Griddle

[BadgerFan]

Is it possible to buy a large griddle pan that you could set on top of the grates, rather than having to buy a Blackstone or Pit Boss griddle? I recently bought a Napoleon grill and I'm curious about using that, as opposed to my RecTeq, for a griddle.

 

[Lager1829]

https://www.recteq.com/products/large-flat-top-griddle

Yes. There are a number of choices out there. recteq sells one as well see link above.

 

[Gonefishin]

I don’t see why it won’t work, I use a 14” cast iron griddle in my Weber as there‘s only 2 of us, bigger should be the same.

 

[Greg Jones]

Is it possible to buy a large griddle pan that you could set on top of the grates, rather than having to buy a Blackstone or Pit Boss griddle? I recently bought a Napoleon grill and I'm curious about using that, as opposed to my RecTeq, for a griddle.

I’m on my third dedicated griddle cooker right now (Halo 4B), love it so far) in addition to trying a griddle plate on my Bullseye and a griddle plate on a RT 700. You have no heating zones or control of the temps when cooking with a griddle on top of a pellet grill. The grill trys to maintain the temp set on the controller, so it eventually runs 100% to reach a temp that it will never reach because you have to cook with the lid open. There is no substitute for a dedicated griddle.

Best advice I can give on this forum based on personal experience is to buy a griddle if you want to griddle. Trying to force your pellet grill to be a griddle is not going to be successful. If you are willing to come and get it, I have a griddle for a Bullseye that I will give away for free. I’ve tried for two years now to make this this gone with no takers.

 

[SmokeZilla]

As GJ stated, it can be done but one has to ask, why? I also have the Grill Grates brand and it can get hot enough to do the job and if you look at their max temp, you can exceed it easily but for me it wasn’t the most efficient way to use a griddle. Even on a gasser, you need to “stray in your lane”. My Lynx Pro has can hit high temps, and with the Trident Burners, has one of the fastest recovery times in industry. But, it still can’t compete with my Blackstone when it comes to griddling food if you do it often enough to get to your payback point. I purchased the B-Stone Tailgater since it can be configured many different ways and it complements my at home cooks, my parking lot parties and my camping all in one solution. It is the Swiss Army knife of combo cookers. Just my opinion.

 

[Gonefishin]

Unless,I read the OP wrong, he’s looking to add the griddle to a gas grill.

 

[BadgerFan]

I’m on my third dedicated griddle cooker right now (Halo 4B), love it so far) in addition to trying a griddle plate on my Bullseye and a griddle plate on a RT 700. You have no heating zones or control of the temps when cooking with a griddle on top of a pellet grill. The grill trys to maintain the temp set on the controller, so it eventually runs 100% to reach a temp that it will never reach because you have to cook with the lid open. There is no substitute for a dedicated griddle.

Best advice I can give on this forum based on personal experience is to buy a griddle if you want to griddle. Trying to force your pellet grill to be a griddle is not going to be successful. If you are willing to come and get it, I have a griddle for a Bullseye that I will give away for free. I’ve tried for two years now to make this this gone with no takers.

That's a great point that I didn't even think of, having to cook with the lid open so the temp is always going to be fluctuating. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[kstone113]

As GJ stated, it can be done but one has to ask, why? I also have the Grill Grates brand and it can get hot enough to do the job and if you look at their max temp, you can exceed it easily but for me it wasn’t the most efficient way to use a griddle. Even on a gasser, you need to “stray in your lane”. My Lynx Pro has can hit high temps, and with the Trident Burners, has one of the fastest recovery times in industry. But, it still can’t compete with my Blackstone when it comes to griddling food if you do it often enough to get to your payback point. I purchased the B-Stone Tailgater since it can be configured many different ways and it complements my at home cooks, my parking lot parties and my camping all in one solution. It is the Swiss Army knife of combo cookers. Just my opinion.

View attachment 20676

I have a very similiar set-up but with a Camp Chef 2 burner but esstentially the same thing as above. I won't mind a dedicated griddle(gas) like blackstone or something but I'm happy with my camp chef 2 burner b/c I have also pull off the griddle and do deep frying in a cast iron dutch oven and wanted the versitility like you did.

As far as the Bullseye griddle from RecTeq, it does work well but like Greg said, there isn't zone cooking like a dedicated gas griddle. I don't use my Bullseye griddle often now that I have the camp chef however for parties, I will use it. It was great at heating/cooking taco meat.

Good luck!

 

[Beach Bum]

Lots of good discussion here. I had been pondering a griddle to use with our Weber Summit. It sounds like that could be less than ideal. I guess a new Blackstone or Halo would be better and also increase our grill count. Now to sell the idea.

 

[Jim6820]

...if you do it often enough to get to your payback point.

There's some good advice on this thread, but this is the nugget for me.

Thanks, @SmokeZilla. I rarely fry anything; it just isn't my style. Once-in-a-while, I do eggs or pancakes, but not often enough to hit the "payback point" for a dedicated griddle. Hat's off to those who are more into the griddle stuff than I am, however.

