdoor kitchen. BGE and the exact model of griddle. Only issue with the griddle 6 month's in is that it is a pain to clean up afterwards. I would recommend a side burner for searing meat outside after a sous vide if that your thing.

Interesting. Never seen one before.

How do you keep it covered when not in use?

It comes with a stainless steel cover

MIAGD said:

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I went your route with our outdoor kitchen. BGE and the exact model of griddle. Only issue with the griddle 6 month's in is that it is a pain to clean up afterwards. I would recommend a side burner for searing meat outside after a sous vide if that your thing.

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Could you not sear on the griddle?

If building an outdoor kitchen I'd have a gas grill. And this is coming from someone who has cooked on charcoal/wood his whole life.

I did a 36" Blackstone griddle along side my BGE when i built my outdoor kitchen. I was hoping the griddle would get hot enough to boil water in a pan, but it does not. I picked up a cheap tabletop induction unit for that kind of thing...

I can quickly get my BGE hot enough for steaks and pork chops to use on weeknights regularly.

I know a couple people that have griddles and really like them. Take a look at the Le Griddle. I think that's the brand they have and they really like it. Clean up is super easy.

I'm considering doing the exact same thing. Built in griddle, BGE, and a burner. I really can't see myself using a gas grill all that much but I may be off.

Following .. let us know what you end up doing.

I finished my outdoor kitchen in March and since then I haven't smoked a single thing on the kamado (I will at soem point), but I've done burgers, steak, chicken, and pork on the kamado rather than the grill. I've used the grill maybe 2 times. I think you will be ok with your plan. It doesn't take long for the kamado to come up to temp as long as you have the right amount of lump charcoal.

MIAGD said:

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I went your route with our outdoor kitchen. BGE and the exact model of griddle. Only issue with the griddle 6 month's in is that it is a pain to clean up afterwards. I would recommend a side burner for searing meat outside after a sous vide if that your thing.

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This. To be complete, you have to have something that gets really hot for searing a steak. Those pellet grill advertisements will make a pretty good arguement that a side sear grill for reverse searing is the ultimate add-on to your grill. I am not sure how hot your Blaze cooker gets.

If you're lucky enough to have natural gas at your house, plumb everything for gas.

I recently bought a 36" Blackstone and I dont know how I haven't had one sooner. I would definitely consider the griddle over a grill. When I do my outdoor kitchen, it will have a griddle.

I think this is a great idea and will be interested to see how it works out.

Definitely get the griddle. Then you can have your own miserable Benihana, complete with poor knife skills, ants, flies, and Texas' terrible heat and humidity.

When I get around to doing my outdoor kitchen I plan for a side burner for boiling up shrimp or crawfish, as well as the cast iron sear job. Maybe a year or two from now.

Olag00 said:

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I recently bought a 36" Blackstone and I dont know how I haven't had one sooner. I would definitely consider the griddle over a grill. When I do my outdoor kitchen, it will have a griddle.

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I've had the 36" blackstone for about two years now. I'm still obsessed with it. It's probably the most versatile thing I've ever bought cooking wise. For this build, I just wanted something that was a bit heavier duty that will hold up for years (blaze has a lifetime warranty).

I actually opened this thread thinking "you're kidding right?" You now have my attention. What was your thinking? Cheaper? Ease of cleaning?

Another thing I haven't seen mentioned is resale value/appeal. I feel like it's kind of assumed by the general public that an outdoor kitchen has a gas grill. May lose some of the appeal to a buyer. So may consider at least running a line to it.

I have a 36" as well. Best Buy I've made in a long time. I don't cover it, just get it hot and dump some water on it and use a big sponge before each use. You can easily cook breakfast for 20 on it, sears steaks flawlessly, fajitas are also a crowd pleaser.

Go to a restaurant supply store, there are a ton of flat grill tools that make life easier.

My outdoor kitchen has only a Primo XL. I've reached a stage in life where I decided that if I don't have time fire up the ceramic to do a cook right, then I'm not going to do it at all. But that is because I find great relaxation in grilling and cooking on it. That time is dedicated to drinking and relaxing. Speed is not the goal. Quality is the goal.

I'm going to Texags and go off topic with an unasked for recommendation. The short of it would defintely be ok without a traditional gas grill and just go with the griddle, feel free to ignore the rest.

