Why Grill When You Can Griddle?

BY JIM MATHIS

Think about the really great hamburgers you’ve had. Whether it was at a sit-down restaurant, dive bar, or diner, it was probably cooked on a flat-top griddle. Sure, Burger King brags about its “char-broiled” burgers, but just about everywhere else cooks on a flat slab of steel. Why? The hamburger develops a nice crust when it’s in a hot pan or on a hot griddle. And where a grill allows the fat to drip away, on a flat-top, the beef cooks in its own fat which keeps the flavor from the fat with your meal, not causing a flare-up in your Weber.

There are a lot of great options for griddle style cooking available, and if you don’t have one, it’s the grill accessory you need to get. If you want to go all in, you can drop about four-hundred bucks and get a 36-inch Blackstone Griddle. This is the mac-daddy of griddles; four burners and 720 square inches of cold rolled carbon steel cooking surface. If you’ve ever been to one of those Japanese restaurants with the guy flinging shrimp and making the onion volcano, the Blackstone is like putting one of those cooktops in your backyard.

I was talking with a friend in Texas recently and he bought a Blackstone. He declared it was the best purchase of the pandemic. He uses it all the time for everything from breakfast to brats and burgers. His kids love it, and he’s been doing a lot more cooking since he’s been working from home.

For me, with a Big Green Egg charcoal grill and a four burner Weber gas grill already on the patio, I don’t have room for a big Blackstone. My solution was cheaper and easier…I bought a cast iron griddle to replace one of the grates on my gas grill. This gives me the ability to control the heat and cook perfectly seared hamburgers without taking up any extra space on the patio. And it lets me do a very high-temp reverse sear method on steaks without filling the house with smoke. It’s only got two issues; it’s heavy, making it hard to put on and take off, and it’s not smooth enough for cooking delicate items like eggs.

There are other options out there too, and I’ve been pondering upgrading the cast iron to a stainless steel or carbon steel model that will have a slicker surface to make it even more versatile. There are several available like the Little Griddle Professional Stainless-Steel model. It’s built a lot like the flat-top I cooked on

My solution was cheaper and easier… I bought a cast iron griddle to replace one of the grates on my gas grill.

at the Indianola Country Club back in college. It has a smooth surface, raised edges to contain grease, and channel in the front to collect grease. It runs about a hundred bucks and will fit on my gas grill. Or there are some very simple options from Cooking Steels and Blanc Creatives. They both offer a griddle that is essentially just a quarter-inch thick slab of steel. These look great and get good reviews online but seem almost too simple.

The one I think I’ll end up with is the Lodge Carbon Steel Griddle. Lodge is known for their cast iron cookware, but the challenge with cast iron is the weight; cast iron is very heavy. Sure, it heats up evenly and holds heat well, but every time you move it, it’s a workout. The beauty of carbon steel is that you get all the great cooking capabilities of cast iron at about half the weight. And once it’s well seasoned, a carbon steel pan is naturally nonstick. So, if I feel like adding an egg to my burger, I can crack one on the same griddle for a perfect sunny side up egg. This griddle runs about a hundred bucks and at 18-inches by 10-inches, it’s plenty big for burgers, eggs or even pancakes.

I know, just when you thought you have all the cool gadgets you need for your grill, along comes one more thing you didn’t know you needed. But trust me on this, a griddle will change the way you grill, and make a better burger.

Do yourself a favor, eat something good today!

Jim is an old ad guy who loves to spend his weekends and evenings cooking on the patio.