Has anyone heard of or cooked on a Le Griddle? I have a Blackstone Griddle and have been using it a lot. It works great but I’ve traveled with it a few times and it isn’t very sturdy. I’m considering adding a built in my outdoor kitchen. Le Griddle is Interesting concept as the cooktop is 304 stainless steel on top of cast iron. The reasoning is to even out the heat.
I have the same questions. I've read a lot about it because I'm looking for a griddle to build in to my outdoor kitchen as well. I'm curious if the cast iron really works to spread the heat out or if there are still hot and cool spots all over. My Camp Chef portable griddle with round burners has a cast iron distributor thingy, but there are definitely still hot and cool spots. I'd love to see some thermal images or something other than marketing videos saying it is even heat.
I purchased one and will report back shortly. I am out of town for a few days so had to leave the new toy. If I like it, I plan to build into the outdoor kitchen. It has feet on it so it can be used on a counter top or built in. I contacted them to see if I could custom order cast iron covered in 304 stainless for my existing gas grill. Le Griddle has a relationship with RCS with similar but in limited sizes. I have a laser thermometer and will compare it to my Blackstone at some point.
dirtman that's great, I'm planning on pulling the trigger on one this week! Please let me know your first impressions - i.e. confirm that I'm making a good choice
I have not used the griddle yet. It was just installed in the outdoor kitchen and I am awaiting a plumber to hook it up. It has been outside under cover and looks great. My Blackstone is outside and if left without use for a few weeks it rusts. More to come...
I'm in the same position as dirtman, I have it ready to install into the outdoor kitchen I am building but mine is still in the box. I'm hoping the combination of the U-shaped burner, preheating the cast iron, and the top layer of stainless results in even-ish heat. In any case, it should be better than my camp chef stove, look nice, give me lots of space (I got the 41" model), and be durable.
It is 304 stainless on top of cast iron. The photo at the beginning of this thread shows it. The stainless is cleaned with a couple ice cubes and isn't supposed to stain.
I did get the Le Griddle hooked to our home propane tank. The plumber is coming back and is going to install a valve and hookup for my other propane accessories. I have a small gas fired Ooni pizza oven, Beefer and as a Blackstone griddle. The convenience of having connected to the home will be nice and eliminate trips to for tanks as well as being cleaner looking.
I cooked breakfast this morning. I started with a couple lbs of bacon. I cooked hashbrowns using the bacon grease and finished cooking fried eggs. It cooked well and is definitely sticky. I think will be beneficial for searing. I do think there are hotspots but it was manageable. I’m trying to post a video of cleaning it. It did clean up pretty easily.
Last edited by dirtman; December 13, 2020, 10:48 AM.
We got our outdoor kitchen put together over the holiday break which included hooking up our Le Griddle. That tape they put on all this stuff to protect it during shipping is a pain to take off! But we got it, and I've been cooking on it every night.
It does have a bit of a learning curve, as I expected. I have the Camp Chef 3-burner with cast iron removable griddle tops, and each burner on that is 30k BTU - it is hard to get even a medium heat on that unit. What I've found with Le Griddle is that it can get pretty hot to where oil smokes as soon as you put it down, but it takes a long time to get it there. After installing it I turned it on low to heat it up gradually and do a semi-burn off. One of the burners blew out in the wind (it has a propane shut-off for that situation) and after several minutes my infrared was only reading mid-50's. The upside is that once the cast iron gets heat-soaked, it does seem to be pretty even heat all across. There are slight variations if you aren't above the burners, but nothing near the CC swings.
I really like the stainless steel, the controls, and the full-length 4" wide drip tray. Mine has gotten stained beyond what a spatula and water can take off, but I'll get some Scotch Brite scrubber pads and I should be able to keep it as shiny as I want to. I expect I'll learn the temp settings a lot better the more I use it, and how long it takes to preheat. The past few days I've turned it on then gone inside to do my prep work, and it is plenty hot when I come out but that is probably wasting fuel.
In summary, so far I am very happy with this unit. I will try to update this thread as I gain more experience in case anyone is looking at getting a Le Griddle in the future.
Griddle installed along with a Blaze 2-burner side burner unit, running off the same 10 gallon propane tank:
Attjack I looked at so many different griddles, I overanalyze everything to death. It was a while ago, but I think what it came down to was the availability of the 41" griddle and the hope for more even cooking temps. I had gotten fairly frustrated with the hot spots on my CC, and if I remember, I saw some reviews of the Blaze griddle that led me to believe it wouldn't be real even across the surface
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I also highly recommend heavy duty Scotchbrick griddle scrubber.
