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You’ve seen Blackstone griddles all over social media and now you’re considering getting one. They’re perfect for breakfasts, fried rice, burgers, hot dogs, and all types of meat. Before you go spending your money, below are 5 things to steer you in the right direction.
1) What Size Blackstone
The most popular models of the Blackstone griddle are the 28″ and the 36″ griddles, which translates to 524 square inches and 720 square inches of cooking area respectively. Which model you want to go with will depend on your budget, how many people you’re cooking for, how many things you’re cooking at once and your available space at home to store it.
We recommend going as large as you can, because not only do you get more space to cook, you get more burners. With more burners you can have one area of the griddle super hot and another colder to cook different types of food at once.
2) Blackstone Griddle Seasoning
Seasoning your griddle is a fancy way of saying putting oil on the griddle. It’s important because it protects the griddle top from rust, helps your food not stick and adds flavor. Think about the restaurants you like to eat at that use a griddle or grill.
They are constantly putting oil and food on it, to get that delicious flavor. Below is a video from Blackstone on seasoning (putting oil on it).
Even though it costs more than using other oils around the house, we really like the Blackstone Griddle Seasoning. It’s so thick that it has a solid texture, like coconut oil, and it coats the griddle surface really well.
3) Blackstone Accessories
Blackstone sells every accessory imaginable, from taco racks to the fancy oil from above and even pizza oven conversions for some griddles. Stick with buying the essentials (spatulas, scrapers/choppers and bottles) that you need to use your griddle at first and put your money into buying the best griddle you can.
Blackstone makes a basic 5 piece kit to get you started. You can always buys accessories later after you see how much and how you use your griddle.
4) Learn the Hot Zones
Like we mentioned in number 1, different parts of the griddle top will be at different temperatures. If your food is right over a burner, it’s going to be hotter than at the corner of the grill where there aren’t any burners.
It’s like when you boil a pot of water over a small stove burner and bubbles start to come up just where the burner is. Learn where the different temperature zones are to know where you want your food.
5) Griddle Seasoning Takes Time
Kind of piggybacking off of number 2, if you plan on using your griddle as soon as you get it, keep in mind you have to season it first. This can throw a wrench in your cooking plans if you aren’t expecting it.
Blackstone recommends that you season it three times before using it. The process involves coating the surface in oil, then burning it off on high heat. Each time seasoning takes 15-30 minutes, so plan accordingly.