How to Choose an Outdoor Griddle: A Buyer Checklist Before You Spend

Two neighbors can spend the same Saturday and come home with very different cookers. One measures the pad, counts how many items have to finish at once, and checks whether the unit is a bare-steel outdoor plate or an indoor electric model — then buys a two-zone cart that matches a weeknight menu. The other shops from a viral thumbnail, brings home a 36-inch chassis that will not roll through the side gate, and spends the next month fighting rust because the cover was sold separately. This checklist is the sequence the first buyer used.

It is a buying path, not a ranked list of models. Official specification pages change by SKU; treat every number below as a reminder to read the current sheet for the unit in your cart.

How to choose an outdoor griddle, in one pass

Choose an outdoor griddle by the meals you cook, then by heat zones, footprint, fuel, and care. Confirm whether it is an outdoor gas plate or an indoor electric model, and measure width and weight. Check that a hood and a grease system are included. A cart and a combo island solve different jobs.

If you are still learning the style itself, read what a Blackstone grill is and whether it is right for you. For width-by-width official figures, use the 17-, 22-, 28-, and 36-inch size comparison. The wider map of surfaces, combos, and care lives in the outdoor griddle guide.

Step 1. Write down the meals, not a brand name

List the three cooks you will actually repeat. A mixed breakfast, smash burgers with toasted buns, and fajitas point to a flat top. Bone-in chicken, lid-on roasts, and marked steaks point to a grate grill — or to a combo if you do both weekly. Blackstone’s griddle-versus-grill food comparison is a useful official reminder of that split, and it applies to the style, not only to one logo.

If the honest list is “both, most weekends,” stop shopping a single plate and look at a grill-and-griddle island later in this checklist.

Step 2. Count heat zones before you count inches

Inches tell you how much food fits. Independently controlled burners tell you whether eggs and bacon can run at the same time. Blackstone’s buying guide frames the 17-inch class as a single burner, the 22- and 28-inch classes as two-zone tops, and the 36-inch class as four zones with 60,000 BTUs and 768 square inches.

BTU is input energy, not a guarantee of surface temperature. Wind, preheat, plate thickness, and a load of cold food all move the number on an infrared thermometer. Other brands publish their own zone and BTU figures — for example, the Weber Slate 30-inch lists three burners and 36,000 BTU-per-hour input over 540 square inches — which is why you compare zones and area, not brand slogans.

Step 3. Measure the pad against overall dimensions

The size in the name is usually the plate width. Overall width, height, depth, and weight live on the product page and include shelves and hoods. A current Blackstone 36-inch griddle with hood lists 64.5 inches of width and 135 pounds; a 17-inch tabletop example lists 17.25 inches and 30.8 pounds. If the unit has to roll through a gate or share a balcony, those overall figures decide the purchase.

Leave landing space for a tray of cooked food and a path to the grease cup. A plate that fills the entire pad is harder to use than a slightly smaller top with room to plate.

Step 4. Check fuel, ignition, and clearance

Most backyard carts run on a 20-pound propane cylinder; some tabletops use 1-pound cylinders; some cart lines offer natural-gas versions. The hose, regulator, and tank type are defined in the model manual. Follow that manual and public placement guidance such as the NFPA grilling safety page for clearances around walls, rails, and overhangs.

Outdoor gas units stay outdoors. Indoor electric plates are a different product family with circuit and utensil rules. Do not mix those instructions.

Step 5. Inspect grease handling, hood, and cover

Grease has to leave the plate and land in a cup or tray you are willing to empty. Rear channels, front cups, and trough-and-bucket systems all work if they are kept empty; they fail when they overflow onto a burner. Confirm the path on the diagram, not in a lifestyle photo.

A hood or hard cover protects the plate between cooks and is often sold as a different SKU. A soft cover over a damp plate will not prevent rust. Bare steel still needs the seasoning and drying routine in the maker’s guide, such as Blackstone’s seasoning instructions. Pre-seasoned or rust-resistant tops still need care; they are not a pass to skip drying.

Step 6. Decide cart versus combo island

A freestanding cart is the right tool when you want one plate and a smaller footprint. A combo island is the right tool when grate marks and a flat top have to live in the same cook. Big Horn’s outdoor kitchen grill and griddle combo lists 304 stainless grill grates (23.8" × 16.5") and a griddle (18.1" × 15.6") for 675 square inches total, six tubular burners at 65,000 BTU, plus a sink, refrigerator, and cabinets.

If the station is becoming an outdoor kitchen, also browse grills and griddles for surface mix, and be honest about whether you will use both sides every week. A combo you only use as a griddle is a large, expensive cart.

A one-page checklist you can take to the store

If several rows fail, the issue may not be the brand. It may be that a flat top is not the right spend, which is the question Is a flat-top griddle worth it? is written to answer.

FAQ

What should I look for first when I shop for an outdoor griddle?

The meals you will cook together, then the number of independently controlled burners, then the overall footprint. Plate width is the wrong first number if the cart will not fit the pad or if you cannot run two temperatures at once.

Is a four-burner 36-inch griddle the right default?

Only if you regularly cook several items at once and have room for a cart that can be more than 60 inches wide. Many weeknight menus fit a two-zone 22- or 28-inch class. Measure first; do not treat 36 inches as the automatic “family” size.

Do I need a hood or a cover?

You need a way to keep the plate dry and protected between cooks. That may be a hinged hard cover, a hooded model, or a fitted cover used on a dry, lightly oiled plate. Check whether the hood or cover is included on the exact SKU, because photos often show accessories sold separately.

When is a grill-and-griddle combo a better buy than a cart?

When you will use grate marks and a flat plate in the same weeks, not once a season. A combo island takes more space and a larger budget, but it avoids forcing one surface to do the other surface’s job.

Blackstone and Weber are trademarks of their respective owners. Big Horn Outdoors is not affiliated with or endorsed by Blackstone or Weber.