Beginning a new home build and wanted to get feedback on: IF you had to make a choice would you choose a 36" build in propane grill or a built in griddle. Taking into account cost and likely use cases.

I've been planning in my head to get a propane grill and add a standalone Blackstone griddle. But, now have second thoughts and thinking about saving some $ and building in the griddle and adding a Weber kettle or the like for those times when I want to use charcoal/wood.

Would appreciate any feedback you might have.

Stewart

I would vote griddle. I have a gas grill in my outdoor kitchen that I almost never use. Anything you might cook on a gas grill (chicken, hamburgers, etc.) would come out better on a griddle anyway.

I'm sure you can find models that have inserts for both. (I bought a griddle that I use on my gas grill and that works pretty well, too.)

If you're set on a gas grill, I had a friend that installed a high-end pellet smoker in place of a grill. They can come up to temp about as fast as a gas grill and have much more functionality. His builder just left enough space for him to install the smoker. It doesn't look as finished-out as a grill but it's also nice not to be locked into something that has to fit a certain space.

Maybe a dumb question, but what changes would you need to make to outdoor kitchen if originally going to install a gas grill and pivot to a griddle?

I would definitely go griddle. We bought a house that has a built in gas grill, but only use it when entertaining large groups - everything else I do on my BGE.

I looked at replacing it with a griddle last year. The built-in griddles did give me sticker shock ($1,500+), didn't fit, and were out of stock. If I was starting from scratch I would definitely go in with a griddle - it would complement a Weber Kettle nicely. Everything you can do on a gas grill you can do on a griddle, but a gas grill can't do everything a griddle can do.

In our build we're doing an evo and egg, both built in. I wanted a griddle but a charcoal grill is more versatile than gas in my opinion. Only doing one built in, I'd do griddle and weber/egg

What size range are you putting in the house? We did a 48" with a single griddle. If I had a do-over, I would have got the 24" double griddle and 4 burners instead of 6

Outside we have a 36" built in Blaze grill and a BGE built in. Additionally we have a pellet smoker and a 36" Blackstone on wheels. If I were building today, I'd build in a Blaze 30" Griddle and the BGE (actually would buy a Grill Dome if starting from scratch). If you can't swing a ceramic right now, you can put a Kettle grill in the hole you cut for a Kamado

Other advice, don't try to save money on this unless you absolutely have to. There are other areas to save money that can be easily upgraded down the road. Replacing/cutting granite to re-do an outdoor kitchen is difficult and costly.

Just went through this myself. Put in a Blaze 30" griddle and a shelf for a Yoder 640s

Thanks all for the replies and reinforcing my idea to go griddle over grill. To FIDO's question, we are putting in a 48" Wolf - 6 burner with a griddle. Probably overkill on number of burners, but I'd prefer to go that way with an outdoor griddle of some sort than look back and regret not having enough burner space for some big event we are hosting.

Rarely use our wolf griddle. Would use more if I went with the larger griddle with 4 burners instead of 6 to minimize grease cleanup outside the griddle for a simple burger. Also we put an evo on the patio which is easier to clean than the wolf.

That said, you can put a pot on the wolf griddle for large cooks - just takes longer to heat than a burner

I have all sorts of cooking instruments, but if I was solely discussing griddle OR gas grill, I'd probably go with grill because it will probably get used more. Also depends on time spent outdoors, if you have kids and need quick meals, etc. but that's initial thought.

A year ago I went through the same ideas and after reading through TexAgs decided to go with a Blaze griddle to go along with the Egg I already had and a power burner, and glad I did. Not once have I had a need of a gas grill, and find that I use the griddle for almost everything.

Love the look of this. For my planning purposes, can you tell me the size of the egg and the dimensions of the nest? Many thanks.

Stewart

This is the way.

A smoker (Ceramic, Pellet, etc) & Griddle is the ideal set up.

StewRo said:

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Thanks all for the replies and reinforcing my idea to go griddle over grill. To FIDO's question, we are putting in a 48" Wolf - 6 burner with a griddle. Probably overkill on number of burners, but I'd prefer to go that way with an outdoor griddle of some sort than look back and regret not having enough burner space for some big event we are hosting.

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You will regret not getting the double griddle. Trust me on this. You'll never have more than 4 burners going at once. You won't be able to fit the pots and pans. You're talking about sacrificing something you'll use multiple times/week for something that I've never needed in 10+ years of owning my home. I love outdoor cooking on the Blackstone, but the convenience of an indoor griddle can't be beat. Just trust me on this one. If you do need the space for a big event, keep in mind a pan will heat no problem on a griddle.

FIDO*98* said:

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StewRo said:

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Thanks all for the replies and reinforcing my idea to go griddle over grill. To FIDO's question, we are putting in a 48" Wolf - 6 burner with a griddle. Probably overkill on number of burners, but I'd prefer to go that way with an outdoor griddle of some sort than look back and regret not having enough burner space for some big event we are hosting.

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You will regret not getting the double griddle. Trust me on this. You'll never have more than 4 burners going at once. You won't be able to fit the pots and pans. You're talking about sacrificing something you'll use multiple times/week for something that I've never needed in 10+ years of owning my home. I love outdoor cooking on the Blackstone, but the convenience of an indoor griddle can't be beat. Just trust me on this one. You'll regret not going with the bigger griddle. If you do need the space for a big event, keep in mind a pan will heat no problem on a griddle.

