I am in the market for a great flat top griddle and I'm curious which brand y'all prefer. Also, I am curious what y'all do to protect/preserve your griddle surface. This will be my first griddle purchase and I want to make sure I am doing it right!

Blackstone FTW. I have a 17" for camping and it's awesome.

Blackstone EOT

Blackstone Pro 36"

You can possibly get lucky right now and find them on sale at Walmart.

I have a Camp Chef 4 burner and it is awesome.

A buddy of mine got the portable Blackstone for Father's Day and he loves it. I've had food that's been cooked on it and can confirm it's quite tasty.

I think there's an initial break in where you heat it up pretty high with some kind of oil or bacon fat or lard and after that you treat it like cast iron. Or at least that's my understanding.

I went with the Member's Mark (Sam's Club) brand instead of Blackstone. It was about $50 cheaper. No issues so far. There are definite hot spots in the center of the griddle directly over the burners vs cooler up front. Not sure if that's different than Blackstone. I have heard that the grease drainage system is better on the MM vs BS.

I have a 36" Blackstone and love it. I got lucky and stumbled on a sale at Walmart for 50% off.

If you go the portable route, I highly recommend the 22" over the 17". I bought one for traveling in addition to the 36" I have at home.

As far as grease goes, get the 1lb loaf pans from Amazon and toss after you cook. Zero cleanup. I actually prefer the front drain I have on my 36 down at the coast. You just shove and empty beer can on it and it works like a champ.

Looking forward to trying some of your recipes!

Anyone have any tips on getting rust off and cleaning the flat top? I inherited one that had evidently never been covered or kept out of the weather.

DimeBox17 said:

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Anyone have any tips on getting rust off and cleaning the flat top? I inherited one that had evidently never been covered or kept out of the weather.

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There is several good videos on YouTube that show how to do it.

FIDO*98* said:

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If you go the portable route, I highly recommend the 22" over the 17". I bought one for traveling in addition to the 36" I have at home.

As far as grease goes, get the 1lb loaf pans from Amazon and toss after you cook. Zero cleanup. I actually prefer the front drain I have on my 36 down at the coast. You just shove and empty beer can on it and it works like a champ.

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Thank you. There are 22" portables on walmart.com that come with a propane adapter for $150.

have the 4 burner Blackstone

main complaint is with the cover. it is absolutely not fully waterproof. it also collects water right on top of the griddle surface. seeps through and holds water. also fills up the grease catcher if you leave it attached. Wish there was a hard top that fit snuggly.

second complaint is they seem to have stopped supporting them....can't ever find the propane to natural gas conversion kit.

pretty easy to clean up with steam (water on hot surface). Kind of a pain to have to wipe down with oil after.

The 22" blackstone package that is only available through walmart is the way to go. Have had it for a couple years now. As far as i know it's the only griddle available with a lid/cover. Keeps the griddle way cleaner and moisture off of it. Comes with option to run off of 20# or 1# cylinders and a fold up stand.

cclearman said:

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have the 4 burner Blackstone

main complaint is with the cover. it is absolutely not fully waterproof. it also collects water right on top of the griddle surface. seeps through and holds water. also fills up the grease catcher if you leave it attached. Wish there was a hard top that fit snuggly.

second complaint is they seem to have stopped supporting them....can't ever find the propane to natural gas conversion kit.

pretty easy to clean up with steam (water on hot surface). Kind of a pain to have to wipe down with oil after.

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I had the water problem too until I put a small plastic plant pot under the cover sitting on the griddle top. It makes the cover Sort of a tent and water ran off the griddle and stopped the water pooling on the cover and sitting on the griddle.

I lust for my friend's Evo Pro.

I already have too many grills, but if I were to pick up a griddle, I'd look pretty hard at this one. Round with a lid and shelf.

Cuisinart 360

eh. overpriced, small, no edges....

Round is not your friend when it comes to a griddle.

I have finally received a brand new griddle as my graduation gift from TAMU!!! Do any of you pros have any tips on prepping the surface for the first time and also cleaning it when I am done cooking? Thanks in advance!

I just watched a bunch of YouTube videos and picked the things that either made sense to me or the most different people did as part of their method

Use Crisco to season it up and apply sparingly at high temp. Wipe a thin coat over the surface, wipe away any excsss, and let it go until it stops smoking. Repeat 5-6 times. For your first cook, throw down a pound and a half of bacon spread evenly over the grill.

For cleanup, keep a squirt bottle of water and give it a splash and use a grill scraper for the surface gunk. Wipe down with a paper towel.

When the griddle is clean, wipe down with a thin coat of oil or Crisco to protect it from rust

I have the 22" blackstone and it is awesome. Would highly recommend.

Black stone griddle and a primo XL.

This setup absolutely negates all need for gas grills, stick burners, etc. I can cook anything on these two items and the product is superior to anything I've had to done on gas or smoker.

FIDO*98* said:

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Round is not your friend when it comes to a griddle.

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This is so true. Multiple burners is also a huge plus. I can cook a complete meal at the same time on my Blackstone. Also, griddles are just awesome in general. I almost never use my gas grill anymore.

I didn't want to add another piece of equipment to my deck so I just made a griddle to fit my gas grill, problem solved. Works great

I currently have a 36" blackstone but thinking of gifting it to my dad. We just built a house and I am working on building out an outdoor kitchen. Looking to add counterspace and spots for my Primo XL, an Argentinian gaucho grill and a flat top. Does anyone have recommendations for a drop in flat top for an outdoor kitchen build?

CrawfordAg said:

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I currently have a 36" blackstone but thinking of gifting it to my dad. We just built a house and I am working on building out an outdoor kitchen. Looking to add counterspace and spots for my Primo XL, an Argentinian gaucho grill and a flat top. Does anyone have recommendations for a drop in flat top for an outdoor kitchen build?

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I'm doing a similar build (live fire cooking and everything) and I think I'm going to contact the pit man to build me a griddle to throw on to a standard grill.

I am looking at these for the Argentinian grill as a drop in, also came a across a company called Urban Asado.

https://www.gaucho-grills.com/

Blaze makes a drop in Flat Top. Best part is it's Stainless Steel so no worries about seasoning or rust