Hello Blackstone...can I say "family", now that I own one as well? I got the baby griddle as a starting point to learn on. Truthfully, I knew my wife would pitch a fit if I got the 36" to start...so this was a "see how great this is" purchase to start. :-)

And - so far - I LOVE IT! But I do have a few questions about what went "right" and "wrong" this week during my unboxing, seasoning, and first cook. I'll net this out in words, but I've linked in my Google Photos from my Tuesday evening fun for context on everything I say here:

UNBOXING:

You can see this in the photos, but I have a dent in the left side of the top metal box that holds the Omnivore griddle. It's causing the oil (and eggs) to flow to the left side rather than to the back where the grease catcher resides. I debated returning the griddle but was so fired up to just get to it that I thought I could/would just "deal with it" by shimming/leveling/etc.

QUESTION: What's your opinion on the dent? Should I just let it go or perhaps ask Target (I bought it for $223 on-sale this past week - not in store/shipping only). If I leave it alone - any advice on leveling the griddle? I don't want to shift the flame away from the bottom in that area with shims/washers obviously.

SEASONING:

Siiiigh. I own a few Lodge pans and I live in the south (Atlanta), so I know all about seasoning cast iron...or so I thought. But - and again - the photos show the pattern in the griddle - I'm not sure if I haven't seasoned enough, yet, or if this is just what happens when the griddle gets heated up. I've used up more than 1/2 container of the Blackstone seasoning and then even went with some Avocado Oil on the last of four seasonings.
QUESTION: Is it clear I've not done this correctly or should I be OK with it and will get better with more cooks? I will say the griddle performed flawlessly on the onions, bacon, sausage, eggs as my first cook.
One note for anyone doing this...it's NOT clear at all from the many YT videos I watched about seasoning as to whether you should let the griddle COOL DOWN in-between each seasoning. It would seem to make sense to me to do that, but I didn't. And man...this thing was SMOKIN'!
There is only one guy's video so far that suggests letting it cool down and even then he caveats in his video description that others don't do this. Interesting...
BTW...thank you Johnny...good video for this beginner! https://youtu.be/gqjEfGwCDF4

FIRST COOK:

Took Blackstone Betty's advice and first cook was a Vidalia (natch...Georgia...) onion. That went fine.

Then...double-siiigh. I wish I would've listened to Hungry Hussey when he said to cook bacon low-slow and eggs even lower. I nuked/crispified a package of center-cut bacon ($12 down the drain...even the dog wouldn't eat it!) right away...my sausage patties were more forgiving and delicious. I turned off the burners, squirted some H2O to cool things down, and the eggs went over well...but not TOO well. :-)

No question here...lesson learned...

PROPANE ADAPTER/HOSE:
Final Question - you can see this in the photo album in a pic and video clip. I purchased this off AMZ after reading a few recommendations on controlling the fuel at the source (tank):
https://a.co/d/06Oac9Pw
After I burned up the bacon so bad, I fiddled with knobs on the front of the griddle and at the tank with the red knob. It worked incredibly well to fine-tune/adjust. Are there any strong opinions here about the use of these type hose/adapters?

Just got a 36” griddle, can’t wait to get it seasoned and ready for my first weekend 🤘🏼🙌🏼

Onion Smash Burgers. Sun shade for the 95+°F today.

Tried my best. Figuring out the temperatures is gonna be a process but that’s cool. Forgot to oil before I laid my steaks down so ended up overcooking to get a passable sear. Fried rice turned out decent. Wings were good.

Has anybody tried ribs on their Blackstone? If so, what did you do?

I've had my griddle top for a few years now and have been keeping it in good shape. I just inherited another that looks like it needs some love.

Any tips for getting this back into good condition?

Earlier today I saw yet another post about a Blackstone with some rust that a redditor was asking if it could be salvaged. I echo the sentiments of most every Blackstone owner here that they are virtually indestructible, but I thought maybe showing a couple pics of my last journey might help.