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I disagree here. We built house and have lived in it for 15 months now and we haven't used our inside griddle once. We've used the cast iron griddle outside close to 100 times however. A lot of that has to do with cleaning stainless versus cast iron, but also I'd much rather clean up a mess on my patio than in my kitchen.

I guess it's just a case of YMMV and what you're cooking. My indoor griddle is far easier to clean than my Blackstone. I also don't want to have to go in and out of the house for simple things like pancakes and grilled sandwiches.

Maybe you should try your indoor griddle since you just said you literally haven't used it once. How can you say outdoor is better when you haven't even tried the indoor version? I use both of mine regularly, and my commentary still stands based on apparently far more experience than you have with indoor griddling.

Can also put a griddle pan on a rangetop if you want it indoors occasionally

I can agree with this.

I make breakfast on this multiple times a week. Works perfectly and is easy to clean.

FIDO*98* said:

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I guess it's just a case of YMMV and what you're cooking. My indoor griddle is far easier to clean than my Blackstone. I also don't want to have to go in and out of the house for simple things like pancakes and grilled sandwiches.

Maybe you should try your indoor griddle since you just said you literally haven't used it once. How can you say outdoor is better when you haven't even tried the indoor version? I use both of mine regularly, and my commentary still stands based on apparently far more experience than you have with indoor griddling.

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Makes sense on not wanting to go in and out. I guess I'm just weird. Love prepping and putting stuff in the fridge outside and cooking out there.

Prob not ever going to use the inside griddle. Like I said before, I hate cleaning stainless steel stuff. I cooked in several restaurants while at A&M and know what it's like cooking on stainless steel griddle, and I know what it's like to clean them. It will never look the same as it does now and cleaning cast iron is so much easier.

It's the XL egg. As far as measurements, I started following BGE's official cutout measurements until I realized it would sit much higher. When it came to building the frame I just sat the Egg and nest it was sitting in at the time against the wall, opened it to check clearances, took a bunch of measurements and hoped like hell I measured correctly. It's sitting in the table nest now, mostly to allow a big of air underneath so the concrete wouldn't act like a heat sink. They recommend against using the table nest without a surround, but mine has never come close to tipping or sliding around so I wouldn't worry about it.

Also, I spent a good month of two planning the layout of this setup, even going to BBQ stores and imaging I was standing there cooking. I knew I wanted a big countertop space from griddle to bartop so people could sit and watch, while also having space around the griddle including space by the egg for large pans. I didn't care as much for countertop space around the power burner because I was limited on overwall width so I sacrificed there. I tried to pack as much cabinet space as I could as well, along with plenty of drawers. As you can see in the pic the burner is up against the house, but the surround for it actually works pretty nicely if I'm doing wok cooking.

I did 100% of the build myself, and am super happy with everything, except the concrete countertop. I poured it in late August - early September and it was setting up much faster than I could keep up with so there's a lot of trowel marks and unevenness to it. I've considered taking more time polishing it hoping it'd smooth out, but it works for now.

Great job. I built mine as well last year and it makes it even more fun cooking in, thinking about the many thousands of dollars I saved by doing that.

Add one more vote for Griddle. Since we installed ours in May, its basically the primary cooking tool I use. Weekend breakfasts are super easy now, with cleanup being so much easier than my indoor kitchen. Can make burgers or chicken in minutes. We love it.

Any opinions on Le Griddle vs Blaze for built in griddles? I have a 30 inch built-in gas grill I am looking to replace and I am pretty sure I will go with a griddle.

I am going against the grain on this and say go with the grill. I have a big blaze grill and a le griddle. I use the blaze way more than the griddle. I plan to use the griddle more, just haven't. I grew up on gas grills and I guess that influences me. The stuff I would normally do on the le griddle I find myself doing in a big pan on the stove. Just old habit I guess. Another thing is folks seem less likely to help with a griddle. Any red blooded Texan feels comfortable manning the grill for a couple minutes while I go handle something. Not so much with the griddle.

Agree. If the gas grill is your only grill then just get a carbon steel griddle to go on top.

If you use an egg or Weber or whatever for grilling then sure use the space for a griddle.

The BGE and griddle combo is hard to beat.

Also, to the person asking about the Le Griddle. I have a 30" Le Griddle. It's enough space to easily cook for 2 families of 4. It's also super easy to clean. I use the hell out of ours.

That is beautiful! Can't beat XL BGE and LeGriddle! Those griddles are built to last!

Thanks!

It is a very versatile set up.

Nice humble brag of your view from the backyard!

Cooking sausage is my only downside to the griddle. I dont think flat surfaces like pans or griddles are good for sausage as it leaves stripped of burned skin where the contact is.

LOL. The patio was a deciding factor in buying the house.

I think we might have similar tastes. I have that same table and chairs, same kids water thingy and had that same weber before my Blaze.

An Evo is essentially a grill and griddle.

You also have grills that have griddle inserts.

With a true griddle, you lose the ability to bake or cook indirect. If you don't mind that or you pair it with an egg then you're good to go.

Btw:
Would love to help you with layout. We offer free design and construction drawings if you purchase thru us. We offer all the top brands. www.creekstoneoutdoors.com

AggieSam designed mine and delivered all of my appliances to northern DFW last year. Very good experience.
He just designed my buddy's up here as well and was a good experience.