# What's so great about the Blackstone griddle?



## smokeysparks

I found a great deal on the BS griddle and I'm fixing to pull the trigger on getting one due to how much food can be cooked in one fell swoop on the 36", but my biggest question:

What is so great about it compared to just cooking on a cast iron griddle on the stovetop in the house? Does it get much better than a conventional indoor stovetop? I plan on using my Blackstone in the garage (doors open, vehicles outside, of course.) I see that the 36" has a combined 60,000 BTUs with all four burners... is that a huge advantage over indoor stovetop cooking? Thanks.


----------



## anglerman

From what I've seen on Facebook it's all about size and being used outdoors. They sure are becoming popular


----------



## SmokinAl

I have a CampChef & it's a step up from the Blackstone. IMHO!

That being said, if you can get a great deal on the Blackstone it's a great addition to your cooking arsenal.

There are a lot of guys on here that have them & you can do a lot of cooking on them.

We use ours all the time.

You certainly won't be disappointed with that purchase.

Al


----------



## 3montes

Hows that Camp Chef holding up for you Al? Any problems? I still have it on my Amazon wish list last time I checked they were out of stock.


SmokinAl said:


> I have a CampChef & it's a step up from the Blackstone. IMHO!
> 
> That being said, if you can get a great deal on the Blackstone it's a great addition to your cooking arsenal.
> 
> There are a lot of guys on here that have them & you can do a lot of cooking on them.
> 
> We use ours all the time.
> 
> You certainly won't be disappointed with that purchase.
> 
> Al


Hows that Camp Chef holding up Al? Any problems? How often have you been cooking on it? I still have it on my wish list on Amazon. I just checked the other day and they are out of stock.


----------



## Rings Я Us

Seems like one could buy the griddle or stainless steel flat top, say 27x24 and set it up on a propane grill with similar dimensions 45,000 btu 4 burner has grill. Then you have both. [emoji]129300[/emoji]


----------



## h8that4u

I think you can but a gill top for them. Might not be the black stone but I know I have seen them.

I have the 30" black stone for home use and the 17" that I keep in my truck for work travel.

I love them them both, use the 17" more as I travel so much lately.


----------



## SmokinAl

3montes said:


> Hows that Camp Chef holding up for you Al? Any problems? I still have it on my Amazon wish list last time I checked they were out of stock.
> 
> Hows that Camp Chef holding up Al? Any problems? How often have you been cooking on it? I still have it on my wish list on Amazon. I just checked the other day and they are out of stock.


It's holding up great. I just keep the top oiled like CI & it still looks like new.

We use it a couple of times a month & it cleans up easily & heats up quickly.

Al


----------



## smokeysparks

Thanks for the replies.

So, does it get hotter than an indoor stovetop? I saw some guy on a different forum say that you can make "restaurant quality food" with it as opposed to what you can do indoors. Sorry if it's a dumb question. I'm genuinely curious. Trying to debate pros/cons with myself.


----------



## hardcookin

Blackstone is a breakfast cooking machine...it really does a nice job with bacon.
Then cheesesteaks, stir fry, smash burgers,pepper & onions etc.
I have owned one for a couple years, well worth the money in my opinion.


----------



## Rings Я Us

It's like a restaurant flat top. It probably gets seasoned after a while.


----------



## Rings Я Us

h8that4u said:


> I think you can but a gill top for them. Might not be the black stone but I know I have seen them.
> 
> I have the 30" black stone for home use and the 17" that I keep in my truck for work travel.
> I love them them both, use the 17" more as I travel so much lately.


I did see a grill top for the 36" model , yep. Neat.


----------



## pit 4 brains

I've wanted one for cooking various things out doors. The problem is I don't have enough real estate left for another stand alone appliance on my porch. You can cook anything but soup on them, heck, if you get good at tapping spatulas and spinning eggs, you can do teppanyaki cooking for your guests while the pork but comes to temp. Seriously though, anything you can make in a pan you can make on a flat top. Another nice feature is you can have different heat zones so you can fry rice, move it to the side, fry beef, move it to the side, fry veggies then pull them off to serve together. 

