Blackstone Select Series Buying Guide (2026): 28 vs 36 vs Air Fryer Combo

TL;DR. The Blackstone Select 36 with Cabinet at $2,499 is the one we recommend most — 60,000 BTU main across four burners, 768 square inches of rolled-steel plate, 304 stainless cabinet, soft-close drawer, 3-year warranty. Step down to the Select 28 at $1,999 if space is tight, up to the Air Fryer Combo at $2,999 if you want wings and burgers in the same cook. For a built-in outdoor kitchen, the 36-inch Select Built-In drops into a standard cutout at $3,499.

What Is the Select Series?

Blackstone named every current freestanding model “Select Series” in the 2026 lineup refresh, but there’s a real tier split inside that name. The ones that matter are the units with the stainless cabinet. The Select Series cabinet models — the 28 with Cabinet, the 36 with Cabinet, and the 36 Air Fryer Combo — all share the same build changes versus the lower-tier open-cart variants:

304 stainless cabinet construction.The whole lower assembly is 304 stainless — the same alloy Hestan, DCS, and the premium built-in grill brands use. On a patio griddle that lives outside year-round, 304 stainless is the metallurgy call that matters: 430 stainless (and powder-coated steel like the Original cart) starts pitting and rusting in salt air or humid climates by year three. 304 doesn’t. The cabinet also closes off the lower cavity completely, which keeps critters, wind, and pollen out of the gas lines and ignition components.

Soft-close stainless drawer.There’s a full-width soft-close drawer under the burner shroud for spatulas, tongs, and seasoning bottles. The soft-close hinges on an outdoor griddle sound like a trivial upgrade until you’ve slammed a tool drawer in the dark at 9pm and spilled a bottle of griddle oil down the cabinet face. On the Select Series drawer, that just doesn’t happen.

Pre-tapped propane / natural gas inlet.Every freestanding Select ships ready for a 20-minute LP-to-NG swap. The orifices and regulator are included. If you’re on a patio with an existing NG stub-out, this is the detail that pays for itself — you’re not refilling a 20-pound propane tank every two weekends. On the open-cart Original variants the conversion is possible but less tidy, usually involving an aftermarket quick-connect.

3-year warranty. Up from 1 year on the Original cart. Three years is enough runway to catch factory defects on the burner tubes, the ignition module, and the plate seasoning channel. See the full Blackstone brand page for the complete current catalog and warranty structure.

Select 28 vs Select 36 vs Air Fryer Combo — Spec Comparison

The One We Recommend Most: Select 36 with Cabinet

Our top pick

Blackstone Select 36" 4-Burner Freestanding Griddle w/ Cabinet

From $2,499

• •60,000 BTU main across 4 burners (4 independent heat zones)
• •768 sq in of rolled-steel griddle plate (35¾" × 21½")
• •304 stainless cabinet with soft-close drawer
• •Pre-tapped LP/NG inlet, 3-year warranty

View the Blackstone Select 36"→

For a backyard that already has a gas grill and wants a dedicated flat-top for smash burgers, Teppanyaki, hibachi stir-fry, and a 12-egg Sunday breakfast, the Blackstone Select 36 with Cabinet is the right spec at the right price. Four independent heat zones on a 768 square inch plate means you can sear onions on zone 1, hold tortillas warm on zone 4, cook twelve smash burgers across the middle, and never move anything that’s cooking. The flat-top griddle category pagehas the full cross-shop, but the Select 36 is the SKU we see customers coming back for after they’ve stepped up from the open-cart tier.

Where the Select 36 lands on the price ladder: $1,500 more than the open-cart 36-inch Original, $500 less than the Air Fryer Combo, and roughly $1,000 less than the 36-inch built-in head. For most patio-first buyers, the $2,499 Select 36 with Cabinet is the sweet spot — you get the real build upgrades (stainless, soft-close, warranty) without paying the built-in premium or the air-fryer premium.

