Blackstone seasoning help

[Moink]

Hi, new to the forums but been lurking for awhile. Came across this great site while google searching and learned a lot.

Anyways I've had a 36" Blackstone griddle for about 3 years that I cannot get seasoned. I've read every post and watched a bunch of videos but the seasoning does not stay. Initially I used vegetable oil but ended up sticky mess. That's when my research started and I learned it was too thick.

So I cleaned it all off and tried very thin layer flax seed oil. It looked great. Was solid black but came off after 1 or 2 cooks. Next tried Crisco. Same results looked great but didn't last. So I decided to just keep cooking on it since it should get better but its not.

I make sure to use oil before and after cooking. Don't get me wrong, it cooks great but the food sticks and makes it difficult to clean. By the way I use a squeeze bottle with water and scraper to clean while hot as seen in some YouTube videos.

I would love to get that solid black surface seen here and on YouTube. I will include some photos. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to include as much info as I could to help figure out why the seasoning isn't sticking.

 

[ssv3]

My 36 looked like yours since day 1 until I sold it recently. I did a bunch of cooks on it yet it still looked "unseasoned" but it actually was. My guess is that you had the earlier production griddles like mine was (4 years old) and they used a different seasoning coat at the facotry then the current ones come with.

Here's what mine looked like up until recently when it was sold off





Better pic








Old coating of my brand new 36 when I bought it

This is the new coating they use I noticed when I bought me a 28

 

[rwalters]

My 36 looked like yours since day 1 until I sold it recently. I did a bunch of cooks on it yet it still looked "unseasoned" but it actually was. My guess is that you had the earlier production griddles like mine was (4 years old) and they used a different seasoning coat at the facotry then the current ones come with.

Here's what mine looked like up until recently when it was sold off





Better pic





This is the new coating they use I noticed when I bought me a 28

What did you do... lay a 28" BS griddle top on a gas grill?

 

[ssv3]

What did you do... lay a 28" BS griddle top on a gas grill?

Lol yes Robb. Only way the built gasser is getting some use. :becky: Sold the 36 which opened up some room and laid the 28 top in the gasser. I use the griddle way more often this way.

 

[JacksBBQ]

Mine is same as SSV3 described. Doesn't really look seasoned but I assure it is.

 

[rwalters]

Lol yes Robb. Only way the built gasser is getting some use. :becky: Sold the 36 which opened up some room and laid the 28 top in the gasser. I use the griddle way more often this way.

That's freaking awesome!

 

[16Adams]

Keep cooking bacon and onions bacon and onions bacon and onions

 

[BigKing]

Like Adams said: lots of bacon and onions.

I did flaxseed for the first seasoning and then a ton of onions and ultimately a pound of bacon. Every cook since has included onions to start and, most of the time, a package of bacon.

I did get mine in July of 2015 so it could be a difference in factory seasoning like Sako said.

 

[cookingdude555]

I dont scrape to clean mine, I noticed the OP cited that as a clean up method. I get it hot when I am done, spray some water, and wipe it off. I would think scraping it would pull the seasoning off.

 

[Moink]

Thanks for the replies. Funny you mention different productions as I was strolling through lowes recently and noticed their display model seemed to have a rougher surface than mine. I believe that would help seasoning stick better. I thought my imagination was screwing with me. The grease channel even seemed deeper than mine.

As far as using a scraper to clean, I thought I might be scraping the seasoning off so a few times I just used a wet towel to steam clean it off but didn't make a difference.

Bigking yours looks great and is exactly how I would like to get mine. I might see if I can get a new model if they ever go on clearance at Walmart near me.

Thanks again.

 

[ssv3]

This is what the new one looks like and it's not even a year old yet. Actually looks darker now then when the pic was taken.

