Blackstone Original 36-Inch Griddle Cooking Station W/ Hard Cover - 1866

• 720 square-inches of griddle with awesome heat retention
• Cold-rolled steel construction at weight-saving thicknesses
• Four tube-style burners boasting a combined 60,000 BTUs
• Enjoy workings with 4 separate griddling temperature zones
• Extra storage, bonus prep space, and grease management

The Blackstone 1866 Griddle Station is a durable griddling machine built to feed a full family reunion for years to come. We find that its thoughtful design, reliable results, and the sheer span of that griddle surface make it step away from the competition. Is this a portable griddle? No. It’s a heavy-duty solution (after all, the whole construction weighs in at a hefty 135 pounds), but it makes consistently excellent use of every ounce.

All in all? This means a versatile cooking station that knows what it is: a crowd-pleaser. Crank up those burners, and you’ll fire up countless buffets of delicious backyard fare and look great doing it. This griddle provides a great way to get into the sizzling spirit while trying something new. We’re satisfied with the end result — especially at this cost range — and we can see how (and why) TikTok made this standout a star.

Quality:

• Let’s start with the griddling surface: you’re looking at 720 square-inches of 7-gauge, cold-rolled steel, stretched across an ample 36 x 20 inches of flattop real estate. Whether you’re pouring fluffy flapjacks or lining up your ribeye roster, that’s a great size for any griddle station. As for the heating elements beneath, Blackstone supplied 4 tube-style burners boasting 15,000 BTUs apiece. Taken by their individual lanes, they divide this griddle into distinct heat zones for dual-zone or even quad-zone cooking. But when you crank them all on together, you’re working with 60,000 BTUs of fearsome flat-top power.

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But the griddle doesn’t tell the whole story. The firebox itself is similarly constructed from 19-gauge, cold-rolled steel, and that thickness helps keep the weight of this station manageable. Meanwhile, we measured 16-gauge steel for the front control panel. Each tube-style burner is constructed of 400-gauge stainless steel measuring 0.7 mm thick. Back to the cold-rolled steel — Blackstone built the included removable hard top lid out of it, and we caught it at an 18-gauge width.

Performance:

• For the preheat test, we set all burners to high and waited 15 minutes before taking the average overall temperature — which was 445°F, appropriate for searing within 15–20 minutes. Satisfied with that, we let it cool and began our low-temperature evenness test; with all burners on low for 30 minutes, the average overall temperature settled at 336°F. (That is, of course, with all the burners on. For a lower heat floor, drop to 2–3 burners instead.) The furthest deviation was the back-right corner, which strayed 76°F from the average. Flipping the script to the high temperature test, we ran all burners on high for 30 minutes and achieved an average overall temperature of 466°F. This time, the outlier was the back-right corner, which ventured 95°F away.

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Griddle stations make interesting test patients — there are as many different tests we can throw at this machine as there are things to cook on it! Before busting out the burgers, Chef Tony settled for alternating the burner temperatures in peak-valley formation: burners 1 and 3 sat on high, while 2 rested at low and 4 was left off. This unorthodox test showed an impressive zone differentiation: there was a 18 perfect difference between zones 1 and 2, about a 26% difference between 2 and 3, and jumping straight from high to off from 3 to 4 made a 30% difference in heat output.

Then we loaded up two dozen hamburger patties in a real-world test. Here’s where the heat retention of that thick metal plate worked their magic — instead of waiting to bounce back from 24 cold chunks of meat landing at once, we flipped beautifully seared patties. After that, we tested the different temperature zones together with a full breakfast spread. From eggs and pancakes over medium-low to bacon and hash browns over higher heat, the griddle performed admirably. Finally, we tried a savory spread of bell peppers to the far left, fresh steaks to the center, and grill cheese for the rest. Not only did the steaks and bell peppers caramelize wonderfully, but the delicate grilled cheese sandwiches came out perfectly gooey with a satisfying dark golden crunch.

Features:

We’ve already given the nod to the Blackstone 1866 Griddle’s four tube-style burners, each rated at 15,000 BTC USD apiece. You’ll find them simple to use with electronic, push-button ignition. Keep your tank secure with a propane tank bracket, and protect the griddle plate with a removable steel hard top cover that doubles as a convenient windbreak to the back of the build. Four solidly-made wheels help with lugging the 135 pounds of griddling power around your space.

We all love extra food prep space and storage. Apparently Blackstone does too, which is why the station comes equipped with included fold-down side shelves (plus, tool studs for hanging accessories), and a magnetic knife strip to keep extra tools at hand. For the underside, you’ll find a swing-arm paper towel holder — surely, you can think of a few reasons to want one when it comes to griddling — and a full-width storage shelf.

Finally, here’s a perk for any fence-sitters out there: an arguable design flaw in an older version of this griddle has since been corrected. The grease management port has been moved to the back of the griddle surface, making it that much easier to push away oils and grease to the rear of your workspace. For the rest of the mess? We’re pleased to see that the full griddle surface is removable from the station for even easier cleanup.