What is an outdoor griddle? Well, an outdoor griddle is the ultimate back yard cooking appliance. This hearty grill gives you tons of space to cook up a storm for family or a whole crew of friends.
5 Reasons You Need an Outdoor Griddle
Let me walk you through why every outdoor chef needs a griddle in their setup.
All the Room You Could Ask For
The main perk of a griddle is all that beautiful cooking real estate. We’re talking several hundred square inches of flat cooktop space.
Leading brands like Blackstone offer griddles starting at 300 square inches and going up to over 500 square inches.
That’s enough room to cook a full-on breakfast, lunch or dinner spread all at once. Picture tossing on steaks, veggies, eggs and pancakes all together like you’re running your own diner.
While a regular BBQ grill gives you maybe 500-600 square inches split over a few racks, a griddle gives you one mammoth unified cooking surface.
The expansive area means you don’t have to cook in shifts. Get it all sizzling at the same time – now that’s efficient outdoor cooking!
Perfectly Even Results
Outdoor griddles utilize big burners to evenly heat the entire flat cooking surface. This gives you remarkably consistent results across the whole griddle. Food cooks thoroughly without any cold or burnt spots.
See, BBQ grills inherently have hot and cool zones based on proximity to the heat source. Not so with griddles.
Their excellent heat distribution means the entire griddle maintains the ideal temperature for properly searing burgers, browning pancakes, and charring vegetables.
Consistent and even cooking means you can trust a griddle to achieve griddle-top results outdoors.
Everything from American breakfast classics like eggs and bacon, to quick weeknight fajitas or seared salmon fillets.
Keep Food Warm Until Ready to Eat
A griddle’s sizable and steady cooking area makes it a BOSS at keeping food warm. The flat surface holds heat evenly, unlike grates which expose food to ambient air.
For larger get-togethers, you can cook food in batches on the griddle, then transfer it to the back “warming rack” to hold until serving time.
This way your food stays hot and delicious instead of drying out or cooling off.
Certain Blackstone griddle models come with a bottom shelf specifically designed to keep already cooked food warm while you finish up the next round.
Having a warming zone makes outdoor griddles awesome for entertaining and feeding a crowd.
Way Easier to Clean Than a Grill
Let’s be honest, cleaning up after a cookout is hardly the best part about BBQs. However, griddles make post-cooking cleanup MUCH easier than grill cleaning.
Grease and drippings are contained on the flat cooking surface rather than dripping through grates and making a mess everywhere.
Just give the griddle a good scrape with a spatula, some water and a scrub brush. For stubborn bits, a little cleaner does the trick.
Many outdoor griddles like Blackstone’s have integrated grease channels that drain grease and debris into removable catch trays. When done cooking, just toss the greasy tray and replace it with a clean one – brilliant!
Options for Any Outdoor Chef
Here’s the best part – griddles come in all shapes and sizes to match your cooking needs. Want a compact tailgating griddle?
They make ’em. Need a built-in model for your outdoor kitchen setup? Yep. Prefab units for easy backyard installation? You bet.
Freestanding cart-style griddles offer the ultimate in portability and cooking power. Move them around your patio on locking casters.
When not cooking, free up patio space by tucking them out of the way.
You can also get combo grill/griddle units, letting you sear on the flat top or grill over an open flame. However you like to BBQ, there’s a griddle suited for you.
Flat Top Grill vs Griddle? Is there a Difference?
You may also hear outdoor griddles referred to as flat top grills. This just means a grill with a flat cooking surface rather than grates.
While flat top grill is sometimes used as another name for griddles, it’s still the same versatile outdoor cooking appliance.
Griddle, flat top grill – no matter what you call it, it’s an essential tool for outdoor cooking fanatics!
The Takeaway
An outdoor griddle brings diner-worthy cooking capability to your own backyard. With tons of space to work, unmatched heating consistency, and easy cleanup, griddles are a serious outdoor cooking tool.
So if you’re ready to step up your BBQ game and become the neighborhood chef, get yourself a quality outdoor griddle.
Brands like Blackstone make pro-level griddles packed with features that even a novice can handle. Once you try cooking on a griddle, grilling just won’t be the same!