The Complete Blackstone Buyer's Guide (2026): Every Griddle, Ranked

TL;DR. For most backyard cooks, the Blackstone Select 36 with Cabinet at $2,499 is the right spec — 60,000 BTU main, 768 square inches of rolled-steel plate, 304 stainless cabinet, 3-year warranty. For a built-in outdoor kitchen, the 36-inch Select Built-In at $3,499 drops into a standard cutout next to any dealer-tier grill. For an RV, the 22-inch cart griddleat $599 is the right small-footprint spec. Where Blackstone wins versus competitors: catalog depth, cooking-surface quality, and the one-price built-in option. Where it doesn’t: dealer-tier 304 cabinet construction on the built-in heads (Bull BBQ and Coyote win there, but neither makes a true griddle head).

Why Blackstone Owns the Griddle Category

Blackstone invented the modern backyard outdoor griddle in 2005 — a rolled-steel plate over H-style gas burners, in a cart format designed for backyard use rather than restaurant kitchens. Twenty years later, the current catalog has every size from a 17-inch tabletop through a 36-inch built-in head, and the brand still outsells the entire griddle competition combined. For a quick business-of-the-category read, see our Blackstone brand page.

The cooking surface is what separates Blackstone from any grill brand you’d put next to it. The seasoned rolled-steel plate holds temperature across the entire surface at a given BTU input — no hot spots, no cold spots at the corners — so smash burgers, Teppanyaki fried rice, hibachi stir-fry, and a 12-egg breakfast all cook with the same surface temperature from one edge to the other. The H-style burner pattern underneath distributes heat evenly instead of the hot-stripe pattern that single-tube burners give you.

What griddles are actually for: breakfast cooks (bacon, eggs, pancakes), smash burgers, Teppanyaki fried rice, Korean BBQ, hibachi stir-fry, fajita vegetables, breakfast burritos, and anything you’d normally do on a stovetop plate. Grills do the sear-mark cooking — steaks, chops, bone-in chicken, hot dogs. Most of our customers end up with both. The flat-top griddle category page has the full catalog.

The Blackstone Lineup — Every Current SKU

That’s the current working catalog. BBQ accessories, griddle covers, and the matched insulated jackets for the built-in heads round out the brand page but don’t land in this decision-tree discussion.

Decision Tree by Use Case

Use Case 1: RV Camper or Balcony Cook

Portable / RV

Blackstone 22" Griddle w/ Cart (Black)

From $599

• •~340 sq in rolled-steel plate
• •Compact 22-inch footprint on open cart
• •Propane, pairs with Blackstone RV quick-connect
• •Entry-tier open-cart build, 1-yr warranty

View the Blackstone 22" Griddle→

For RV cooking, boat decks, apartment balconies, or anyone whose “outdoor kitchen” is a 4-by-6 foot space, the Blackstone 22 on the open cartis the entry point. Roughly 340 square inches of cooking surface at $599, propane-fed, and small enough to roll off the deck and store in a shed. Not the right spec for a full backyard patio — the 60-degree ambient wind on a windy day will cool the smaller plate noticeably — but it’s the right call where space is the constraint.

If you’re RV-focused specifically, pair with the Blackstone propane quick-connect hose that converts the griddle inlet to the RV’s onboard tank. We stock the accessory pack separately — see the Blackstone brand page for the matched hose and cover.

Use Case 2: Backyard Freestanding (The Most Common Buy)

For the family patio where the griddle lives outside year-round, the Blackstone Select 36 with Cabinetat $2,499 is the one. Four burners at 15,000 BTU each (60,000 BTU main total), 768 square inches of rolled-steel plate measuring 35¾ by 21½ inches, 304 stainless cabinet with soft-close drawer, pre-tapped propane / natural gas inlet, 3-year warranty. We sell more of this SKU than any other Blackstone configuration — it’s the sweet spot where build quality, cooking area, and price all land in the right place for a dedicated backyard griddle.

If the patio is tight — a townhouse courtyard, a condo balcony, or a city patio under 10 feet wide — step down to the Select 28 Cabinetat $1,999. Same cabinet build, same soft-close drawer, same 3-year warranty, one fewer burner, roughly 300 fewer square inches of plate. Right spec for a family of 4 who cooks for 4-6 and doesn’t need the full 12-burger smash capacity.

