Ever wonder if you can smoke food on your Blackstone Griddle? Well, you can! Let’s explore how to smoke food on a Blackstone Griddle. This method can be used on most all outdoor propane griddles and flat top grills.
Smokers are built to only smoke food, but many other traditional grills and griddles can offer a very similar experience without shelling out another $500 for a separate smoker.
Does Blackstone Make a Smoker?
No. They make griddles and flat top grills only, however, you can use them for smoking in and other versatile outdoor cooking methods. They come with independent burners and excellent heat control that delivers incredible firepower for all your smoking and searing needs.
Fortunately, the smoking process does not need to be over-complicated and you just need to learn the ways your Blackstone Griddle can be a smoker.
Blackstone has got your back with many impressive models if you want an excellent outdoor griddle for the sunny weather and open-air dining season. Join us as we learn how to smoke tasty bites on a Blackstone griddle.
How Does Smoking Meat Work?
In a really fast nutshell, smoking meat works by the use of reduced indirect heat over a long period of time.
You may have heard the term “low and slow”, this essentially means lower temps than traditional grilling thus making it a slower cooking time. Well, the first time you do, it might seem impossible. There’s no open fire.
So how does smoking happen on the Blackstone griddle? There is nothing to stop you from creating a flame on the flat top of the griddle. With a bit of ingenuity and attention to detail, you will get the same results you’d get on a grill.
The idea when smoking with Blackstone griddles is to start a fire in a small tin-foil pan.
Put that with the food you want to smoke, then cover both with a sizeable basting cover. Turn heat on low and wham! Lip-smacking smoky flavor.
The Pros Of Smoking On The Blackstone Griddles
STRENGTH AND ROBUSTNESS: The Blackstone griddles you can use to smoke have a solid steel frame construction that doesn’t come lightly.
They are robust and heavily built. You have the options of tabletop and freestanding –both will serve you for a long time.
LARGE CAPACITY: One of the most critical things to consider when buying a griddle smoker is size and capacity.
Blackstone griddles have a higher capacity—larger cooking surfaces that help you cook a large enough meal for your weekend sports buddies.
Gone are the days when your smoked food was served lukewarm because you had to prepare it in batches. With these griddles, you will be able to serve everything at the same time.
YOU CAN SMOKE SMALLER FOODS: Griddle grills like Blackstone have many advantages over conventional grill grates. One feature of excellence here is that there are zero gaps for food to fall between – the cooking top is flat.
That means your chopped meat and veggies have a better chance of ending up at the dinner table and not into the ash pit of the grill.
Now is the time to try and make some smoked sea salt as it won’t be falling through and get evenly smoked.
NOT STICKY: One of the many challenges when smoking on a grill grate is the risk of sticky surfaces.
With the Blackstone griddles, once the surface is well oiled and seasoned, steak doesn’t stick to the griddle.
Then again, because the smoking process comes later after griddling, you can expect beautifully browned dishes with a rich smoky flavor.
NO FLARE-UPS: No one likes to spend a great deal of effort to smoke a little something for dinner.
The biggest challenge with grill grates is the flare-ups – fat from the foods getting smoked heats the fire. The result is uncontrollable flames and smoke that may throw a spanner in the works.
BETTER CONTROL: The Blackstone griddle grills come with many burners for even heat distribution.
Users have greater heat control since the burners are independently controlled without any direct flames. The food comes out evenly cooked.
VERSATILE USE: The choice of foods you can put on the griddle is endless.
You cannot cook on an ordinary grill from any solid foods to pancakes, eggs, and small foodstuffs that would fall through a standard grate.
You can try to move various kinds of foods around segregated heated areas for the different cooking stages. Or you can light one side in case it is a quick steak or even a few eggs.
Cons Of Smoking On The Blackstone Griddle
NOT CONVENTIONAL: This is not something that comes to mind when you buy a griddle.
A BIT MORE INVOLVED: New beginners might find the process of smoking on a griddle to be a little complicated. For instance, you can’t set the temp and forget it.
You will need to babysit the Blackstone Griddle and ensure temps stay within the range you need.
How To Smoke On A Blackstone Griddle
The technique involves putting a handful of drained wood chips on an aluminum foil pan then sealing it together to make a “square pack.” Follow this guide to get it right.
Things you need:
- • A Blackstone griddle grill
- • Wood chips –choose a flavor you like
- • Aluminum foil pan
- • Resting rack
- • Torch
- • Griddle Hood/Lid or Basting Cover
Step #1: Choose a Blackstone Griddle to smoke on
1). Blackstone 36 inch Flat Top Gas Griddle
I guess it goes without saying, you will need a griddle lol. Do you need a 36inch griddle? No, not really, but it’s kind of the go-to Blackstone for backyards and family-sized cooking. If you are hosting a large crowd, the Blackstone 36 inch gas griddles will fit your capacity requirements without compromise.
Its cooktop has four burners, and so you can cook and then smoke different food items in the shortest amount of time ever. This griddle grill is extremely easy to set up and use.
You can start cooking and smoking your favorite grilled food recipes without stressing and tinkering. You don’t need charcoal- you push a button, and fire comes to light. With all of that said, you can certainly use 17, 22, or 28-inch models as well, they will just be a bit more cramped on the cooking surface area.
Its other selling points include:
- • Built to last with high-quality stainless steel
- • Each burner can be separately adjusted, delivering more control
- • Electric start button makes it easy to start
- • It comes with caster wheels, easy to move around, great for alfresco grilling and ingenious smoking
Step# 2: Make the Smoking Hack
Time to make some smoke! Fill up an aluminum foil pan with wood chips and light it until it starts smoking. Put this smoking aluminum foil pan onto the flat top grill next to the food you want to smoke.
Cover everything up with the basting cover, and let the food cook as it smokes. There are also some nice smoker tubes that are made for non-traditional styled smoking like we are doing with the griddle.
It’s important to note, depending on your style of food, taste and tolerance, some people may opt to partially cook their food first, before smoking. This is certainly an option and it will depend on your preference and the food you choose to smoke.
Step#3: Check Temperature
Smoking requires good temperature control. This is where traditional smokers leave griddles in their….smoke? Fact is, real smokers generally have a “set and forget” temperature gauge.
Unfortunately, you won’t have this luxury, and you will spend more time babysitting the griddle than you would if you were smoking on a Traeger. If you are smoking meat, the overall temperature should be 200-220F range.
Most meats need to be cooked to an internal temperature of 145F (and poultry up to 165F). To get a really tender barbecue, you want a higher final temperature, say around 180 F.
You might want to keep the temperature low to give the smoke enough time to sink into the meat. Slow cooking gives the natural binding fibers in meat time to break down, tenderize, and turn into base sugar.
Collagen, the tough connective tissue in meat, breaks down into different types of sugars when slowly cooked. This gives the meat a sweet taste. Check out this infographic that better lays it out:
Step#4: Keep the smoke up
Another basic rule of smoking is to keep the smoke up. You want the wood pellets to continue burning to give a good thick stream of smoke around the meat. It helps to enhance the flavor.
When you are satisfied with the results, take the food off the griddle and serve. Make sure you double-check temps, you don’t want to serve undercooked poultry or pork.
Conclusion
So, yes. You can smoke on the Blackstone Griddle. Follow these tips to smoke all varieties of foods on your Blackstone griddle grill. At a minimum, try smoking on the Blackstone griddle a few times before thinking you need to buy another unit.
If you hate it, cool, go buy a smoker, but at least you know it was the right choice for you.