 

[Hotch]

The 2 key items to seasoning the Blackstone are high heat and less oil. When seasoning you want to just about wipe clean the cooking surface after applying the seasoning oil of choice. There will still be a very thin film of oil. You then need high heat until the oil quits smoking. Let cool to the touch and do it again up to 6-10 times. When cleaning up after a cook do not use a metal scraper. Use a bit of water spray and wipe dry. Then the last thing after cleaning is to apply a thin coat of oil and wipe it down to be ready for your next cook. :mrgreen:

 

[Maso]

@ssv3

Do you find it gets just as hot? I got rid of my gasser but would be interested in getting another if it would fit my 36 so that I can run NG with it. Great idea!

 

[BigKing]

The 2 key items to seasoning the Blackstone are high heat and less oil. When seasoning you want to just about wipe clean the cooking surface after applying the seasoning oil of choice. There will still be a very thin film of oil. You then need high heat until the oil quits smoking. Let cool to the touch and do it again up to 6-10 times. When cleaning up after a cook do not use a metal scraper. Use a bit of water spray and wipe dry. Then the last thing after cleaning is to apply a thin coat of oil and wipe it down to be ready for your next cook. :mrgreen:

Exactly. Forgot to mention that the first seasoning involved doing the flax seed burn several times prior to onions and bacon.

 

[Hotch]

If using flax seed oil it must be organic. You will find it in a refrigerator at the stores. Typical in health stores.

 

[ssv3]

@ssv3

Do you find it gets just as hot? I got rid of my gasser but would be interested in getting another if it would fit my 36 so that I can run NG with it. Great idea!

Actually hotter if I want it to be. Runs way better on by gasser than it did on the stock burner stand. More BTU's plus my gasser has ceramic radiants that distribute heat extremely even. I get even heat overall the griddle top surface and no more hot spots.

 

[Jrogers84]

The 2 key items to seasoning the Blackstone are high heat and less oil. When seasoning you want to just about wipe clean the cooking surface after applying the seasoning oil of choice. There will still be a very thin film of oil. You then need high heat until the oil quits smoking. Let cool to the touch and do it again up to 6-10 times. When cleaning up after a cook do not use a metal scraper. Use a bit of water spray and wipe dry. Then the last thing after cleaning is to apply a thin coat of oil and wipe it down to be ready for your next cook. :mrgreen:

Pretty much what he said. As for the base seasoning from older griddles to newer, shouldnt matter. I dont believe they actually season it. They coat it in whatever they coat it in to stop rust. You should remove that before the seasoning process.

I dont like flax but thats more of an opinion than a fact. Everything when it comes to seasoning cooking instruments is an opinion except a few things. Seasoning is heating an oil past its smoke point until it carbonizes. You do it in as thin of layers possible or it will have a hard time carbonizing.

When you clean it think more about getting the food off then cleaning it. If you scrape or scrub off the carbon you are removing seasoning. If you scrape make sure the edges of the scraper or spatula are rounded. Scraping is 100% fine as long as you do not gauge the seasoning. I scrape and then wipe my blackstone. Thats it. Ive used it about 10 or so times and its already fairly black. I only seasoned it without cooking on it once before food hit it. I prefer to build seasoning layers by cooking but again, thats an opinion not a fact.

Hope that helps!

 

[Moink]

I believe I have the seasoning process down. As it looked great after doing the whole thin oil heat cycle a few times. Its once I cook something even just burger patties that seems like the seasoning starts coming off. This is before i clean it you can start seeing the bare metal again. I do oil it before and after cooking.

Again could be my imagination but I'm pretty sure mine is alot smoother than the one I saw at lowes.

I will continue to use it and just wipe it off. See how it goes. Thanks

 

[BigKing]

Good luck!

As long as the food tastes great and it doesn't rust, everything should be good. I too have looked at the Blackstone website/YT vids and wondered how the entire thing looks so perfect.

 

[Vision]

Just did mine. Thin coat of canola oil, high heat for 30min, let cool, repeat 6 times. Seems to be seasoned well.