BLACKSTONE1554 36” Omnivore Griddle with Folding Side Shelves, Powder Coated Steel, Black

This review is for the 36” Blackstone griddle (model 1554) which I have been using for over a year now. Overall I have found this griddle to be an outstanding value, especially for its price point. You might be able to find a better griddle, but you will spend a LOT more money.Some simple assembly is required. My griddle came in a single box. Cut the two plastic straps and the box lid lifts right off. The components seem well packed. I used a 10mm wrench, an adjustable wrench, and a Philips screwdriver to assemble. Once I had it unpacked, assembly took about 15 mins. If I had someone assisting, we probably would have been done in 10 mins or less. Blackstone has a helpful 3 min assembly video you can watch either on Blackstone’s site or on youtube search for “Blackstone 36" Griddle Assembly”. I weighed the griddle top in at 55.5lbs. If you’re not comfortable lifting a bulky item of this weight, get someone to help you.If you discover a problem with your new griddle, email or call Blackstone directly. Page 23 in my manual had their customer service phone and email. I had a small issue and found their customer service to be extremely helpful. Replies to email were prompt and when I phoned, I was talking to a real human being within seconds (a real human being who spoke American as a primary language). Keep in mind, customer service operates M-F 9a-5p Mountain Standard Time.The griddle top comes coated in a protective oil to prevent rust. As noted in the instructions, your first step after assembly is to wash this oil off. I used dish soap in hot water. I followed this up with plain hot water to get the soap off. I towel dried the surface and then fired up the grill for a few mins to cook off any remaining moisture.The top is carbon steel (not Teflon nor stainless steel) and if not seasoned it will rust. For many griddle users, at this point they slap on some oil or bacon and immediately start cooking. Over time they build up the seasoning that helps protect the griddle surface from rusting and the food from sticking. In my case I wanted to do a more methodical seasoning.For a methodical, long lasting seasoning of the griddle, you follow similar steps as you would with seasoning cast iron cookware. Blackstone has a youtube video called “Blackstone Griddle Top Recovery”. This video was made to show people how to restore a rusted griddle top; however, at 2min39sec into this video they cover the topic of seasoning.The Blackstone video agreed with several articles I read about seasoning cast iron cookware with flax oil. Make sure you get the organic, cold pressed, unrefined, refrigerated flax oil. You don’t want any ingredients in the oil other than flax oil. Check the date on it, and shake well before using. It is expensive oil, but you don’t need a large bottle. I did 6 coatings on my griddle and used just a little more than 3oz total of the oil. Each successive layer used less oil.The seasoning coat/layer consisted of :1. wiping on a thin layer of flax oil over the cooking surface (I applied with a paper towel).2. wipe off excess oil (I used paper towel).3. turning on all the burners for 30 mins or so to basically burn the oil in (I ran a little longer than 30 min).4. turn the burners off and let the griddle coolRepeat the process. Blackstone recommends at least 4-5 coats. The cast iron cookware seasoning articles I read recommended 6 coats.Optimal seasoning will leave you with a shiny black cooking surface. After 6 coats of flax oil, I was nearing the optimal shiny black surface.Check level. Before starting to cook on the griddle, check level. Use a construction level or a marble or anything you have handy. You want to be sure that liquid will flow towards the drain. My patio slopes away from the house, so I had to set the left wheels of the griddle on a scrap of plywood to get the grease to head to the drain hole.Cooking. Even with a great seasoned cooking surface, I add a dash of oil with many of the things I cook (for example, eggs).Cleaning the griddle: Helped along by my well seasoned cooking surface, I find the griddle quick to clean. It typically takes me 3-5 mins. I found a video from a griddle user on youtube that was helpful. Search youtube for “Easy way to clean the Blackstone Griddle (Revised)”. Guy in the video uses spray oil, but I use liquid oil.My only complaint about the griddle would be the same issue that other reviews have mentioned: Blackstone still hasn’t conquered the grease drain problem. Randomly the grease running off will miss the cup and start running down the griddle leg. So use a paperclip or a piece of wire. If you stick it in the hole down to the grease cup, the grease will run down the wire instead of the surface tension causing fluids to flow up under the grease gutter. Or you can wrap a small piece of foil around the end of the drain to direct grease down.

Great grill, but shipper dumped it in my driveway and it was obviously damaged: I am glad I purchased the grill and have enjoyed cooking with it. I was a little concerned by the condition of the box dumped in my driveway, as it was held together by packaging tape and the box was all but destroyed (luckily I have a long driveway, as there was no attempt to conceal the box, and, as it was dumped on its end, it was easily seen from the street). Luckily, steel is tough stuff, and the obvious dumping didn't do too much damage because the cold-rolled steel griddle protected everything in the box from too much damage. The outside corner of the griddle surface was scuffed up pretty good (the side of the box was completely open, so the griddle, when dumped, was scraped up by my driveway), a rivet was popped off the device to hold the legs in the collapsed position (I'll never use it), and the front panel was distended a bit, but if it would fire up, I'd be OK with the damage. Everything assembled fine and I was able to bend the front panel back in place so it looks OK (but, who would really care if you could notice it). I cleaned the griddle good, seasoned it up with whatever oil I had around, and have cooked bacon, steaks, and eggs. Cleaning is a breeze, and involves a good scraping of any leftover food, some water steaming for sticky spots, and a good coat of oil when done to preserve the surface. It takes about five minutes to heat up, and several minutes for it to cool down. I didn't have any experience with the front, right-hand grease drain model, but the rear grease management on my griddle works well and just seems less messy. The wheels are tough enough to handle being pulled in and out of my garage easily enough. The side shelves are kinda cool, easily removed by loosening some knobs on the underside, and you may want to remove them if you are storing the grill in a tight space. The shelves slide right back in when you need them (hint: don't set anything made of plastic on those shelves up next to the grill). If my kids stole my Blackstone griddle, I'd buy another one. Wait until you cook bacon on it - a pain in the kitchen, a dream on the Blackstone.