Blackstone Beauty — My First Weeks Cooking on the Griddle

I had never understood the fascination with the Blackstone grill, but I’m glad I took the plunge and purchased one. As a long-time restaurant employee in my younger days, it brings back memories. One of the first things I’m glad for is that I went with the large grill. It seems like a lot of space, but with that space, you can cook a lot of things at the same time. My griddle came with 4 burners, which is a nice feature as well — it allows for different heating zones.

Smash burgers

After seasoning the grill, which was a pretty easy process, my first several cooks were smash burgers. Basically, that means lightly balling up ground beef, then placing the balls on a hot grill.

Raw ground beef balls on the Blackstone griddle next to grilled onions, before smashing

I start with a little butter underneath, to get a good crust on the bottom, and then smash it flat. I use a spatula and a sheet of waxed paper to do this.

Ground beef balls smashed flat into patties on the griddle, next to grilled onions

I then season them and wait a minute or two before giving them a flip.

Smash burger patties flipped, seared side up, on the griddle

To top the burgers, I used some of my smoked cheese.

A block of homemade smoked cheese, dated 12/7, on a cutting board ready to top the burgers

Again, the beauty of the grill is cooking multiple things at the same time, so I use the cover to melt the cheese on the burgers while toasting the buns.

Smash burgers melting cheese under a metal dome, buns toasting alongside on the griddle

I continued to cook smash burgers a couple more times, with the same consistent results.

A second round of smash burgers melting cheese under the dome, with more buns toasting

Finished smash burgers with melted cheese, grilled onions, and toasted buns, plated on a sheet pan

Branching out

I did branch out and cooked some rice and beef on the grill, and it turned out good as well. I cooked the rice in the Instant Pot, then finished it on the grill.

Rice topped with diced peppers and herbs on the griddle, before adding the beef

Rice and veggies next to browning shredded beef on the griddle

Still trying to get the hang of cooking fresh flour tortillas — they taste great, but they’re too thick.

Homemade flour tortillas cooking on the griddle

Branched out and cooked some chicken with rice, peppers, and onions next.

Rice, sliced peppers and onions, and grilled chicken cooking together on the griddle

Tried some shrimp and stir-fry veggies next — turned out good.

A finished plate of rice, stir-fry vegetables, shrimp, and mushrooms

Breakfast

Finally found time to attempt breakfast. This is where I should shine, since I cook tons of breakfast on a flat top. On previous cooks, the temp didn’t seem to matter so much, but I found out fast that the grill gets smoking hot. There was a bit of a learning curve with the grill, and an immediate need to monitor and adjust the temps. To do this, I use an inexpensive temp gun, purchased from Amazon, that I’d typically use when searing items in my cast iron pan.