I ended up buying a couple melting domes and some special cleaning supplies. I almost pulled the trigger on a fancy cover but you’ll find out that the 5 piece kit satisfies almost every need that goes along with cooking on this thing. This one might be a no brainer but having an extra propane tank on hand is key. It happened to me once (which was one too many times) and I immediately ordered the natural gas kit for it so I’d never have to bother with filling propane tanks again.
Without the hood and extra side table, this model is lighter than other 28-inch Blackstone griddles at 71 pounds, making it easier to fold up and transport to the next big game. If you want more space there’s also a 5-burner griddle that bumps your cooking surface up to 750 square inches, and moves the grease catch to the side. The Camp Chef Flat Top 900 makes preparing large servings of food a breeze thanks to its 877 squares inches of cooking space with six heating zones.
Another perk of this outdoor cooking device is that it keeps smoke and strong food smells in the fresh air instead of your kitchen. When shopping for a griddle, you’ll find a range of sizes suitable for small patios and serving large groups. As the name suggests, Blackstone’s Adventure Ready series of grills are designed for road trips, be it to a park, campground, or stadium parking lot.
A flat-top grill’s cooking power is measured in BTUs, or British Thermal Units. Many people think the higher the total BTUs, the more powerful the grill, but that doesn’t give you the whole picture. When assessing BTU, you want to consider the power per square inch. To do this, you divide total BTU by the size of the surface area. Some upgraded options also have other additions, like a lid or hood and integrated fuel gauges. The Blackstone 36-inch Griddle with Hood is our overall best flat-top grill pick because of its ample surface area, carbon steel construction, and powerful heat output.
The swankiest option, which is most comparable to our model, boasts all the same features as the others—plus many add-ons. The professional 36-inch griddle comes with drawers and cabinets, a grease-collecting system, an enclosed propane blackstone grills tank compartment, heat and wind guards and a heavy-duty hood. You can expect portable and compact grills to have about 60 BTU per square inches of power too—you can’t compare these apples-to-apples to full-size, full-power grills.
It also has two wheels for easy transport from place to place. Once the grill was well-seasoned, I went all in and cooked breakfast for the Test Kitchen team at the office. I wanted to see just how well the Blackstone performed when cooking black stone griddle multiple foods at once. So, I loaded up the flat-top with pancakes, fried eggs and bacon. Before I started cooking, I coated the entire surface in vegetable oil and set all the burners to high until the oil began to smoke and burn off.
When choosing an oil for cooking on a Blackstone griddle, especially steaks, I recommend using avocado oil instead of olive oil. Fried rice is a very easy side dish cooked on a flat top griddle. Look for a griddle slightly bigger than you think you need so you can have plenty of space for entertaining. The swath of options (and, as a result, price points) ensures there’s something to suit everyone’s needs and space. A Blackstone griddle also makes an excellent gift for grillers who have everything.