First Blackstone

Powak

Looking to get my first Blackstone for a family of 4. What’s a good size to get? Lid or no lid? I’d like to get one that has its own stand because I won’t be putting it on a table. Will mostly be cooking for 4 of us but we do host occasional parties where I like to whip up some smash burgers.

lkapigian

I have a 36 and Love it, lid is a must , I have one from @Tspud1 . I just bought a 22 as well and will probably use that more for just the two of us, anything more than that 36 IMO for you 

nolaegghead

If you have the room get a 36.  You don't need to fire up all 4 burners unless you need them.  But you would be surprised how nice the extra space is when you're jockeying around food and moving uncooked stuff onto the hot areas and keeping cooked stuff warm.  Also, fried rice takes a lot of cooking space if you stage the ingredients.

WeberWho

Without a doubt the 36". You can go smaller and make it work but it's nice to have extra room on the griddle. I even find the 36" to be cramped at times when cooking. 

nolaegghead

wrong thread

RRog17

I have the 28” for my family of four and have never needed more space. I’m sure I would also love the 36” but the 28” is just fine. 

fishlessman

36 with the cover, it fills up fast

Canugghead

I digress.. if you get a steaming dome (cheese melting cover), square ones make more efficient use of space than round ones.

CtTOPGUN

Love the four burner 36", if you have the space. More cooking surface. Ability to get different temp zones. All worth the added cost, IMO.


   

kl8ton

36 with hinged cover. 

cookingdude555

36 pro.  Its not that big once you start adding taco meat and stuff.  Its always easy to cook small on a big griddle if you really dont want to cook that much.

Tspud1

Tspud1

might consider a Camp Chef

Powak

Tspud1 said:

Dang that’s a setup!

Powak

Ordered the big 36” four burner on Amazon! Cover just came today. The griddle itself is temporarily out of stock but I still saved damn near 2 hundos vs going to Wallyworld. 

What’s the best and cheapest stuff to season these things with? Dude on the Blackstone YouTube said not to use bacon for the initial seasoning. Do you have to re-season them after every cook?

how long do they take to heat up?

 

Photo Egg

Powak said:

Ordered the big 36” four burner on Amazon! Cover just came today. The griddle itself is temporarily out of stock but I still saved damn near 2 hundos vs going to Wallyworld. 

What’s the best and cheapest stuff to season these things with? Dude on the Blackstone YouTube said not to use bacon for the initial seasoning. Do you have to re-season them after every cook?

how long do they take to heat up?

 

Bacon has to much sugar from the cure for a first cook. IMO
Clean the griddle really good with a dish soap or Barkeepers Friend and a stiff brush before you try and season it.
I had good results just using extra light, EVOO. 

My first griddle, I went OCD and sanded it to get a smoother surface and never did get a good seasoning layer to hold.
Ended up having friend sand blast it and started over with just vegetable oil and it worked great as well. Thin layers with old cotton rag, no paper towels.
Have fun with it. I should use mine more!
Have a 36 and a 22 that I use more often.

caliking

Photo Egg said:

Powak said:

Ordered the big 36” four burner on Amazon! Cover just came today. The griddle itself is temporarily out of stock but I still saved damn near 2 hundos vs going to Wallyworld. 

What’s the best and cheapest stuff to season these things with? Dude on the Blackstone YouTube said not to use bacon for the initial seasoning. Do you have to re-season them after every cook?

how long do they take to heat up?

 

Bacon has to much sugar from the cure for a first cook. IMO
Clean the griddle really good with a dish soap or Barkeepers Friend and a stiff brush before you try and season it.
I had good results just using extra light, EVOO. 

My first griddle, I went OCD and sanded it to get a smoother surface and never did get a good seasoning layer to hold.
Ended up having friend sand blast it and started over with just vegetable oil and it worked great as well. Thin layers with old cotton rag, no paper towels.
Have fun with it. I should use mine more!
Have a 36 and a 22 that I use more often.

+1 for wiping with cotton towel/rag instead of paper towels. 

Grapeseed oil has worked well for me. That flaxseed oil business, that was  all the rage a few years ago, was BS. 

WeberWho

I've found lard to work the best. You can get a big tub at Walmart for a couple bucks. Photo Egg is 100% correct about applying thin coats. 

Photo Egg

Also better luck firing up all burns on low to warm the surface before adding thin layer of oil and then raising temps to carbonize the oil.
And don’t over do the first couple layers as the surface will seem dryer and you will want to add more right away, don’t.

paqman

caliking said:

Photo Egg said:

Powak said:

Ordered the big 36” four burner on Amazon! Cover just came today. The griddle itself is temporarily out of stock but I still saved damn near 2 hundos vs going to Wallyworld. 

What’s the best and cheapest stuff to season these things with? Dude on the Blackstone YouTube said not to use bacon for the initial seasoning. Do you have to re-season them after every cook?

how long do they take to heat up?

 

Bacon has to much sugar from the cure for a first cook. IMO
Clean the griddle really good with a dish soap or Barkeepers Friend and a stiff brush before you try and season it.
I had good results just using extra light, EVOO. 

My first griddle, I went OCD and sanded it to get a smoother surface and never did get a good seasoning layer to hold.
Ended up having friend sand blast it and started over with just vegetable oil and it worked great as well. Thin layers with old cotton rag, no paper towels.
Have fun with it. I should use mine more!
Have a 36 and a 22 that I use more often.

+1 for wiping with cotton towel/rag instead of paper towels. 

Grapeseed oil has worked well for me. That flaxseed oil business, that was  all the rage a few years ago, was BS. 

@caliking The flaxseed oil ended up flaking on the Blackstone but it is holding strong on my CI pan and wok.  I think that the difference is I started the flaxseed coat on bare virgin metal on the pan and wok.  The coat on the blackstone was done over the original seasoning which I ended up having to strip this year with easy off (all wrapped in a garbage bag overnight).  I suggest scott’s blue towels for wiping.

caliking

@paqman - not starting with a bare surface may have been the issue. I got tired of the flaking and having to reseason my CI, so switched to using grapeseed oil.