About five years ago or so, the Blackstone brand propane griddle burst onto the scene. It seems like every hip family in the neighborhood was picking one of them up and flexing their short order cook muscles on social media.
Always one to be a bit behind the trend, I survived quite easily without adding one of them to my inventory. Until one day I saw a deal I just couldn't pass up at Walmart.
To be fair, 
Supposedly, this two burner griddle was normally over $200 at Walmart and they had it on sale for right around $100. It was something like a 50 to 55 percent savings and I knew the time was right to pick one up. Plus, they were going to ship it to my house for free! Talk about a great deal.
I think what really sold me on this model was the fact that it came with the free hard cover and carry bag. Because we plan on using it in our trailer, we knew we were going to want something that could be more easily transported.
In addition to the griddle, I also got a really good deal on this griddle tool kit. It was normally something like $80 and I got it for $30 or $40. It looks like a pretty good starter set.
The griddle itself was such a good deal that I shared it with my friend 
The funny thing is, we both ordered and received our griddles at the beginning of Winter, and then let them set for months before we ever did anything with them.
In fact, it was just this weekend that I finally got mine around and did the initial seasoning on it.
The griddle itself comes un-assembled, but It is actually pretty easy to throw it all together. The hardest part is the fact that you have to wash the shipping coating off the metal griddle before you can use it.
If you are familiar with cast iron cookware, you know that you need to be quite careful about water and rust. This meant I needed to wait until I could dedicate some time to actually getting things right.
Also, given the fact that it was winter, and winters in Michigan can get quite cold, I didn't want to introduce any warping to my cook surface. Sometimes the sudden temperature changes can cause the cook surface to warp, no matter how thick it is.
I also went out to Amazon and picked up a couple more accessories for my griddle. I got a hose so I can connect it to a 20 lb. liquid propane tank. It comes with a regulator for the small canisters, but I have heard you blow through those pretty quick, especially on the first season.
Additionally, I picked up a gas line so I can connect the Blackstone directly to our travel trailer gas line when we are camping since that is probably when we are going to use this the most.
Finally, I grabbed some heat resistant gloves, and a chain mail scrubber to help keep this and my other cast iron cookware clean.
As I mentioned in the title, this is the Blackstone 22" Adventure Ready griddle. I figured 22 inches would be perfect for
They always say, you will never be disappointed if you go with the bigger size, but since we plan on traveling with this, I decided 22 would be perfect. The 17 inch model just seemed a little small. Plus we still have our camp stove that is attached to the outdoor kitchen of our trailer. We can always use that if we need to.
Before I started the initial season the griddle,
It's super simple to make them and the flavor is just so much better. Plus, you know exactly what is going into them. Raw beans, chicken stock, vinegar, green chilies, spices, sauteed onions and jalapenos. That's pretty much it!
Ask anyone who owns a Blackstone and you will probably hear ten different types of oil that they say you should use on it. Blackstone makes their own griddle seasoning, but a lot of people use avocado, grape seed, or canola oil. The idea is, you want something with a high smoke point so it doesn't burn.
Then, you just crank up the burners all the way and put a thin coat of oil down on the griddle and wait for it to smoke off. Do that five to seven more times, then you are close to being ready to cook.
The idea is to get the griddle hot enough that the oil polymerizes with the metal and creates that slick non stick surface that everyone dreams of.
As you can see, after the first coat, things were starting to take shape. I used some paper towels held with tongs to spread the oil around and tried to use as little as possible. Sometimes you can use too much oil and it doesn't adhere properly. Then you end up getting big flakes of black stuff sticking to your food.
Once you have your five to seven coats of seasoning down, they eventually suggest you cook a big batch of onions or bacon on your griddle. They say something in the onions makes a chemical reaction with the oil and the metal to help the oil stick better.
I don't really know the science behind it. For all I know it was just something made up by the onion farmers of American to boost their profits. Either way, I decided to go the onion route because they are cheaper than bacon and I can just throw them away when I was done.
I spent about a half hour earlier that morning cutting up a bag of small white onions getting them ready for the griddle.
I should point out, I am on a number of different Blackstone Griddle Facebook pages and Subreddits. It's funny how many people stress over getting their griddle perfectly seasoned. In fact, the majority of the posts you see are just that, posts about seasoning. It's actually quite rare to see recipe or cook posts on many of those forums.
In the end, everyone says the same thing... "stop worrying about it and just cook on it". If you have used cast iron cookware in the past, you know that's the best way to get them broken in.
Just use them!
Here are the results of my first onion cook. I still had the griddle screaming hot, so the onions probably got a bit more burned than they should have. They smelled delicious though, I am not going to lie.
I'm pretty excited to do some more cooking with it this coming weekend when the wife and I are finally camping. She has no less than two or three meals planned already that are going to require the Blackstone.
In the end, I am pretty happy with the way my initial seasoning turned out. I would have liked the corners to get a little more done, but I have read online that you need to "earn" the corners and the best way to do that is to just cook on it.
At the end of the morning, I waited for the griddle to cool down, placed the hard cover on it, and got it secured inside the carry case. I have to admit, the carry case feels pretty sturdy, but the griddle is quite heavy. I'm not sure the straps or handles on that carry case are going to support the weight for very long.
I mean we are talking 22 inches of carbon steel (I think I accidentally said iron before). Think about how heavy a 10" cast iron pan is and then multiply that.
Anyway, I am looking forward to really breaking it in this coming weekend. You better believe I will be taking some photos so I can share with you how it went!
Do any of my fellow Hivians have a Blackstone? I think I remember at least a couple of people do. What is your favorite thing to make on it? Big Breakfast? Cheesesteaks? Stirfry? Something else? Did you have to "earn" your corners? I'd love to hear your thoughts, comments, or just start a conversation about these awesome tools!
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or
