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We’ve tested many Blackstone griddles throughout the years, from their largest 36-inch models to their small portable griddles. They never fail to impress with their durable non-stick rolled steel cooking surfaces and high-performance burners.
Blackstone’s Iron Forged line is an upgrade to the brand’s Original line of griddles with a tougher frame, X-braced hood, and additional prep and storage space. At the heart of the Iron Forged lineup is Blackstone’s newer Omnivore rolled steel griddle plate, which has built-in wind guards that help the griddle retain heat, allowing it to reach higher cooking temperatures.
I spent a week testing out the Blackstone Iron Forged 36-Inch Griddle and found it to be one of the brand’s most impressive griddles yet, albeit with a steep price tag.
Assembling it takes about 2 hours and requires some upper body strength or an extra set of hands to complete, given the weight of the cooktop. It took another hour to season its surface to prep it for its first cook.
Pro Tip
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The benefits upgraded Omnivore cooking plate bore out during testing. With all four burners turned to high, I recorded surface temperatures touching 600 degrees Fahrenheit with an infrared thermometer, plenty of heat to sear a beautiful crust on smash burgers during my first cook.
Best Outdoor Griddle
Blackstone Iron Forged 36-Inch Griddle
Buy at Ace HardwareWhat We Like
- High-performance rolled steel cooking surface
- Four burners heat surface evenly at high temperatures
- Plenty of storage and prep space
What We Don’t Like
- Must manually season cooking surface
Specs
- Cooking Surface: 768 square inches
- Number of burners: 4
- Total BTU: 60,000
Blackstone’s four burners and broad cooking surface are ideal for cooking various types of food simultaneously. On my second cook I made fajitas, using the Blackstone’s four burners to create multiple cooking zones. On one side I seared a skirt steak at 550 degrees Fahrenheit, while on the other I fried peppers and onions at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. The next morning I used medium heat on one side to fry up some eggs and bacon and low heat on the other side to make pancakes.
The Iron Forged Griddle also has a lid, which I found to be useful for cooking thicker cuts of meat like a chicken breast. Closing the lid also helps speed up the preheating process.
It also offers upgraded storage and prep space that you won’t find on Blackstone’s Original griddles. This Iron Forged model has a closed cabinet, which allows for more storage and a higher-end finished look, since it hides the propane tank.
There’s also more prep space, including two large side tables, one of which has an extension that pulls out to double the table size. All this additional space made cutting up veggies, seasoning meat, and catching food coming off the griddle a far easier process. Both side tables also fold down, which makes storing what is a rather large cooking appliance a little easier.
Running along the front of the side tables are accessory rails that hold Blackstone’s BAR System accessories, which include various useful add-ons, such as cup holders, seasoning racks, and digital thermometers. The Iron Forged griddle comes with an accessory bin that attaches to the BAR system. Additional rail accessories are sold separately. A paper towel holder and a garbage bag holder round out its additional features.
While all of this griddle’s extra features are great, they don’t come cheap. The Blackstone Iron Forged 36-Inch Griddle with cabinet retails for $800. If you’re looking for a more affordable option, you can get the same cooking performance minus the cabinet and a few other bells and whistles for $500. You can get the Blackstone Original 36-inch base model for about $400.
Best Outdoor Griddle
Blackstone Iron Forged 36-Inch Griddle
Buy at Ace Hardware