When to Step Down to the Select 28

Space-constrained patio

Blackstone Select 28" 3-Burner Freestanding Griddle w/ Cabinet

From $1,999

• •3 burners, ~45,000 BTU main
• •~470 sq in cooking area, 3 heat zones
• •Same Select cabinet + soft-close drawer
• •Pre-tapped LP/NG, 3-year warranty

View the Blackstone Select 28"→

The Select 28 with Cabinetis the right call if the patio is tight, the cook crew is 4 or fewer, or you’re running the griddle alongside a built-in grill and just want enough plate for breakfast and the occasional smash cook. $500 less than the 36 at $1,999. Same stainless cabinet, same 3-year warranty, same soft-close drawer. The honest trade: three heat zones instead of four and roughly 300 fewer square inches of plate. For a two-person household or a cook-for-four weekend, that’s all the griddle you need.

The 28 also sits closer to a counter-friendly footprint in a tight urban patio. If the patio is less than 10 feet wide and the griddle has to live between a wall and a built-in grill, the Select 28 is the one that fits. Step up to the Select 36 Cabinet only if the space allows it and you cook for 6-plus regularly.

When to Step Up to the Air Fryer Combo

The Blackstone Select 36 Air Fryer Combo is the Select 36 cabinet with twin ventilated air-fryer drawers built into the right-side cart assembly, driven by a dedicated digital temperature display. $500 more than the base Select 36 ($2,999 vs $2,499). The practical case for the upgrade is parallel cooking: wings in the air fryer, smash burgers on the griddle, fries finishing in the second drawer, all at the same time without ever leaving the patio.

Where the Combo doesn’t make sense: if you already own a quality indoor air fryer, the outdoor one duplicates capability you already have, and the Combo requires a 120V outlet at the patio that the base Select 36 doesn’t need. If you don’t have power roughed to the patio already, that’s a $300 to $500 electrician call before the Combo is useful. Honest math: Base Select 36 + a separate indoor air fryer wins on flexibility and cost for most buyers. The Combo wins when the outdoor patio is the whole cook workflow.

The Select Series Built-In Heads

For a built-in outdoor kitchen build, the Select freestanding units sit next to the island as a roll-up station. The Select Series built-in heads drop into a standard cutout alongside your grill head.

28" standard cutout

Blackstone 28" XL Outdoor Kitchen Built-In Griddle (LP)

From $1,899

36" standard cutout

Blackstone 36" Select Series Built-In Griddle (LP)

From $3,499

Two built-in options: the 28-inch XL Outdoor Kitchen Series Built-In at $1,899 and the 36-inch Select Series Built-In at $3,499. Both drop into standard outdoor-kitchen cutouts — 28 by 22 inches for the 28 XL, 36 by 22 inches for the 36 — alongside a built-in grill head from the same brand or any dealer-tier grill like a Bull BBQ Angus, Coyote C-Series, or Summerset Sizzler Pro. Both ship from the factory in your choice of propane or natural gas — the SKU suffix tells you which (LP for propane, NG for natural gas).

A note on the insulated jacket. Most combustible-framed islands (wood framing, composite decking enclosures) need the insulated jacket between the griddle head and the surrounding structure. Blackstone sells matched jackets — the 36-inch insulated jacketis $599.99, the 28-inch is $499. Non-combustible islands (block, concrete, cement board on metal studs) don’t require it, but we recommend it anyway because it reduces heat transfer into the island cavity and helps the gas regulator last longer.

Original Cart Line — When to Save the Money

The classic Blackstone Original — the open black powder-coat cart with no cabinet — is still in the lineup under the “Select Series Black with Cart”naming (same rolled-steel griddle plate as the Select cabinet, mounted on the entry-tier open cart). It’s the right buy for a specific use case: a once-or-twice-a-month weekend cook, stored in the garage between uses, where $999 for a 36-inch griddle beats $2,499 for the same cooking surface on a cabinet.

The honest read: the open-cart line is a legitimate budget option. The rolled-steel plate and the H-style burners underneath are the same. What you’re giving up is cabinet metallurgy (which matters most if the griddle lives outside year-round), the soft-close drawer, and 2 years of warranty coverage. For a weekend cook who stores the griddle in a garage or shed between uses, the Original 36 on the open cart at $999 is a reasonable buy. Our full head-to-head is in Blackstone Select vs Original: Which to Buy.