Do you already have the Kamado Joe? If not, I would at least consider a Memphis Pellet Grill and a Griddle.

The memphis elite can get up to 700f temperature. It does a really good job grilling, just have to run it hotter than many people think. I do hamburgers, chicken and such at 475 and get good grill marks.

Briskets and the like are super easy to cook without ever having to check on it.

It is almost as easy as a gas grill to use, to the point where my wife will even use it.

With that, having the griddle would be an awesome combination.

J.D. c/o 05 said:

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I actually opened this thread thinking "you're kidding right?" You now have my attention. What was your thinking? Cheaper? Ease of cleaning?

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I was mainly trying to maximize usable counter space and I asked myself "why do I need the gas grill". I was thinking it's good for quick burgers and things like that but burgers on the griddle are better and just as fast. Basically anything easy on a gas grill can be made on a griddle from my experience with the Blackstone. Anything truly needing quality heat or smoke from a grill can be done on the kamado. So I wanted to bounce the idea off others to see if I'm missing anything.

htxag09 said:

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Another thing I haven't seen mentioned is resale value/appeal. I feel like it's kind of assumed by the general public that an outdoor kitchen has a gas grill. May lose some of the appeal to a buyer. So may consider at least running a line to it.

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Bought this house recently on acreage as something we'd wanted for a while. Won't be moving for years, if ever.

We are in the design phase for my outdoor kitchen right now. Anybody have a wok burner in their outdoor kitchen? My thoughts are to use this for my discada, Regular wok, and for crawfish boils.

What say you wise OB???

This is the route I'm looking at. We have a few pool companies drawing up plans and an outdoor kitchen is a part of them. Going with the Primo XL and that's it (plus stainless drawers and a fridge). May take the Kamodo to the ranch and let it retire out there. Want maximum counter space.

Take a look at all a griddle can do. It's a good complement to kamados since it can do things they simply cant and expands your cooking choices.

How much longer does the XL take to get up to temp (say for grilling) than a typical Large egg? Is it a noticeable time difference? I use a chimney starter for burgers/chicken and cubes for smoking so it comes up gradually.

I have the L. I start with a mapp torch and usually hit to temp in 15-20 minutes

Necesito disco!

Bayside Tiger Ag said:

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Take a look at all a griddle can do. It's a good complement to kamados since it can do things they simply cant and expands your cooking choices.

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My opinion hasn't always been that I can throw it on the stove in a cast iron pan. I don't need have to do that outside. I honestly see zero benefit to having a griddle. Serious question....what does the griddle do that a ceramic can't?

Run gas to fuel burners for fish frys and crawfish boils.

My current outdoor kitchen setup has a 42" gas grill and a dual side burner. I've also got a separate kamado grill that I use frequently. I would highly recommend a side burner, but instead of the standard dual setup, get a power burner that will give you higher btu's. That will let you use it for cast iron searing and shrimp/crawfish boils. That's the only thing I would do differently on mine.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Bayside Tiger Ag said:

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Take a look at all a griddle can do. It's a good complement to kamados since it can do things they simply cant and expands your cooking choices.

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My opinion hasn't always been that I can throw it on the stove in a cast iron pan. I don't need have to do that outside. I honestly see zero benefit to having a griddle. Serious question....what does the griddle do that a ceramic can't?

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It can cook a full breakfast quickly and with little mess. I'm taking bacon, eggs, pancakes all perfectly done and at the same time or close to it. Makes the best omelettes you'll ever have.

For burgers it really can't be beat. A flat top griddle is what every great burger place uses and there's a reason for that. Not to mention being able to toast your buns quickly and efficient right next to the patties is plus. Want bacon? Throw it on there too.

Fried rice and hibachi has been mentioned and it's killer. Near impossible on a kamado.

Philly cheesesteaks are another good one. Onions and peppers one side and steak on the other. Bring them together, throw on a slice of provolone and use a long handled spatula to slide onto a roll. Easy and awesome.

One huge plus is for fajitas. You can cook the meat on the kamado and then throw fresh tortilla uncooked tortillas on the griddle about 8 at a time and you've got fresh tortillas immediately.

There's a ton of other stuff but those are off the top of my head.