Blackstone 22" griddle for $99 at Walmart!!

[wopachop]

edit: Heads up this version the legs are meant to be attached permanently.

Recent camping trip i notice most my friends have ditched the charcoal grill and moved onto these propane griddles. Been looking around for a few days checking out the different models and pricing.

Last night i noticed walmart had a 22" griddle with hood and a new stand. Price said $99 which is too good to be true. Nobody had it in stock even though the add is listed as "new". Figured it must be some type of error. But i read the reviews and people within the last week were talking about how they love the new grill. One guy posted a picture and it was for sure the new model with the cart with wheels.

Today we were on a road trip and did a local search. The walmart in Banning Ca claimed to have some. Told my friend to please pull over and let me run inside real quick to check the garden section. We decide to park and go in together.

Guess who walked out with 4 new griddles? Not joking we both bought 2. At $99 you could buy a bunch and sell them for $170 in a couple months. Im guessing after this insane deal the price will be closer to $180 just like the older 22" model with the different looking stand.

I plan to keep both of mine. Go online and find this model 1940 if interested. It might show out of stock. But that could mean they are still on pallets. Go find them in the garden section.

[Sjm9911]

wopachop wrote:
Hello blackstone owners. How would you describe the curve of your griddle? Mine puts oil towards the corners. Wondering if i warped it. Been slowly reading through the manual. Today i got to the part that says "do not add water to the entire surface as it can cause warping".

I notice the supports welded to the bottom of the griddle. They sure could do a better job at that. Each piece of metal has 3 tiny welds. Each side and the center. The bar sits a good sixteenth away from the surface. At first i thought it was to help create an even temp. If that was the case it would be nice if the metal supports had contact with the griddle surface. Thinking now its just to prevent warping. 

I dont remember the oil falling to the corners so quickly. Thinking i might have slightly warped mine. Have cleaned it twice. Full blast hot and then dumped water on the entire surface. Should have known better. Every pan i have ever own says to avoid adding cold water to a hot surface to avoid warping. 
I guess while cooking you can deglaze. But the volume of liquid is little. So warping is less likely to happen. 
The blackstone manual i have says only do 6" sections at a time. Using something like 1 or 2 teaspoons or tablespoons. Dont remember exactly but you get the idea. 

I agree, they do warp a bit , but i dont think its from water. And i belive the older modles were worse. Less structure underneath. Even with that,its still prety good at what it does.

[4x4van]

For those of you that want a griddle AND a grille, go with the Blackstone Tailgater. We hardly ever cook indoors anymore: the Tailgater has a griddle AND a grille, and either (or both) can be lifted off to expose large burners (Dutch oven, anyone?). It breaks down easily, and stores nicely in 2 bags.

I use the grille for steaks and hot dogs, but pretty much everything else goes on the griddle; bacon/sausage, eggs, pancakes, potatoes, hash browns, fried rice, shrimp, philly cheesesteaks, quesadillas, grilled cheese, etc. We seldom, if ever, cook inside anymore when camping. As someone else said, use the Scott blue shop towels, they work great. After cooking, a quick scrape followed by a light coating of oil (using the Scott towels) takes care of cleanup. Every 4th or 5th time, I'll use some water with the scrubber, followed by a light oiling.

I did have a bit of a problem maintaining heat if the wind came up; solved that by installing an aluminum plate underneath (the bottom is open), and adding an adjustable (rather than fixed) regulator to give me the option of a bit more "power" if weather conditions warrant.

[ktmrfs]

wopachop wrote:
Hello blackstone owners. How would you describe the curve of your griddle? Mine puts oil towards the corners. Wondering if i warped it. Been slowly reading through the manual. Today i got to the part that says "do not add water to the entire surface as it can cause warping".

I notice the supports welded to the bottom of the griddle. They sure could do a better job at that. Each piece of metal has 3 tiny welds. Each side and the center. The bar sits a good sixteenth away from the surface. At first i thought it was to help create an even temp. If that was the case it would be nice if the metal supports had contact with the griddle surface. Thinking now its just to prevent warping. 

I dont remember the oil falling to the corners so quickly. Thinking i might have slightly warped mine. Have cleaned it twice. Full blast hot and then dumped water on the entire surface. Should have known better. Every pan i have ever own says to avoid adding cold water to a hot surface to avoid warping. 
I guess while cooking you can deglaze. But the volume of liquid is little. So warping is less likely to happen. 
The blackstone manual i have says only do 6" sections at a time. Using something like 1 or 2 teaspoons or tablespoons. Dont remember exactly but you get the idea. 

I have a squirt bottle to put water on the grill to clean it. I probably put a couple of tablespoons on at a time, doesn't take much to clean it, then use a paper towel to clean. Haven't seen any sign of warping.

[spoon059]

I've used stainless steel cooking surfaces for years at work and now as a Blackstone. I use water (room temp, not "cold") to clean them all.

[wopachop]

Hello blackstone owners. How would you describe the curve of your griddle? Mine puts oil towards the corners. Wondering if i warped it. Been slowly reading through the manual. Today i got to the part that says "do not add water to the entire surface as it can cause warping".

I notice the supports welded to the bottom of the griddle. They sure could do a better job at that. Each piece of metal has 3 tiny welds. Each side and the center. The bar sits a good sixteenth away from the surface. At first i thought it was to help create an even temp. If that was the case it would be nice if the metal supports had contact with the griddle surface. Thinking now its just to prevent warping. 