Another option from the flat top is the Discada! They are fun to cook on and very versatile as well. Check out some of Case's dishes (Dirtsailor2003).


----------



## dirtsailor2003

Here's my opinion. 

I have a camp chef 3 burner set up with the griddle top. It used to be my go to camp set up. Since building my Discada ithe camp chef has been collecting dust. 

The flat top is great but there are things you can't do. Deep friying is one. It's always fun to make Onion rings or donuts in the woods. 

The camp chef has one burner under the griddle top. It heats evenly but there are no cool spots to keep food warm. With The Discada you just push the food to the sides. This is extremely helpful when making stir fry., fried rice and curry dishes. 

The disc is a breakfast maker too. Scrambles, omelette s, fried eggs all can be done. Cook some bacon, sausage add hash browns. Push to the side to keep warm, cook pancakes push to the side make some eggs. 

Real estate wise the disc with burner takes up less space when I'm hauling it.  Burner sits in disc. Weight wise it's a wash. 

Check out the Discada Forum.













IMG_6990.JPG



__ dirtsailor2003
__ Aug 18, 2017


















6E726C71-C0D9-43AA-A547-DC885B7F3150.jpg



__ dirtsailor2003
__ Aug 18, 2017


----------



## hardcookin

The 36" Blackstone has 4 burners so you can pretty much control what temp you want.


----------



## 3montes

I just found the Camp Chef at $299 plus free shipping. $50 cheaper than Amazon.I'm so close to pulling the trigger right now but I've been looking at a 36" flat top from Big Johns the same place I bought my propane steam table from. My concern with the Camp Chef is I'm not certain how it's going to hold up to being transported often. I will need to transport it to cooking events during the summer which means it will get strapped down on one of my trailer rigs or a trailer. The Camp Chef doesn't break down so I can see it being a problem being portable.

The Big Johns unit is on a base that the flat top sets on. The base has legs that collapse and is designed to be portable. My steam table from them is built like a tank and is top shelf quality but as with most things you pay for quality. The Big Johns flat top is about 5 times the price of the Camp Chef.

If anyone has been wanting a Camp Chef this is a cheap as they get. Jump on it! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






https://www.outdoorcooking.com/products/flat-top-grills/flat-top-grill.html


----------



## meatsweats86

3montes said:


> I just found the Camp Chef at $299 plus free shipping. $50 cheaper than Amazon.I'm so close to pulling the trigger right now but I've been looking at a 36" flat top from Big Johns the same place I bought my propane steam table from. My concern with the Camp Chef is I'm not certain how it's going to hold up to being transported often. I will need to transport it to cooking events during the summer which means it will get strapped down on one of my trailer rigs or a trailer. The Camp Chef doesn't break down so I can see it being a problem being portable.
> 
> The Big Johns unit is on a base that the flat top sets on. The base has legs that collapse and is designed to be portable. My steam table from them is built like a tank and is top shelf quality but as with most things you pay for quality. The Big Johns flat top is about 5 times the price of the Camp Chef.
> 
> If anyone has been wanting a Camp Chef this is a cheap as they get. Jump on it!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.outdoorcooking.com/products/flat-top-grills/flat-top-grill.html


3Montes - Looking at the Walmart app, they have the 36" Blackstone for $247 right now at your local store if interested. Looks like the Blackstone folds up nicely too. I think there's pro's and con's of each, but both get high reviews.  Cabela's also sells the Blackstone, so I will go to the new Woodburry location, have them price match Walmart and then I can use Cabela's points to purchase. 

Would carbon monoxide be an issue with using this griddle in your garage with the door open or closed vs. being completely outside?


----------



## Rings Я Us

Get one of these to go on a gas grill. 36x17 under $100.00












31hz1hKEBoL._SY400_.jpg



__ Rings Я Us
__ Sep 12, 2017






Makes 38 grilled cheese sandwich at a time.


----------



## meatsweats86

Rings R Us said:


> Get one of these to go on a gas grill. 36x17 under $100.00
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 31hz1hKEBoL._SY400_.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> __ Rings Я Us
> __ Sep 12, 2017
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Makes 38 grilled cheese sandwich at a time.