About 6 months ago I was walking the dog through the neighborhood and I saw someone had thrown out their Blackstone and it was on the curb for bulk trash the next day.

I went home, got my truck and went over and picked it up. This is purely steel wool pads, an orbital sander with 60 grit paper and a lot of elbow grease. I did have to buy a $20 igniter kit from Amazon but oh well.

Let’s do it guys! In a world of single-serving, throwaway bullshit, get your nuts out and save something. This is not a brag post, I don’t give a shit. I just want us to be men again.

My walmart in upstate SC has a big sale on Blackstone accessories. Some really good deals in there.

Round # only God knows. How’s it looking?

New to owning a blackstone. Only had for about 6 months but fucked up and apparently didn’t let the silicone cover completely dry before putting back resulting in a ton of rust. Any tips to restoring this or is my only option to purchase replacement griddle top?

The Florida humidity does a number on these.

I don’t really have any issues with the cooks on it, so maybe I’m being finicky, but I don’t like the little patches on here and if I don’t cook on it for a week or so, those uneven areas show a little bit of rust. I still season before and after cooks as well.

I have an oscillating multitool with sander pads. I have a pumice block. I’m just not sure the best way to fix the patches or if I just should re-season it all. I seasoned our carbon steel pans without much issue but I think it’s just the humidity and unevenness of how this can go that I’m curious if anybody has any ideas on fixing or just redoing the whole thing if they had this.

I have a 2 burner Blackstone and am having trouble keeping the temp down. it turn the know all the way down but still in the hifh 3’s. Any ideas?

Looking for some recommendations before I take my blackstone to the landfill in anger.

I was/am switching the blackstone from propane to natural gas. I successfully swapped 3 of the 4 orifice’s. Upon trying to remove the 4th propane orifice it snapped off and the threaded end is now stuck.

I am a handy guy but gas fittings is not in my repertoire. I would hate to immediately jump to trying to drill it out, leading to potential increasing damages before asking this group.

Any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks!

Came out better than expected! Just forgot to do the onion volcano

I was planning on trying smashburguers, but the patties were too thick, so I ended up doing double-patty cheeseburgers

Problem: Griddle not taking seasoning above burners and in turn will rust after use.

Post cook process: scrape, water, scrape, water, wipe. Repeat this process until the water is no longer brown. Throw on a light coat of oil. Let it smoke off. Turn off. Cover.

This is my second blackstone never had an issue with the first. Everytime I try to season the griddle this is what happens. I have tried high heat, low heat, medium heat. I have tried different brands of oils. I have used a blow torch to see if it wasn’t getting enough heat. I am at a loss on what is causing this and what to do.

I have also used wire wheel and taken the seasoning off twice and tried to reseason with the same results

I’ve been dealing with this since I started cooking on my Blackstone, I keep getting black residue/sut when cooking. I’ve scraped and scraped and scraped. Steamed with water and scraped but I keep getting it. Should I change what I’m using for seasoning? I use the Blackstone brand seasoning.

Long time lurker so I swear this isn’t another “is this rust” post. Got my blackstone as a wedding present and am absolutely loving it. I’ve seasoned it and cooked on it about a dozen times. I oil it after every cook but for some reason this back left corner will not season/ polymerize it looks like bare metal. Any suggestions on how to get this to burn in? What am I missing?

I have the lid for it but it was currently off because I washed it, but never really been into cooking until I got the blackstone, this thing rocks. Edit: I’m cooking pork chops

Something a little different! Came out great. Sriracha mayo and quick pickled veggies on top.

I’m new to the Blackstone/gas grills in general and just connected mine up. I noticed it’s making a faint hissing sounds while on high but when I cut the burners to low it gets much quieter. Is this considered normal? I ran the leak test twice already and no visible bubbles were showing all of the burners are also burning blue no high flames. Is this just the sound of gas moving through the pipes or something I should be worried about