I dont remember the oil falling to the corners so quickly. Thinking i might have slightly warped mine. Have cleaned it twice. Full blast hot and then dumped water on the entire surface. Should have known better. Every pan i have ever own says to avoid adding cold water to a hot surface to avoid warping. 
I guess while cooking you can deglaze. But the volume of liquid is little. So warping is less likely to happen. 
The blackstone manual i have says only do 6" sections at a time. Using something like 1 or 2 teaspoons or tablespoons. Dont remember exactly but you get the idea. 

[wopachop]

Garlic and lime, got ya feelin fine!!
Did a pork loin. Tried to get some water vapor moving around in there.
Looking back i should have soaked a couple pieces of wood and set them on the griddle.

Anyone have a thermometer they love? Would like to have 2 probes. Meat temp and air temp. Heck even 3 probes if one can also show griddle temp. Would be fun to see humidity as well. Play around with water trays and see what gets the most moisture going.

Hope the pics dont get annoying. My camera lens is scratched and blurry.

[spoon059]

OkieGene wrote:
^^^ Regular paper towels pretty well suck. They lint up and fall apart.

Go buy some rolls of the Scott Brand blue shop towels on the roll. Sams or Costco is best, or you can buy single rolls or 2 or 3 rolls in a plastic wrap pack at wallychinamart.

A nice squeeze bottle of water and a sturdy (but slightly flexible) scraper or putty knife is perfect for cleaning. While the grill is hot, squeeze out some water. The water will steam up and loosen and food bits. The scrape it with the scraper or putty knife. Do that a couple times, you'll get it pretty clean.

If you want it SUPER clean, get a griddle scrubber tool, a griddle screen and some Scotch pads. I worked at a sub shop as a kid, that's how we cleaned them. Scrape off with water, then add a little oil and "sand" it with the screen to get off the rest of the surface contaminants. Final rinse with water to get it clean. No paper towels necessary. Before you cover it, give it a light mist of cooking spray (I prefer olive oil) to prevent rust if you leave it outside.

[wopachop]

dedmiston wrote:
I had somebody offer me "a whole lotta med grade weed" for a bike I listed on Craigslist years ago. My buddies still tease me.

Funny stuff!!! Good ole wacky tabacky. If you know anyone selling a dirt bike we are looking.

[wopachop]

2nd cook tonight chicken and tators. One of the kiddos came out and rocked the griddle with us.

[wopachop]

First cook!! Garlic onions peppers. Bread tomato cheese. That was fun cooking onions and peppers on all that stored heat.

[dedmiston]

wopachop wrote:

dedmiston wrote:
We buy ours in 5# packs at Smart & Final.

S&F Bacon

Smart and final rocks. Any those bikes in your sig for sale? Could trade 5 pounds of bacon, plus cash on our end.
(my friend is looking, here in the west)

I had somebody offer me "a whole lotta med grade weed" for a bike I listed on Craigslist years ago. My buddies still tease me.

[OkieGene]

^^^ Regular paper towels pretty well suck. They lint up and fall apart.

Go buy some rolls of the Scott Brand blue shop towels on the roll. Sams or Costco is best, or you can buy single rolls or 2 or 3 rolls in a plastic wrap pack at wallychinamart.

I accidentally left one of those blue paper shop towels in my pocket and ran it through the washing machine. When I was tossing clothes in the dryer I noticed it.

It did not fall apart, in fact I let it dry and used it some more.

These are what I use for my cast iron pans, among many other uses, and of course glass cleaning. They just don't lint.

[Sjm9911]

When i did mine, i heated breifly on the home stove top. Wiped with oil, then put in oven at 500 for a half hour, reapplied oil, repeat 3x. Cook bacon on it a few times, done.

[Sjm9911]

wopachop wrote:
He didnt seem to mind the map gas sound. Scared of the air compressor hose though. Silly fella. He thinks its a water hose and bath time.

2 items i would recommend are an air compressor and propane torch or yellow can. Temp gun is useful and fun to play with. I had the griddle set to full blast for over an hour last night. Then used the torch in the corners and it starts smoking instantly. Which shows the corners wont get hot enough to season properly. Several of the videos i watched mentioned used a torch in the corners. I hit the sides as well. Got everything over 600F. Which might be overly hot. Im not exactly sure what temp it starts to smoke off at. Over 400ish because thats what the corners and sides seem to stick at. Quick blast of map gas gets them in the 600 range and the organics burn off.

The air compressor was nice to blow off tiny pieces of paper towel. I think next time i would sacrifice a nice lint free microfiber instead of the paper towel. Also next time i would apply the oil to a warm surface. Not the 600F scorching a$$ hot. I was getting a lot of burnt paper towel. I ended up letting the griddle cool between seasoning and applying the oil to a warm surface. Enough to melt the oil. But i could use my hands and the paper towel instead of tongs.  

Does anyone have advice on seasoning? Because they want you to crank the heat and watch for a color change on the surface. Then add oil to that hot surface. Is that necessary for the polymer action to happen? If i was to season the griddle again i would apply the oil to the hot surface the first time only. Then after that apply warm and crank the heat to burn it off. I did 5 rounds of their blackstone palm oil blend. I think round 4 and 5 i switched to applying the oil to the warm surface. Liked that a lot better because i could apply a nice even thin layer. 

Dont use micro fiber towels, they have plastic in them. Plastic and heat will mostly make a mess.