Blackstone 17” tabletop - expectations too high?

[WBDubya]

I wanted to add a griddle to my pellet grill so I thought I would just buy a Lodge and be done with it. I was intrigued by the positive reviews of the Blackstone and I ended up buying the 17” tabletop model thinking it might come in handy if I ever went camping (haven’t been camping in 20 years LOL). I seasoned the griddle and decided to cook smash burgers. I used a camping size bottle of propane and preheated the griddle, threw the burgers on and ended up with a disaster. The griddle never got hotter than 250 degrees and the burgers weren’t cooking ver well so I ended up taking the griddle top and placing it on my pellet grill. My question is was I expecting too much out of this Blackstone? Would a standard propane cylinder produce higher heat?

 

[sudsandswine]

I had some issues with my 36” Blackstone griddle on windy days, the griddle top wouldn’t get very hot. Basically the wind would blow sideways across the underside of the griddle top and wash the heat out. Not sure if the 17” models suffer from similar issues or if it was even windy that day. Based on pics others have posted here of cooks some on their 17” griddles I would say they are capable of getting well above 250*

 

[Pig_Farmer]

I use my 17 quite a bit camping. I usually let the griddle heat up for a while before putting the burgers on. It cooks them great with no issues. It's a big piece of steel to heat up.

 

[AUswimKC]

Watching this topic too. Just picked up the 17” Adventure for $30. Liked the idea of the 22” on a stand and with two burners, but it was $140

 

[Tbro]

I have the 17” Blackstone and have use the 1 Lb, an 11Lb, and a 20Lb. All worked great.

 

[WBDubya]

It was a little breezy last night. I’ll give it another go on a calm day.

 

[...Dave]

for my blackstones i made square tubes to fit in the gaps out of steel wool wrapped in heavy duty foil (with ends folded to ensure no steel wool can escape onto cooking surface) then tucked them in leaving a 2in opening on the front left and front right sides so i can peek in to make sure my flames are still going. was cheap, easy, somewhat permanent, and the only tool i needed was a hammer to kind of mold the shape.

 

[pmad]

Look at this thread.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269443

Blackstone's customer service was great.

 

[WBDubya]

I fired it up again with no wind, measured the surface temp with a IR thermometer and it maxed out around 310. Thanks for posting the thread (I’m using camping bottle). I’ll reach out to customer service. Dave’s mod should definitely help with the wind issues.

 

[Hoss]

I bought a conversion hook up for my 17 to hook to a 20 pound cylinder.I "preheated" it a couple nights ago and checked with my IR thermometer.It was at 500f.I tuned it down for a few more minutes,till it hit 400 and burgers were delishious.I want a 22 because it has the 2 different controls/ zones.I got tired old those little pissy bottles running out during a cook.