Blackstone Griddles- Adam & Dom --Get in here

[hammondc]

Talk to me........I am looking at the 36"

Adam has already given me some insight via PM.

How do you clean the top?
Do you always leave it on?
Does it rust?
Hot spots?


Anything in particular that sucks about it?


If anyone else is curious what I am talking about MASH THIS.

[T.G]

Treat it like cast iron cookware. A little bit of care and don't completely neglect it, and it's great.

Dom gets way more rain than I do maybe he can comment more. I won't knowingly leave mine out for that weather though. Even with the cover. I mean, I wouldn't put my cast iron cookware in the dishwasher either...

Not sure by what you mean by always leave it on. I sometimes shut down one or two burners when I'm cooking and I want that area as just a food warmer area. Plenty of heat conducts across that massive steel griddle top.

No real hot spots to speak of. Of course it will be warmer directly over the burners than up in the corner, but nothing massive.

[jonumberone]

Originally Posted by hammondc

Talk to me........I am looking at the 36"

Adam has already given me some insight via PM.

36" or bust. I'm sure Adam already shared his experience with the 28"

How do you clean the top?

Water, scraper, and some paper towels.
The clean up is pretty fast and easy

Do you always leave it on?

Like Adam, not sure what this means.
I do the same, cutting off one or two burners for food that's cooked and I just want to hold.
I leave the propane tank connected and on, just like a gas grill, if that's what you mean?

Does it rust?

I haven't gotten any rust on my cooking surface.
Just take the time to season it properly and you should be fine.

Hot spots?

Mine cooks cooler towards the front and back edges.
All my burners cook the same, I don't have one that cooks hotter than the others.
Here's a before and after pic of the seasoning process.
You can see where my griddle cooks hotter.

Anything in particular that sucks about it?

I wish the channel that funnels the grease was a little larger.
The size is fine for managing grease while cooking, but I sometimes overflow it while cleaning it with water
If I go slower and take care not to spill any, I can do it, but I don't like to go slower.

The cover has a seam that runs right over the cook top.
When it rains water lays on the top, seeps through the seam, and ends up on the griddle.
This hasn't caused any rust on mine, yet.
I cook on mine pretty frequently, but could see if forgotten about for 4-6 weeks with some rain, it could be an issue.
I sometimes cover mine with an upside down mixing bowl on the griddle.
It helps the water run off, and not lay on the cook top.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by jonumberone

36" or bust. I'm sure Adam already shared his experience with the 28"

Yeah, I explained over PMs, but I'll put it out here for everyone.

The 28" has a very bad burner design. It uses two circular burners that sit next to each other, like a stove top. This caused two massive hot spots right over the burners while the rest of the griddle top, which was probably 30-35% of the total area, ran cold. For the amount of usable cook surface that I had, I might as well have just been using one of the green fold up coleman 2-burner propane camp stove and some pans.

The top also warped.

Twice. Both times with very little usage.

After the first top warped to the tune of 1/4"-1/2" up or down (I forget which) over the burners, the company sent me out a new top. The height of the pins was different on that one, so it ended up warping the other way, I think it caved in.

Customer service was great though, that's one of the reasons I went and bought the larger one after returning the 28".

Plus, buying the 36" direct from their website (www.griddleguru.com), because of no tax, it ended up being only about $80 more than the 28" from Amazon. I had started out with the 28" because I wanted something a bit more portable, but now that I've had both, I can say that unless you have a really small car, the 36" is just as portable as the 28". And it has a larger cook surface, it heats more evenly, it has 4 burners, doesn't warp, has better wheels... it's well worth the extra few bucks.

[hammondc]

**Leaving it on: I meant, do you leave the cooking griddle on it when it is not in use? Mine will have to be outside---I will get the cover for though. Seems like if you know you are not going to use it for a while, you would just put the top inside.

I suppose rust is the major concern for me. I am in middle Georgia--humid and rainy. I will likely only use it once/maybe twice a week.

[T.G]

I clean the cook surface basically the same way Dom does, I crank it to high, use a pastry scraper to get the bits of food off, wipe it down with a wet paper towel or rag under the the blade of the scraper, then, once the water evaporates, I'll wipe it down with a paper towel/rag coated with oil. Let that cook in for a moment, then shut it down and let it cool.

Agreed, the seam in the center of the cover is a pain. I discovered the hard way how much it leaked. On the flip side, the water didn't hurt the griddle top at all. I didn't leave it sitting for days though. I dried it up and re-oiled it the day after the rains.

I suppose a blue tarp and a bungee cord or two along with a spare cheese melt dome or overturned bowl like Dom uses would solve most of the problem.

These days, store the griddle collapsed in my garage because I just don't have the room in my yard right now with all the other cooking stuff I have out there, plus I mostly use it at work anyway. About once a month or so we do something, it and the PBC are the two I prefer to drag down there since they are the most portable.

[hammondc]

SUHWEEEET! the 36" just went on sale at Amazon for $255. I'm in!!!! So stoked!!!!!!

[T.G]

Originally Posted by hammondc

SUHWEEEET! the 36" just went on sale at Amazon for $255. I'm in!!!! So stoked!!!!!!

That's the 2nd lowest price I've ever seen on the 36". Last year's BF sale @ Griddle Guru was $249 w/ free shipping.

http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/?u=...4&e=918cb04610

[Tio Gato]

Chip, if you go with the cover you can make the seam over the top water tight by using tent seam sealer. Sold at camping stores or online. Enjoy that new toy!

[hammondc]

Yeah it was 261 a month ago on amazon. 255 and free shipping. Gotta buy.

[T.G]

Oh, one other word of advice, make sure you have at least 2 (full) propane tanks, especially when the weather starts getting colder. This thing can guzzle propane, I've had a few 40# tanks freeze when they get down about half way and I'm running med to high on all burners. When that happens, you lose gas pressure and you have to swap out the tank if you want to keep cooking.

[hammondc]

Originally Posted by T.G

Oh, one other word of advice, make sure you have at least 2 (full) propane tanks, especially when the weather starts getting colder. This thing can guzzle propane, I've had a few 40# tanks freeze when they get down about half way and I'm running med to high on all burners. When that happens, you lose gas pressure and you have to swap out the tank if you want to keep cooking.

Good tip. Eventually, I am going to switch it to natural gas since I have that plumbed out.

[Wharf Rat]

Originally Posted by T.G

Oh, one other word of advice, make sure you have at least 2 (full) propane tanks, especially when the weather starts getting colder. This thing can guzzle propane, I've had a few 40# tanks freeze when they get down about half way and I'm running med to high on all burners. When that happens, you lose gas pressure and you have to swap out the tank if you want to keep cooking.

You can get electric heating blanket or tapes to keep the tank warm. Please make sure they are certified for use with fuel gas. For example: http://www.powerblanket.com/propane-tank-heater/

[T.G]

So, bumping this because I just saw the sales at Home Depot...

Holy crap, the stainless 36" is only $289 right now. Note, the cook top is cold rolled steel like the others (which is an easier cooking surface to work with IMHO - stainless griddle tops are interesting), but the rest of the cart is stainless. Not that there is anything wrong with the powder coat models, but... stainless...

My local ACE hardware has the black powder coat 36" for $269 and it comes with a free Blackstone cover. I don't know if this is a company wide sale as ACE hardware stores are franchised.

[BigAsh]

Dick's Sporting Goods has them on sale for $199....

https://m.dickssportinggoods.com/p/b...36ngrddlckncfp