Blackstone 36" seems to lose sizzle temps over time during cook session

[Nixican]

I have a 36" Blackstone griddle that I love to cook on. The problem seems to be this, however:

It starts off screaming hot and the first batch of smash burgers sizzle and crisp perfectly. Then, starting with the second batch of I dont get nearly the same level of sizzle. Flame seems good but it just doesnt seem as hot. I already know that the outer zones arent as hot as the middle section, but even the middle section seems to not to stay consistently hot.

Id love to figure this out on my Blackstone, but Im also looking at possibly searching for a griddle that offers hotter temps than the Blackstone.

Thanks for the feedback.

[58limited]

I had a little issue with mine in cool weather - the propane in the tank wasn't vaporizing very well, the overall pressure dropped, and the flame - while it looked ok - was not as strong as when I started. Shaking the tank or exposing it to the sun helped.

Might want to check your regulator too.

[texastweeter]

Get a bottle heater for nitrous oxide tanks to strap around it.

[Spinaker]

Few things......

Airlocks...... try to make sure to look for air locks. If you turn on the burners before you turn on the tank you will have a low flame and low heat. If you see a low flame, shut the grill off, turn the tank off. Then turn the tank back on, THEN turn onthe burners and fire it up. If that does not work, you may have a regulator problem. I use my Blackstone in 0 F, so I doubt the tank is your issue.

Wind guards can help a ton to contain the heat. There is an air gap between the burners and the griddle bottom. That bleeds heat like crazy, unless you have wind guards in place. If there is wind and you do not have these guards in place, most of your heat is being lost. Even in a warm climate like CA.

Chase the heat. I try to only use half of the griddle. Then I move to the other side for the next round of burgers. You gotta make sure you give the cook top time to recover after you have smashed your first round of burgers.

The Blackstone could certainly benefit from having higher BTU output on the burners, hopefully that will happen one day.

[Nixican]

Thank you. Super helpful things to try.

[Spinaker]

My pleasure

[jfmorris]

I will add something I observe when doing smash burgers on my Camp Chef griddle. And that is that the first batch of burgers, smashed on a hot *DRY* griddle, always get that crust you want on a smashburger. When you flip them, if its in place versus to an unused section of the griddle, that second side just doesn't get the crust the first side got, as it is not onto the hot dry surface, but into the grease that cooked out of the 80/20 chuck. If you do a second round of burgers without scraping and wiping the griddle dry with old rags or paper towels, they just don't cook the same. I've learned to sacrifice a lot of paper towels or cheap rags during my griddle cooks, if I want to do things right, and to spend a couple minutes scraping and wiping between batches of burgers. Most of the time, since I can easily fit 30 burgers at a time on the griddle, I just do one batch, ignore the fact the second side doesn't get as much crust, and just roll with it. If I do a lot more burgers, I take that time to clean between batches...

So could it be less heat, than having a dry surface versus a grease covered surface? That is just something to consider...

[texastweeter]

I was going to post this but you beat me too it. The stuff left on the griddle act as an insulator. Scrape and dry between burgers.

[Jfrosty27]

What Jim sais above. ☝️
I find that you need to scrape off the pool of grease left behind from side #1, give it a moment to reheat, just a moment, and go to side #2 on the burger. You set the patties wherever you can during this process. Jim has an aircraft carrier sized griddle so no problem for him there. 🙄

[jfmorris]

Jfrosty27 except I tend to fill that aircraft carrier sized griddle entirely with 30 burgers or so at a time, meaning there is no dry/hot area to flip into... I need to do smaller batches I guess!

[Oak Smoke]

When I do smash burgers for just the wife and I, I use my #12 CI skillet on the stove. They get a nice crust on the first side and almost never get much of a crust on the second side. They are flipped in place so that they are cooking in the grease from the first side. You can’t that good adhesion of the meat to the skillet on an oiled surface after you flip. I know I’m dealing with the same temps because I keep an IR thermometer in the kitchen. I have in fact even turned the heat up to try to get a crust on the second side. It’s not very effective. I’m going to try setting a #10 skillet on the patties after I flip them to see if the weight might make a difference. If it doesn’t all I have is one more pan to wash.

[Oak Smoke]

texastweeter Thank you! I’m trying you white gravy as onion ring batter this evening. Mine is made from Pioneer gravy mix so it is mostly flour and cornstarch. It should work great. If it does I’m trying it on chicken tenderloins next.

[jfmorris]

Yeah - you are confirming my suspicions that it is grease related. I also have an IR and know my Camp Chef griddle is still at temp - you just don't get the crust on the second side unless flipping to an unused area of the griddle.

[texastweeter]

Let me know how them rings treat you. Cut em thick like they do at the grist mill.

[btuckertx]

[snip]

Wind guards can help a ton to contain the heat. There is an air gap between the burners and the griddle bottom. That bleeds heat like crazy, unless you have wind guards in place. If there is wind and you do not have these guards in place, most of your heat is being lost. Even in a warm climate like CA.

And.... 6 months after you posted this, I'm looking for wind guards for my Blackstone 36" griddle. Does anybody have any suggestions? The wind really does blow in Oklahoma....lol

[barelfly]

Check your windguard thread - I posted a link to my thread that discusses the set I have. Magnet based, works excellent!

[Santamarina]

When the wind picks up around here - like clockwork every afternoon - I just take heavy duty aluminum foil and wrap the side of my griddle that faces the wind.

Does the trick so well I haven’t ever tried any of the commercially available solutions - though several look good and fairly inexpensive.

[Spinaker]

Yep, foil works well in a pinch!

[btuckertx]

Thanks to everybody, in both threads! Gonna order the wind guards tomorrow.

[Rob Johnston]

Wow, this is all good advice!