 

[SmokeZilla]

Jim6820, you are correct with your observation. Another factor that should be considered is cleaning. If your cooking style doesn’t compel you to use it at least once every week or two, keeping a griddle seasoned and clean can be a pain in the rump. I am fortunate that my griddle plates are removable and can be seasoned and stored in the garage where they stay in nice condition. I shudder every time I look at the B-Stone forums (yes, I am a RTForum cheater) and see the griddles uncovered that were left outside with a cover on them for extended periods of time. The cover tends to trap the elements (e.g., humidity, moisture from rain, and similar) completely wrecking the seasoning and causing the owners to strip and re-season them periodically. Sure it can be remedied but aren’t we all in this forum because we have ergophobia, the fear of work, haha. (FWIW, I actually purchased the accessory griddle for the side with the pot burner/grill on the left) to increase my grill’s real estate.

 

[kennethk]

Is it possible to buy a large griddle pan that you could set on top of the grates, rather than having to buy a Blackstone or Pit Boss griddle? I recently bought a Napoleon grill and I'm curious about using that, as opposed to my RecTeq, for a griddle.

I bought the RT one early on
Only used a few times
Lid open is an issue
Not having a drain hole is an issue
Lack of zone cooking is an issue
We use our 28" Blackstone regularly
I have a few griddle I can us eon teh BGE but have not gotten good at it - you can leave the lid open if you have vent and fire set up properly

 

[TheRicker]

I own a RT-700. I also own a Grilla Grills Primate. It’s a gasser that has a full sized cast-iron griddle/plancha that can be swapped out for the grill’s grates. I think newer ones have a partial sized griddle. And I do like using the griddle on breakfasts, smash burgers, philly-style cheesesteaks, stir-fries, etc.

I bought the primate because it does offer the flexibility of regular gas grill duties and searing/reverse searing (when I do the low-temp cook on my Bull).

I tried GrillGrates (the aluminum(-like?) third-party add-ons. Flipped over didn’t work that well for me as a griddle. Puts great grill marks on steaks/food when I had the grates up. I found that level of heat made good steaks a bit tough. I haven’t used them in 6 months or more.

 

[opus]

Lowes/HD seem to be clearing out the Loco griddles at great prices. I know some of the youtubers such as Meatchurch use them but I see some bad reviews online. I really do like the fact it has a digital temp but I think I'm just going to watch FB marketplace for a good deal on a used BS or PB griddle.

 

[WooPigFoodie]

This round one fits perfectly in the 380.

Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet with 2 Loop Handles - 17 Inch Ergonomic Frying Pan https://a.co/d/a8mS9sF

 

[SmokeOCD]

I own a RT-700. I also own a Grilla Grills Primate. It’s a gasser that has a full sized cast-iron griddle/plancha that can be swapped out for the grill’s grates. I think newer ones have a partial sized griddle. And I do like using the griddle on breakfasts, smash burgers, philly-style cheesesteaks, stir-fries, etc.

I bought the primate because it does offer the flexibility of regular gas grill duties and searing/reverse searing (when I do the low-temp cook on my Bull).

I tried GrillGrates (the aluminum(-like?) third-party add-ons. Flipped over didn’t work that well for me as a griddle. Puts great grill marks on steaks/food when I had the grates up. I found that level of heat made good steaks a bit tough. I haven’t used them in 6 months or more.

I just did t-bones. 1 hour smoke, pulled them off, crank to 375 with grill grates. Flat side sear 4 minutes per side gave me a Smokey, juicy, tender steak. Like fall apart in your mouth tender. How did you use the grates?

 

[Elias]

Is it possible to buy a large griddle pan that you could set on top of the grates, rather than having to buy a Blackstone or Pit Boss griddle? I recently bought a Napoleon grill and I'm curious about using that, as opposed to my RecTeq, for a griddle.

Yes, you can buy a flat top for the Napoleon. Measure the available space and you should find the griddles in Stainless Steel and Cast Iron. You will need to season the Cast Iron but not the Stainless Steel. Blackstone is rolled Steel. I think that these are better options than using a pellet grill. IMHO.

Blackstone is very simple... little to no customer support from what I read.

 

[deepseaduck]

I recently bought the 36 inch Blackstone that can be bought through Costco (499$). I F'n love it.

I also have Steelmade's Pro top for a gas grill and lots of other alternatives to the pricy Blackstone. It would have been exponentially less money, time spent and better food if I had simply purchased the Blackstone or some other large grille with zone cooking first. There is no substitute. It's not even close.

whether you are cooking for 2 or 10 go big or go home... I wouldn't go smaller then the 36"

In hindsight I wouldn't even have went with the Bullseye Deluxe which I chose for the high heat. RecTeq is great but honestly not that great at high heat or anything that require high heat. I would have spent the same money and gone with a larger Recteq that does what a smoker does. smoke meat!

 

[TheRicker]

I just did t-bones. 1 hour smoke, pulled them off, crank to 375 with grill grates. Flat side sear 4 minutes per side gave me a Smokey, juicy, tender steak. Like fall apart in your mouth tender. How did you use the grates?

SmokeOCD…if you were asking me that question, I should clarify that there are regular grates for the Primate and they can be taken out and substituted with the cast iron flattop that comes with it. I was referring to the regular grates that come on that specific grill…not GrillGrates (the brand).

I hope that clarifies and answers the question. Aside from that, that steak sound delicious.