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So…it’s a year later dirtman and PBCDad. What are your longer term thoughts now that you’ve been able to use the Le Griddle for a year now? If you had it to do over would you still get one? That 41†griddle looks like it would be good for large gatherings.
Thanks for any feedback.
I have the 30 inch and I entertain quite a bit and haven't missed the extra 11". I built mine into the countertop and in the midwest can't imagine having cast iron exposed to the elements. I also have a Blackstone and it rusts if left to the elements. I still like the LeGriddle and have no regrets and glad that I purchased. The only design compromise is the grease tray/drip tray. You better dump it way before half full or good chance you will spill the contents and have a greasy mess.
Last edited by dirtman; January 28, 2022, 04:43 PM.
I have had mine for 6 months and still very pleased with 30" installed into my outdoor kitchen.(NG). Having used the grease tray these 6 mo (up front and removable) I would neve want to go any other way. With a water bottle and scotchbrite pads, I find it easy to clean back to original look. Takes a bit longer to come up to temp due to the cast iron underneath, but it does get hot and temps are stable. Largest group I've used it for was 22 folks and did not wish for the 41"
About Me
My name is Josh, not Joey (surprise), and I reside in Central Ohio. I have been grilling since I could drive, and smoking for around 15 years. Over the past couple of years I have gotten more into just cooking, and really enjoy sous vide and the flat top. I find myself experimenting with different foods and new ways of cooking as an outlet to work stress. I use every piece of equipment I own regularly, with the exception of the electric smoker. That only gets brought out on occasion to make jerky.
My favorite beverage is bourbon. I typically have at least 8-10 bottles open at any given time. While I have favorites, I enjoy sampling new and different varieties.
I can't speak for the Le Griddle, but I love my Member's Mark griddle. I know that sounds crazy, but this thing way outperforms the Blackstone I had. It is not exactly even across every inch, but I also can't say there are any real hot spots. Obviously it's not a built in, so that may disqualify it, but for what it's worth...
Great question TinyRob. To get the big question out of the way, I would definitely do it again, it was the right decision for us.
Here are some reflections and lessons learned:
I am still running off the first 10 gallon tank I got, no refills, so I haven't been out there all the time cooking on it
Stainless was definitely the right option for us, as I have no worries about wind-driven rain sitting on it for long periods, and I don't have to cover it. And I'm going to have it for a real long time.
There are still zones that are hotter than others, and you can see where it is quickly through which areas get dark first. However, the difference isn't that big and I can throw something anywhere in the general area and still get it to cook at roughly the same rate. And compared to my Camp Chef with the 3 circle burners, it is night and day.
It gets plenty hot to cook with, but the burners aren't super high-powered. It's comparable to my gas stove inside. It's perfect for normal cooking. Just don't try to put a pan on it for heavy deep frying or 1000 degree sear.
I have never turned on all three burners at once (I have the 41" griddle). I have however used the last 1/3 of the griddle for storage - sliding the burgers and buns to hold when they are done while I cook something else for example. I haven't had it when there hasn't been a pandemic going on, so maybe in the future I'll use all three if we have large gatherings, but two gives you lots of surface area. All in all, I'm happy I got the 41" - buy once, cry once.
One of the burners has a tendency to go out when lighting if you aren't careful. I could probably submit a warrantee claim but it's not a big deal because now I know what to listen for to make sure it is on.
Cleaning took some trial and error to figure out. I don't like cleaning a hot griddle with water or ice because it looks like it tempers the metal, and even if it isn't, well seeing the initial color change just makes me nervous. I got a case of that griddle liquid cleaner from Scotch-Brite, and while it works, it gives off fumes and only works when the griddle is hot. One time when I got it hot to use the cleaner, I ended up melting one of the scrubby pads I was using. The best solution I've found is Barkeeper's Friend - easy, can clean it any time, ends up looking great.
There have been several times when I've been cooking indoors with several pans and at the end of it think, well this would have been a lot easier on the griddle. It does take a bit of foresight because it has to preheat, but I think of it as just cooking with a giant cast-iron pan with unlimited surface area.
I'll be cooking carne asada on it tomorrow, first time I've used it in a while, and I'm pretty excited. It is so much fun to cook with.
Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'd be happy to answer them.
Oh one other thing, I tried doing the crazy chop chop with two heavy duty spatulas because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. I now have a bunch of tiny dents in the stainless steel. Doesn't affect anything, but if you want to do the chop chop, get flimsier spatulas or be more careful than I was.
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