Grill top for Blackstone 36?

[hollysmokes]

Has anyone tried the optional grill top that's available for the Blackstone griddle? My gasser died and I'm thinking that for an extra $60 the grill might tide me over until I decide what to replace it with. Also, I followed the link from here to Amazon but I'm not sure which grease trap it has. How can you tell? And why do you prefer one design over the other?

[Spinaker]

Not sure about the grill top. I would skip it. The burners are not really HD enough to take drippings and what not.

I think you should get the rear trap, not the front trap. I would pass on one that had the front trap. Then you are not scraping grease and food towards you as you are cooking. Not a big deal if you have shoes on and a HD apron. You can usually tell in the product description but here is the SKU for the rear trap. SKU#1554 - REAR GREASE

(They are not making the front trap ones anymore, FYI)

[jgreen]

I would agree. Drippings on the burners would be tough.

[SmokeyGator]

Meh. Look at the video from Blackstone. The kit comes with a grate, two large burner hats, a device to sort of catch drippings, and a short wind shield.

You won’t have a lid though.

I suppose it would work OK as a grill, but not great. I don’t see much that the grill box would give you that the griddle top it comes with doesn’t - other than grill marks.

Honestly I think you would be better off with a cheapo Home Depot / Lowe’s gasser and just use that for a season or two, then sell it for $50 if you can’t just buy the gasser replacement you want now. Or do what I’m doing and just keep your falling apart grill on advanced life support (ignore everything that is rusting apart or not working) and make do until you can get a better replacement.

But do get the thing if you want a griddle. The front grease tray models had issues with the way the grease drained. It tended to not drip down as intended and instead would migrate under the lip to the cart leg then make a big mess. There are you tube videos showing ways people modified them, ranging from a simple bamboo stick or pencil to metal smiths who reshaped the entire drip thing.

The rear drip models have a paper towel rack and cutting board. I think those are new too. If so then if it has a cutting board and paper towel holder, it’s the new model.

[hollysmokes]

Thanks so much for all of the info. Looks like I'll pass on the grill and either try to fix the one I have or buy another cheapy gas grill until I can afford/decide on a really good one. Going to fire up the Weber kettle today, though.

[Bighorn Dave]

You could try one of the smaller Blackstone griddles. The 36 is a monster that can feed an army. If only cooking for a couple or so the 27" should be considered or even the 17". Much cheaper and would be a good test for not a lot of money to see how you like griddle cooking.