After a few years with a Blackstone I can confidently say it’s fun, but not for everyone.
I got it thinking it would save some time, money, or effort. It did none of those things.
It’s quick and easy if you have the support of a surrounding kitchen, but if you’re having to drag everything you need with you outside to use it, set up an clean up take just as long or longer.
It’s a huge attractant for rodents, but a clip on the grease drain fixed the problem of the rats getting to and shitting all over the cook top. But I occasionally find rat shit inside the grease bucket. I keep a liner with poison in there now.
It does genuinely make food better in some cases. Bacon and eggs just taste better coming off that thing. Fried rice is fantastic. Steaks an burgers come away with a great sear. I make a chopped cheese that I can’t replicate inside the kitchen.
Cleaning up all of the grease is a pain. It fucking gets everywhere. Even with a lid, the second you open it grease is going to coat every surface within about 10 feet. Not much different than a kitchen griddle but I find that cleaning up the Blackstone takes a bit longer.
It’s also built to fail. The cook top is fine, the burners are fine. The supporting structure might as well be made of paper. I had misaligned holes and don’t dare use the bottle opener. The included gas line had to be replaced after a year as the safety tripped and couldn’t be dislodged.
I enjoy my Blackstone. I really do. It doesn’t do what I wanted it for but it does do a mighty mean breakfast.
I doubt spending more will fix the build quality issue. Just get you a bigger griddle. I have a 4 burner and it’s fine. But it’s also required more maintenance in it’s few years with me than my mother in law’s gas grill did over 20 years. It’s just cheaply built. If that’s important to you I’d look at other options. Id even go so far as to suggest, since you already have a gas grill, just getting a plate to fit inside it. Works exactly the same way, doesn’t add an appliance.
After a few years with a Blackstone I can confidently say it’s fun, but not for everyone.
I got it thinking it would save some time, money, or effort. It did none of those things.
It’s quick and easy if you have the support of a surrounding kitchen, but if you’re having to drag everything you need with you outside to use it, set up an clean up take just as long or longer.
It’s a huge attractant for rodents, but a clip on the grease drain fixed the problem of the rats getting to and shitting all over the cook top. But I occasionally find rat shit inside the grease bucket. I keep a liner with poison in there now.
It does genuinely make food better in some cases. Bacon and eggs just taste better coming off that thing. Fried rice is fantastic. Steaks an burgers come away with a great sear. I make a chopped cheese that I can’t replicate inside the kitchen.
Cleaning up all of the grease is a pain. It fucking gets everywhere. Even with a lid, the second you open it grease is going to coat every surface within about 10 feet. Not much different than a kitchen griddle but I find that cleaning up the Blackstone takes a bit longer.
It’s also built to fail. The cook top is fine, the burners are fine. The supporting structure might as well be made of paper. I had misaligned holes and don’t dare use the bottle opener. The included gas line had to be replaced after a year as the safety tripped and couldn’t be dislodged.
I enjoy my Blackstone. I really do. It doesn’t do what I wanted it for but it does do a mighty mean breakfast.
Part of that seems like an argument for the more expensive models, LoL
I doubt spending more will fix the build quality issue. Just get you a bigger griddle. I have a 4 burner and it’s fine. But it’s also required more maintenance in it’s few years with me than my mother in law’s gas grill did over 20 years. It’s just cheaply built. If that’s important to you I’d look at other options. Id even go so far as to suggest, since you already have a gas grill, just getting a plate to fit inside it. Works exactly the same way, doesn’t add an appliance.