If the griddle lives in the garage between weekend cooks and $999 for a 36-inch flat-top sounds better than $2,499, the 36 on the open cart is a legitimate buy. Same rolled-steel plate, same H-style burners, open-cart construction instead of stainless cabinet, 1-year warranty instead of 3. The full Select-vs-Original math is in our Select vs Original head-to-head.

Use Case 3: The Full Outdoor Cook Setup — Air Fryer Combo

Blackstone Select 36" Air Fryer Combo Griddle

From $2,999

View the Blackstone Select 36"→

For parallel outdoor cooking — wings in the air fryer, smash burgers on the griddle, fries finishing in the second drawer — the Blackstone Select 36 Air Fryer Combo at $2,999 is a legitimate upgrade over the base Select 36. The Combo is the Select 36 cabinet with twin ventilated air-fryer drawers built into the right-side cart, driven by a dedicated digital temperature display.

What makes it work: the air fryer drawers vent out the back of the cabinet rather than into the griddle cook space, and they run on their own temperature controller — so wings at 400°F on the air fryer don’t compete with burgers at 500°F on the plate. Honest downside: the Combo needs 120V power at the patio to run the air fryer side. If you don’t have a weatherproof GFCI receptacle at the griddle location, budget $300 to $500 for an electrician.

Use Case 4: Built-In Outdoor Kitchen

For a permanent built-in outdoor kitchen with a grill head and a dedicated griddle section, Blackstone makes two drop-in heads: the 28-inch XL Outdoor Kitchen Series at $1,899 and the 36-inch Select Series Built-In at $3,499. Both fit standard outdoor-kitchen cutouts (28 by 22 inches for the 28 XL, 36 by 22 inches for the 36) and ship from the factory in your choice of propane or natural gas.

Pairings we spec most often: Bull BBQ Angus 30-inch grill + Blackstone 28 XL built-in griddle is the mid-tier combo at roughly $4,700 for both heads. Coyote C-Series 36 + Blackstone 36 built-in is the step up at roughly $6,300. Hestan built-in + Blackstone built-in is the luxury pairing — more about aesthetic match than performance delta.

A real honest trade on the built-in heads: Blackstone’s built-in griddle heads are mid-tier construction, not dealer-tier. The plate quality and burner engineering are first-rate. The cabinet metallurgy on the drop-in head itself is not at the Bull BBQ or Coyote level — those two brands make 304 stainless everywhere, with welded corners and heavier-gauge stainless than Blackstone uses on the built-in heads. For a griddle head, the Blackstone plate quality is where the cook happens and that’s legitimately excellent. For built-in grill heads where the construction matters more, Bull or Coyote wins. Buy both: Blackstone griddle head + Bull or Coyote grill head. Our built-in vs freestanding guide covers the broader decision math.

Add the matched insulated jacket (36-inch jacket at $599.99) for any island framed with combustible materials. On a block or cement-board island, the jacket is optional but still recommended as cheap insurance for the gas regulator.

Use Case 5: The Pizza Oven Companion

The Blackstone Select Pizza Ovenat $1,499 isn’t a griddle — it’s a propane pizza oven on a matching Select cart. Rotating stone deck (so you don’t have to turn the pie manually), 304 stainless hearth, matches the Select 36 aesthetic. If you’re already going Blackstone on the griddle and want outdoor pizza, this is the on-brand companion. Alternative paths: step out to Ooni or Gozney for a dedicated pizza-first setup; those brands make purpose-built pizza ovens that beat Blackstone on peak hearth temperature. The Blackstone Pizza Oven wins on brand match and matched cart height — if visual consistency on the patio matters, this is the pick.

Blackstone vs the Competition — Who Else to Cross-Shop

The three brands worth cross-shopping against Blackstone when you're specifically shopping for an outdoor griddle:

Entry-tier alt

Weber Slate 36" 4-Burner Freestanding Griddle

From $799

Dealer-tier 304

Coyote 2-Burner Freestanding Flat Top Griddle

From $1,299

Reno-built pro

Summerset Pro 30" 2-Burner Freestanding Griddle

From $2,049

Blackstone vs Weber Slate

The Weber Slate line is the budget alternative to Blackstone — the Weber Slate 36at $799 is cheaper than any Blackstone Select cabinet unit and competes directly with the Blackstone 36 Original cart at $999. Where Weber wins: price, if you’re already a Weber ecosystem buyer (Summit grill, Weber Connect app), and the rust-resistant plate coating that doesn’t need the initial seasoning routine Blackstone does. Where Blackstone wins: the rolled-steel plate seasons like cast iron and ages into something you can’t replicate with a coated plate — a decade-old Blackstone cooks better than a decade-old Weber Slate. For a dedicated griddle you’ll keep, Blackstone. For a “nice-to-have” alongside a Weber grill, Slate is defensible.

