Traeger Flatrock

Ragingirishman2

I saw Traeger released a flat top grill this week. I like the name and from the videos Ive seen it looks to be well constructed and with a 5yr warranty. It runs on LP but you have to plug it in for some of the features to work, like the LED to show which burners are on, the amount of propane in the tank, and to ignite the burners. The 3 zone cooking areas with a separating heat shield look very good to control temp across the grill. It’s priced at $899 so it will be interesting to see how it sells this spring and summer. 

WeberWho

Someone posted over on the Brethren that Weber also has griddle coming out. They mentioned that Blackstone owns something like 75% of the griddle market. It's good to have competition but it's going to be hard to get into the market and with that price point. 

JohnInCarolina

Matt's  ( @MeatChurch ) review here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qnv3PIULz8

Ragingirishman2

WeberWho said:

Someone posted over on the Brethren that Weber also has griddle coming out. They mentioned that Blackstone owns something like 75% of the griddle market. It's good to have competition but it's going to be hard to get into the market and with that price point. 

I think the Traeger loyalists will be early adopters of it, even at that entry price. 

JohnInCarolina

Ragingirishman2 said:

WeberWho said:

Someone posted over on the Brethren that Weber also has griddle coming out. They mentioned that Blackstone owns something like 75% of the griddle market. It's good to have competition but it's going to be hard to get into the market and with that price point. 

I think the Traeger loyalists will be early adopters of it, even at that entry price. 

I don't know, it seems like it's too much work for the "set it and forget it" pellet poppers.  

alaskanassasin

I want a smash burger now

pgprescott

There is a battery backup for electrical, I believe. Also the price is comparable if not better value than the decent Blackstone griddles. I think it’ll be a winner. The Weber one is also pretty well built but I think that will be a slightly harder sell. 

https://blackstoneproducts.com/products/28-culinary-pro-cart

Canugghead

JohnInCarolina said:

Matt's  ( @MeatChurch ) review here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qnv3PIULz8

Blasphemy, he scraped and discarded the socarrat! 
Edit: at 5:45 mark, what say you @lousubcap

HeavyG

pgprescott said:

There is a battery backup for electrical, I believe. Also the price is comparable if not better value than the decent Blackstone griddles. I think it’ll be a winner. The Weber one is also pretty well built but I think that will be a slightly harder sell. 

https://blackstoneproducts.com/products/28-culinary-pro-cart

The battery is only able to power the igniters, still need AC for the other features (which really don't seem of much importance to me).

alaskanassasin

Agree @Canugghead I was like nooooo what are you doing!?

kl8ton

Was that a Miller lite?  ☹️

Was that a butter ferris wheel? 🤤

Edit: I just made 20 egged burgers with toasted butter buns on the griddle plus onions, baked beans, cubed and griddled taters for my son and some of his friends.  I could still put down 3 of Matt's smash burgers. 

Langner91

Where do you put the pellets?

Legume

Langner91 said:

Where do you put the pellets?

Exactly.

Ozzie_Isaac

I like my Le Griddle.

Composite, thick heavy stainless top with a cast iron substructure.

WeberWho

kl8ton said:

Was that a Miller lite?  ☹️

@kl8ton

He's getting paid.

ColbyLang

WeberWho said:

kl8ton said:

Was that a Miller lite?  ☹️

@kl8ton

He's getting paid.

Couldn’t pay me enough to HAVE to drink TX Whiskey

Money_Hillbilly

@Ragingirishman2 After owning a Blackstone and fighting rust on the griddle surface in the South Louisiana climate I decided to go for a stainless steel griddle.  A little more expensive but lifetime warranty and no rust.  @Ozzie_Isaac I totally agree with you on the LeGriddle, my son is a dealer.  It’s the cat’s pajamas.  My son took mine, a different brand, on a trade that someone bought from another dealer thinking he needed a propane model.  It couldn’t be converted to NG and the other dealer wouldn’t allow a return since it was a special order.  I exchanged my brand new LeGriddle for the other one.  It is stainless and works fine but it is not a LeGriddle. 

Ragingirishman2

Money_Hillbilly said:

@Ragingirishman2 After owning a Blackstone and fighting rust on the griddle surface in the South Louisiana climate I decided to go for a stainless steel griddle.  A little more expensive but lifetime warranty and no rust.  @Ozzie_Isaac I totally agree with you on the LeGriddle, my son is a dealer.  It’s the cat’s pajamas.  My son took mine, a different brand, on a trade that someone bought from another dealer thinking he needed a propane model.  It couldn’t be converted to NG and the other dealer wouldn’t allow a return since it was a special order.  I exchanged my brand new LeGriddle for the other one.  It is stainless and works fine but it is not a LeGriddle. 

I hadn’t considered the rust factor. I’m in the Chicago area and I’ll probably store it in the garage during the winter as it would likely be too windy to use. I looked up Le Griddle and was surprised there was only one dealer in IL and they were over 200 miles away on the Missouri border. After watching the Traeger video and then about 100 griddle cooking videos I bought a Blackstone to join the flat top club. I posted on that yesterday on the what are you buying now thread. I’ll pick it up tomorrow now that I’m out of covid quarantine. When the wife asks me about the purchase I’m going to say I dont remember buying that and blame it on my Covid..lol. 

Money_Hillbilly

@Ragingirishman2 I don’t use mine as much as I should, too many toys, but I have mastered fried rice and hash browns.  The most important tip I can give you is to treat temp starts like the egg and start out low and increase temps gradually.  On my first cooks I turned it up high to preheat and it was a challenge to cook.  Now I start on low and gradually increase heat except for burgers, pork chops, etc.  An infrared thermometer is your friend.

Canugghead

@Money_Hillbilly Thanks for the tip, we did fried rice once with the BS preheated and it came out too dry. I even sprayed water and covered with lid during the cook. Would love to learn how you do it, here or via DM. TIA

Money_Hillbilly

@Canugghead I start griddle on low to preheat, oil then diced onion on one side, day old rice spread on the other.  I add a couple pats of butter to the rice, add frozen peas and carrots to the spot between onions and rice, flip onions and rice around separately. When onions are translucent stir into rice add granulated garlic and a splash of soy sauce. Add a couple pats of butter on the griddle and eggs, I usually scramble them.  Blend everything together and add pepper and several tablespoons of brisket aujus saved from a previous brisket.  If you want to add a protein just cook on the side with the onions. The aujus is the absolute secret. 

Canugghead

@Money_Hillbilly much appreciated for taking the time to describe in such great depth. Bookmarked.

Ragingirishman2

@Money_Hillbilly Thank you very much for the fried rice tutorial, this is something that I’m looking forward to making. I’m planning to do some smash burgers this weekend to break her in. I appreciate all the knowledge. The people on this forum are the best. 

Money_Hillbilly

@Ragingirishman2 @Canugghead Hope the process helps, just watch the heat it is easy to try and push things to go faster but the onions will burn in a few seconds if the griddle is too hot. Especially true for hash browns, nice and low and just let them sit and crisp don’t touch them.  Last night’s fried rice below: