Another Griddle question- but with a twist...

[CrimsnTide]

I'm just in the "thinking" phase of this and and I have not talked about this publicly. I have a "older" Lynx L42PSR-2 BBQ. It has the Prosear variable searing burner and the infrared rotisserie. With all this, I cannot stop thinking about "retrofitting" a flattop or griddle. I really like the way this thing cooks, but I still cannot stop thinking about a griddle for it. So here are a couple of questions. Lynx advertises the big brass "H" burners put out 25K BTU's. I have two of these "H" Burners side by side with the Pro Sear burner in the next bay. Would BOTH these burners put out enough heat for a griddle that is 1/4" thick? Just by looking, if the griddle takes the place of the existing racks, it would be 6" inches above the "H" burner(s). In between the "H" burners now are two trays of the Lynxs briquettes (ceramic). If it's questionable, could the following be done SAFELY? Looking at the 10 inch Bayou Classic BG14 Banjo Burner, it LOOKS like it would fit the Lynxs valve pretty closely. If it were NOT a good fit, I could just swap out the air shutter from the Lynx burner to the Bayou Burner. The 10 inch burner would raise the flame ABOUT 3" below where the griddle would be. I'm I wouldn't make a large griddle, only about 20" x 24" and I'm thinking of replacing BOTH "H" burner for the round 10" burner. I'll stop here for any comments, warnings, or suggestions. Please see the pics below for a little better understanding of my rambling.... The picture below of the BBQ showing the "H" burners installed is not my BBQ, but is similar.

Thanks!

 

[AussieMatt]

I had an old stainless steel Kenmore grill that sat doing nothing and dwfisk made a griddle plate for it. I don't know if it's 1/4" thick but even my 4 burners putting out about 26K BTU it gets plenty hot, so much so, even on medium flame 1/4 burgers take 2 minutes a side to cook.

 

[CrimsnTide]

Aussie - THANKS for the reply! That's kind of what I am talking about. If you had to GUESS - what is the distance BETWEEN your burners and griddle? The 1/4" thick measurement for the griddle is from what I have read mostly here on this forum. I don't want to make the griddle go across the whole cooking surface of my BBQ. So because of this, on the side (where the existing Pro-Sear burner is) I would still have a BBQ rack.

I forgot to mention - and what is probably important - this is plumbed with Natural Gas.

I am planning to use a design SIMILAR to what Griddle Master puts out. I'll have some of angles spaced and welded to the bottom side. I do plan on reinforcing at least TWO of the edges with angles. I am capable of a heat diffuser on the underside IF deemed worthy....

Anyone car to comment on whether the Bayou Burner would fit or be too much of an overkill? My "concern" is whether these "H" burners can be used to control the heat without taking too much time. Cooling down - it is what it is....

Thanks again!!

 

[ssv3]

You should be more than fine. I'd leave the burners alone. I retrofitted my DCS grill which is very similar to your lynx set up withe the ceramic radiants. It puts out more than enough bueat and better than the Blackstone burners.

I scored a 28" Blackstine for $50 and it fit my 36 DCS perfect.

 

[AussieMatt]

Aussie - THANKS for the reply! That's kind of what I am talking about. If you had to GUESS - what is the distance BETWEEN your burners and griddle?

No worries. At a guess, 3 to 4" I think. The burners on mine are what came with the grill, so I agree with ssv, leave the burners alone, it'll be fine.

Mine doesn't take that long for the temp changes going up, maybe a couple of minutes going from low to medium and medium to high.

 

[CrimsnTide]

SSV and Aussie - again thanks for the replies. I'm hoping to make the griddle to actually fit in place where the racks go. there are a couple of features already in the make of the Lynx that I want to utilize. SSV, rumor has it, the Lynx line was modeled VERY CLOSELY to the DCS. You scored on the BlackStone. That's about the price where if I find one, I'll go with it.. Until then, I'll custom cut mine. I looks like you have yours sitting right on the grill. I'm encouraged by this and will continue to contemplate. I guess I can always purchase another burner (round) at a later time - if needed.

One last question, I have read and thinking my temperature on the top of griddle needs to be APPROXIMATELY 350*.... Any idea what you guys are at temperature wise? (Sorry Aussie, that's Fahrenheit)

Thanks again!!

 

[AussieMatt]

Joe,

I know it's F° mate, I live in Ohio now and have made the adjustment from Celsius. :mrgreen: I know mine goes well over 350° but I don't have an infrared thermometer, so it's not accurate, but I did put the tip of my thermopop on the griddle and it was above 500°.

 

[ssv3]

DCS and Lynx are def modeled similar. Great grills but mine wasn't getting used much with all the other toys so I repurposed it. Luckily the BS griddle top fit like a glove. Down to the drains matching up. It's getting used a lot more due to the convenience and even surface heating that was an issue on my 36 Blackstone. I can tell you that much. So much so that I got rid of my standalone 36" Blackstone. Go for it.

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Well even if your name is Crippled Tide, I'll answer. :becky:


Nat gas will give you a lower BTU output. Will still get just as hot on a griddle surface, just may take alittle longer.

 

[aerotech11]

My homemade griddle. Fits my PGS perfectly. I have two 26k BTU burnres about 4 inches below the griddle and it gets way hot. It is 1/4” plate steel once it is up to temp I have to turn the burners down. Works great and cost me $30.

 

[Kmm]

Ideally you need to get the plate about 2-3" above the burners. Put them too far away and you will fight drafts, slow, uneven heating and poor recovery time. Depending on what and how much you plan to cook, 1/4" is sort of a minimum thickness. The "H" burners will work, but they will not heat the plate evenly so you defiantly will have hot spots to manage over the burners...not a huge issue once you get to know the plate. Grease managnent needs to be addressed...slight slope on plate and a trough to direct grease into catch basin of some sort. Also consider some wind protection.

Here are a couple links to my most recent griddle build.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UVkbU-WmVk4&t=2s

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fyDCpK_1f-U

 

[CrimsnTide]

Aussie - that was my HUGE attempt at a little humor - didn't mean to offend. I live So. Calif. I work at Aerospace/Defense contractor and most ALL their measurements are converted to "F" for people like me. Most used units are Celsius and Kelvin for the technical stuff.

Thanks for all the replies. I actually cruised by and picked me up a 2' x 2' piece of HRS steel plate yesterday. Will probably work on it this weekend in between BBQ's. Apparently world politics are going to affect my future hobbies/projects - a 2x2 piece of 1/4" HRS - nearly $60....It was square pre-cut piece, but WOW! The guy made a comment on to two "T" words I could blame - Trump and Tariff's.... I'm excited about the project, so I just paid it. A small "vault-like" smoker is in my near future... I'll be looking for some scrap material on Craigslist for this...

Kmm - Yes, I would LOVE to have the flame 3-4 inches below the plate, but the way it's going to be built to set into the BBQ, it won't happen unless I swap out the burners. I'm only talking a griddle 24" wide whereas the 2 H burners will take up 15". Having Two burners, I could control my heat accordingly. I don't know if it's Lynx or the H burners, but the heat control is good - from searing on down. I can and have maintained a 240*-250* setting on this thing for hours. The way it's in the island (built in) there wont be hardly any draft.. I'm figuring on just over .100" - maybe an 1/8" slope to the front of the griddle where the grease/run off will be caught in a drain "channel"... EXACTLY similar to the BlackStone.

Toast - Thanks for the "nod"... (I think)

SSv - Thanks again - AND for the pics... It helps me out being a picture kind of guy....

Aerotech - I'm hoping to have as much luck as you. although my expenditures are already doubled and I haven't struck an arc yet....

So after it's built to set inside my BBQ, I'll have to determine wether to have the briquettes in or out. They're simple to remove... Grates will NOT be utilized/needed.

Still curious though if I can SWAP out burners on this. Looking at the pictures in my first post - it APPEARS that the Bayou burner would be able to fit my Lynx - Even if I had to swap out the air dampner (If it wore a different diameter.... I will not do this right away. Too much to build/go through before I even need to find out... But I am curious....

Thanks again for all the responses....

One last comment. Kmm. My wife and I had a pool put in 4-5 years ago. Very LARGE but VERY BASIC. Just a cement pond" if you will. My wife wanted it - and deserves it (school teacher). It wasn't even on my list to do... Anyway, $62k later, we have our cement pond. After each swim, I JOKINGLY say to her that the cost of that last "swim" cost us $xxxx.xx.
Looking at your video, I'm thinking those breakfasts are still pretty expensive. And something I wouldn't really take on a weekend dirtbike trip. HOWEVER, being involved in the kids baseball, volleyball, Scouts, all the fundraisers and such, that thing has probably turned out to be a god send... Nice...

 

[CrimsnTide]

Aussie - that was my HUGE attempt at a little humor - didn't mean to offend. I live So. Calif. I work at Aerospace/Defense contractor and most ALL their measurements are converted to "F" for people like me. Most used units are Celsius and Kelvin for the technical stuff.

Thanks for all the replies. I actually cruised by and picked me up a 2' x 2' piece of HRS steel plate yesterday. Will probably work on it this weekend in between BBQ's. Apparently world politics are going to affect my future hobbies/projects a 2x2 piece of 1/4" HRS - nearly $60....It was square pre-cut piece, but WOW! The guy made a comment on to two "T" words I could blame - Trump and Tariff's.... I'm excited about the project, so I just paid it. A small "vault-like" smoker is in my near future... I'll be looking for some scrap material on Craigslist for this...

Kmm - Yes, I would LOVE to have the flame 3-4 inches below the plate, but the way it's going to be built to set into the BBQ, it won't happen unless I swap out the burners. I'm only talking a griddle 24" wide whereas the 2 H burners will take up 15". Having Two burners, I could control my heat accordingly. I don't know if it's Lynx or the H burners, but the heat control is good - from searing on down. I can and have maintained a 240*-250* setting on this thing for hours. The way it's in the island (built in) there wont be hardly any draft.. I'm figuring on just over .100" - maybe an 1/8" slope to the front of the griddle where the grease/run off will be caught in a drain "channel"... EXACTLY similar to the BlackStone.

Toast - Thanks for the "nod"... (I think)

SSv - Thanks again - AND for the pics... It helps me out being a picture kind of guy....

Aerotech - I'm hoping to have as much luck as you. although my expenditures are already doubled and I haven't struck an arc yet....

So after it's built to set inside my BBQ, I'll have to determine wether to have the briquettes in or out. They're simple to remove... Grates will NOT be utilized/needed.

Still curious though if I can SWAP out burners on this. Looking at the pictures in my first post - it APPEARS that the Bayou burner would be able to fit my Lynx - Even if I had to swap out the air dampner (If it wore a different diameter.... I will not do this right away. Too much to build/go through before I even need to find out... But I am curious....

Thanks again for all the responses....

One last comment. Kmm. My wife and I had a pool put in 4-5 years ago. Very LARGE but VERY BASIC. Just a cement pond" if you will. My wife wanted it - and deserves it (school teacher). It wasn't even on my list to do... Anyway, $62k later, we have our cement pond. After each swim, I JOKINGLY say to her that the cost of that last "swim" cost us $xxxx.xx.
Looking at your video, I'm thinking those breakfasts are still pretty expensive. And something I wouldn't really take on a weekend dirtbike trip. HOWEVER, being involved in the kids baseball, volleyball, Scouts, all the fundraisers and such, that thing has probably turned out to be a god send... Nice...