If portable is the priority, Weber wins outright — the Weber Travelerat $449 is purpose-built for tailgating and camping in a way the Blackstone 22-inch cart isn’t. The Traveler isn’t a griddle though — it’s a grill. If you specifically need a portable griddle, Blackstone’s 22-inch cart at $599 is the only real option in that size range.

Blackstone vs Coyote Flat-Top

Coyote makes the dealer-tier griddle alternative. The Coyote 2-Burner Freestanding Flat Top at $1,299 is 304 stainless construction throughout — the same metallurgy Coyote uses on their C-Series grills. For a built-in outdoor kitchen where everything else is Coyote (grill, side burner, refrigeration), the Coyote griddle is the aesthetic match. The honest spec trade: 2 burners instead of 4, roughly half the plate area of the Blackstone 36, and the plate is stainless-coated rather than rolled-steel seasoned. For a Coyote-centric kitchen, Coyote griddle. For plate performance, Blackstone — their rolled-steel plate is the gold standard for a reason.

Blackstone vs Summerset Pro

Summerset Grills makes the Pro Series griddles out of their Reno, Nevada plant — the Summerset Pro 30-inch 2-Burner Freestanding at $2,049 is the direct cross-shop to the Blackstone Select 28 Cabinet. Summerset wins on build integration with their Sizzler Pro grillsif you’re already a Summerset customer — their stainless aesthetic is matched across the lineup, their warranty structure is more generous (lifetime on primary components), and the Reno-build origin is a real durability advantage. Blackstone wins on plate quality for pure griddle work and on the full catalog depth (Summerset makes exactly one freestanding griddle size; Blackstone makes seven).

What About Bull BBQ?

Bull BBQ does not currently make a flat-top griddle in our catalog. If you’re building a Bull-centric outdoor kitchen with a Bull Angus built-in grill and want a matched griddle head, the Blackstone built-in sits next to it fine aesthetically (both have the badge-forward control panel look), or step out to Coyote or Summerset if you want everything matched to the same brand. Our full Bull Angus review walks the broader grill side.

The One Non-Obvious Pick: Original Cart for Weekenders

The dealer-honest advice that we don’t get to give often enough: if you cook on the griddle once or twice a month and store it in the garage between uses, the Blackstone 36 on the open cart at $999 is the right buy and the $1,500 saved versus the Select 36 Cabinet goes further elsewhere — into a quality grill, a pizza oven, or just not being spent. The rolled-steel plate and H-style burners are identical to the Select. The compromises on the Original cart are cabinet metallurgy (open black powder-coat vs 304 stainless), warranty (1 year vs 3), and the soft-close drawer. For a garage-stored griddle, none of those are deal-breakers.

Summary: The Decision Framework

Everyday patio griddle, lives outside year-round → Blackstone Select 36 Cabinet at $2,499.

Tight patio, cook for 4 or fewer → Blackstone Select 28 Cabinet at $1,999.

Want outdoor air-fryer + griddle in parallel → Air Fryer Combo at $2,999 (rough in 120V first).

Built-in outdoor kitchen, grill + griddle sections → 36 Select Built-In or 28 XL Built-In + a dealer-tier grill head.

RV, camping, balcony cooking → 22-inch on cart at $599.

Weekender who stores in the garage → 36 Original on open cart at $999, save the $1,500.

Outdoor pizza on a Blackstone-themed patio → add the Select Pizza Oven at $1,499 to any of the above.

For the detailed Select-series spec comparisons, our Select Series Buying Guide walks the 28 vs 36 vs Air Fryer Combo decision. For the Select-vs-Original dollar math, the Select vs Original head-to-head has the full table. Browse the full Blackstone brand page for current stock, or compare across the catalog on the flat-top griddle category page.