I considered something like this, but then you would need a grill big enough to accommodate this and it will not longer be portable.


----------



## 3montes

MeatSweats86 said:


> 3Montes - Looking at the Walmart app, they have the 36" Blackstone for $247 right now at your local store if interested. Looks like the Blackstone folds up nicely too. I think there's pro's and con's of each, but both get high reviews.  Cabela's also sells the Blackstone, so I will go to the new Woodburry location, have them price match Walmart and then I can use Cabela's points to purchase.
> 
> Would carbon monoxide be an issue with using this griddle in your garage with the door open or closed vs. being completely outside?


I seen that as well. I actually went to Walmart yesterday hoping they would have one out of the box and set up so I could see the build quality myself but they didn't. They had about 20 of them but all boxed up. I have watched I think every You Tube vid on these griddles and the Blackstone seems to be the most problematic. Camp Chef would seem to be the best of the bunch but the non portability of it takes it out of the equation for me. I keep coming back to the Big Johns unit. Another thing I like about Big Johns is they have 30% more btu's then the other units and they protect their burners from the wind. Another complaint on the others is that on a breezy day they are rendered useless as the wind blows the flame around so much it can't get the griddle up to temp enough to cook on. 

So for the time being I'm going to hold off on any purchase. After researching for the last week I don't think I'd be happy with any of the big box store units. They make work fine for some applications such as they are on a wind protected patio or in the garage and not being transported off site very often or at all.

Because my application is outdoors in all kinds of weather and in all different locations it needs to work in all conditions and hold up to being transported often.

I don't see carbon monoxide being a issue using this in your garage with a door or window open.


----------



## chopsaw

I bought the Blackstone 28" at Walmart last year for $ 99 . New in box  as a black Friday left over .  I use it in the garage alot no issues . 

Never had it in the wind , but the burners can be adjusted .


----------



## meatsweats86

I just looked at the Big Johns. Great looking product and probably last a lifetime. To rich for my blood for what I intend to use it for. If I was in the catering business then it would probably be worth the investment. For the weekend warrior, I think the Blackstone or Camp Chef will work fine. The pros of champ chef are the grease drain is better designed and each burner has it's own igniter. The only issue is it doesn't fold.

Blackstone is $50 less expensive than the Camp Chef, it folds up easily and I can spend my Cabala's points if they will price match the local Walmart. Just need to organize the garage better to hide it from my wife...


----------



## Rings Я Us

Rats and mice love the grease residue up on everything  I'm sure.  [emoji]129299[/emoji]


----------



## 3montes

MeatSweats86 said:


> I just looked at the Big Johns. Great looking product and probably last a lifetime. To rich for my blood for what I intend to use it for. If I was in the catering business then it would probably be worth the investment. For the weekend warrior, I think the Blackstone or Camp Chef will work fine. The pros of champ chef are the grease drain is better designed and each burner has it's own igniter. The only issue is it doesn't fold.
> 
> Blackstone is $50 less expensive than the Camp Chef, it folds up easily and I can spend my Cabala's points if they will price match the local Walmart. Just need to organize the garage better to hide it from my wife...


I agree the Blackstone and Camp Chef will be fine in most applications but probably not mine. I'm more than a casual user but not into full blown catering either. I'm rather certain I will buy the Big Johns but pass on their table at almost $300 and just buy the griddle. There are plenty tables available to set the griddle on for much cheaper. Once it's in place I don't see the need to roll it around. Another feature I missed until the other day on the Big Johns is underneath the griddle is a food warming area big enough to put 2 half or one full size steam table pan to keep food warm. Always nice to have another option for keeping food warm when doing a big cook.

If Cabelas won't price match the Blackstone I'd go the link I provided and get the Camp Chef at $299 with the free shipping. With that being said I wouldn't consider each burner having it's own igniter an advantage. Those things usually quict working before long and your using a matchstick anyhow. One igniter than the other burners lighting off the first one is a better set up in my opinion.


----------

