Outdoor cooking: Gas Grill or Gas Griddle?

[T.O.M.]

I use both gas (Weber Spirit) and charcoal (Weber kettle circa 1987) for outdoor cooking.  It I want to so frying outside, I just put my cast iron skillet on the grill.  I can do both at once that way.  I've also used my dutch over on the charcoal grill (without the lid) to get smokiness in dishes like mac and cheese.

[mtnbkr]

After starting this thread, I spoke with my friend who has the griddle I got to use.  He pretty much does all his outdoor cooking on the griddle except steaks, which he cooks over a firepit with a camp grills.  So after watching some youtube videos and getting more ideas on cooking on a griddle, we decided to go that route.  The griddle is just so flexible and we learned of a variety of things we weren't thinking of.  Also, we considered all of the things we typically cook on a grill, and except for smoking, they were all well suited to a griddle (steaks, burgers, hotdogs, peppers, onions, etc).  Since we still have the Weber kettle, it's not as if we are locked into the griddle from here on out.  What few tasks aren't well suited to the griddle will go onto the Weber.

As for cast iron pans on a regular grill, I've tried that and didn't like it.  Again, the issue is with working space, of which there is none with a pan on a grill.  We also looked at purpose-built griddles for grills, including some custom ones built to order, but the latter was $140+.

We settled on the 28" Blackstone.  Cabelas has them for $240, but other vendors have them for as little as $154, so I went to Cabelas and asked about price matching.  They price matched Home Depot, so I ordered mine on the spot, paying with my Cabelas points.  Final price after tax was $164 and not a dime out of my pocket.

Chris

[Ben]

We settled on the 28" Blackstone.  Cabelas has them for $240, but other vendors have them for as little as $154, so I went to Cabelas and asked about price matching.  They price matched Home Depot, so I ordered mine on the spot, paying with my Cabelas points.  Final price after tax was $164 and not a dime out of my pocket.

Chris

That is one hell of a price match! I didn't know Cabelas did that. Enjoy the new griddle!

[mtnbkr]

That is one hell of a price match! I didn't know Cabelas did that. Enjoy the new griddle!

No kidding.  I didn't know they price matched either until I realized how much higher their price was than everyone else.  I checked their site and they'll price match any local competitor within 100 miles EXCEPT Walmart and certain specific online competitors.  Luckily, Home Depot is considered local and their webpage on the griddle was sufficient to prove the price (even though they didn't have them in the stores locally).  HD's price was among the lowest, so it worked out for me.

The best part was using only a third of my available points rather than 100%+ like I was looking at with other grills. :D

Chris

[K Frame]

So you going to keep it on the deck under a cover?

Sounds like a nice piece of kit.

Gewher98 I believe has a big outdoor griddle. You may want to hit him up to see what his take on it is.

[mtnbkr]

Yes, on the deck under a cover.  Walmart sells the Blackstone branded cover for $25.

Chris

[mtnbkr]

Picked it up from Cabelas last night, assembled it, and seasoned it. 

This morning, I cooked a batch of paleo pancakes on it.  Because I could pour them out onto the griddle all at once, rather than doing 1 or 2 at a time, I had breakfast done in record time. :)

Chris

[K Frame]

Great, you're now a short order cook.

From now on you'll be named Mel, and the Mrs. will be known as Flo.

[Ben]

Picked it up from Cabelas last night, assembled it, and seasoned it. 

This morning, I cooked a batch of paleo pancakes on it.  Because I could pour them out onto the griddle all at once, rather than doing 1 or 2 at a time, I had breakfast done in record time. :)

Chris

While for me, I have plenty of room in cast iron pans for most of the meat cooking I do, making pancakes is one area where a griddle shines. When I make pancakes in a pan, I often find myself eating one (or some) at the stove while I'm cooking up the rest. 

[K Frame]

No one makes,one big pancake in the pan and then cut it in quarters?

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[Ben]

No one makes,one big pancake in the pan and then cut it in quarters?

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I can flip a 10" crepe (i.e., German pancake), but all too often when I do that with a pancake of the same size, I get batter going all over the place. You would think the crepe would be harder to flip, but for me it's the pancake.

[K Frame]

I can flip a 10" crepe (i.e., German pancake), but all too often when I do that with a pancake of the same size, I get batter going all over the place. You would think the crepe would be harder to flip, but for me it's the pancake.

I've been known to use two pans... Heat them both, start the pancake in the first one, when it's time to flip, flip it into the second pan, and start another pancake while the first one finishes.

[charby]

I can flip a 10" crepe (i.e., German pancake), but all too often when I do that with a pancake of the same size, I get batter going all over the place. You would think the crepe would be harder to flip, but for me it's the pancake.

Didn't know crepes were German, figured they are a French thing.

[lupinus]

Didn't know crepes were German, figured they are a French thing.

Many cultures make a crepe, or something very crepe like.

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[K Frame]

In Germany, they're called, among other things, pfannkuchen.

[Ben]

In Germany, they're called, among other things, pfannkuchen.

Yup. Called pancakes, but look like crepes and made with the extra eggs and all.