The Pizza Oven Companion

Rotating stone outdoor pizza

Blackstone Select Freestanding Propane Pizza Oven

From $1,499

• •304 stainless hearth
• •Rotating stone — no need to turn the pie manually
• •Propane freestanding on matching Select cart
• •~$1,499 — matches Select cart aesthetic

View the Blackstone Select Freestanding→

The Blackstone Select Pizza Ovenat $1,499 isn’t strictly a Select Series griddle but it’s built on the same cart aesthetic — stainless hearth, propane, rotating stone, cart-mounted. If you’re building out a Blackstone-centric patio with the Select 36 and want a matched pizza option without stepping into Ooni / Gozney territory, the Blackstone Pizza Oven is the right cross-shop. Unlike the griddle, the pizza oven’s 304 stainless hearth doesn’t need seasoning — the stainless surface works differently than the seasoned rolled-steel plate.

How the Select Series Fits a Full Outdoor Kitchen

For a complete BBQs.com outdoor-kitchen spec, the Blackstone Select 36 freestanding or built-in sits next to the gas grill as the secondary cook surface — grill on one side, griddle on the other. The pairings we see most often: Bull Angus 30-inch built-in grill + Blackstone 28 XL built-in griddle is the mid-tier combo at roughly $4,700 for both heads. The Coyote C-Series 36 + Blackstone 36 built-in is the step up at roughly $6,300.

The Select freestanding units also work as a rolling cart next to a built-in grill if you don’t want to cut a griddle hole in the island. We see customers roll the Select 36 Cabinet up to the island for breakfast and roll it back under cover for storage — the stainless cabinet handles that outdoor life a lot better than the Original cart would.

For a decision framework comparing freestanding against built-in across any brand, see our built-in vs freestanding guide— the same math applies to grills and griddles. The short version: built-in wins on aesthetics and resale value for a permanent install, freestanding wins on cost and flexibility if you’re going to move or renovate within 10 years.

Install + Setup Notes

Seasoning. The rolled-steel plate on every Select Series freestanding needs an initial seasoning before first cook — three to four passes of thin oil at high heat to build the polymerized layer. Budget 90 minutes for first-day setup. After that, routine cooking adds to the seasoning naturally. The Blackstone Pizza Oven’s stainless hearth doesn’t need seasoning.

Gas line.If you’re running natural gas, 1/2-inch black iron is sufficient for the 60,000 BTU load on the Select 36. Longer runs (over 25 feet from the meter) warrant stepping up to 3/4-inch to prevent pressure drop. The pre-tapped NG inlet terminates in a standard 3/8-inch flare fitting; your plumber can adapt from there.

Combustible clearances for the built-in heads. 6 inches minimum from the sides of the griddle head to any combustible material (wood framing, composite decking, stained cedar cladding). If the island framing uses metal studs and non-combustible cement board, these clearances are easily met. Wood-framed islands with cedar cladding should use the insulated jacket as cheap insurance.

120V power for the Air Fryer Combo. The Air Fryer Combo requires a weatherproof GFCI receptacle at the patio. Rough it in before the griddle lands if the patio doesn’t already have one — core-drilling through finished patio stone later runs $300 to $500. The base Select 36 Cabinet and the Select 28 have no electrical requirement.

Which Select Series SKU Should You Buy?

Decision tree, written out from the dealer’s side:

Cooking for 4 or fewer, tight patio, no air fryer wanted → Blackstone Select 28 Cabinet at $1,999. The right spec for a condo balcony or townhouse patio.

Cooking for 4-8 regularly, decent patio space, want the real flagship freestanding → Blackstone Select 36 Cabinet at $2,499. This is the one.

Want wings + smash burgers in parallel without going inside → Blackstone Select 36 Air Fryer Comboat $2,999, and rough in 120V power if you don’t have it.

Building a built-in outdoor kitchen with grill + griddle sections → 36-inch Select Built-In at $3,499 if the island has a 36-inch cutout, otherwise the 28-inch XL Built-In at $1,899. Add the insulated jacket.

Weekend cook only, griddle lives in the garage → the Blackstone 36 Original on open cart at $999 is a legitimate buy. Save the $1,500 and spend it on griddle accessories or a quality grill.

Need the broader catalog view — Blackstone against Weber Slate, Coyote griddle combo, and Summerset Pro — see The Complete Blackstone Buyer’s Guide. For a straight Select-vs-Original dollar-and-spec breakdown, our Select vs Original head-to-head has the full table.