Camp Chef vs. Blackstone Griddle: Which is Better?
Are you stuck deciding which griddle to purchase between the Camp Chef and the Blackstone brand? First off, it is expedient to know about the difference in both griddles and how these variations would help you choose what best fits your cooking requirements.
The Camp Chef and Blackstone are dominating brands in the production of outdoor cooking staples. They have some of the best griddles that you’ll find on the market today.
Nonetheless, how do you choose between these two prominent brands, a griddle that meets your cooking needs and offers the best efficiency? This article features a review section where you will go through individual features of the Camp Chef Flat Top Grill and the Blackstone 36-inch Griddle Cooking Station.
We have also included a buyer’s guide at the end of this article to help you choose what meets your outdoor cooking requirements. Without further ado, let’s head straight to the highlights of each brand’s features.
Camp Chef and Blackstone Griddle: Which Should You Choose?
Having read about some of the amazing features of the Camp Chef and the Blackstone Griddle, it’s time to bring both brands head-to-head. This comparison will be based on general categories.
Cooking Surface
An excellent reason to purchase a griddle is that it gives you more cooking area. In this regard, the Blackstone Griddle is seen to have a wider and broader cooking space for all of your outdoor cooking. It is constructed with a 720-square-inch surface area. On the Camp Chef Flat Top Grill, there is quite a low cooking area compared to the Blackstone. Although the Blackstone Griddle takes it away with the cooking surface, both griddles are excellent and relatively spacious for outdoor grilling.
Burners
These are those parts of the griddle that make cooking as easy as slicing through hot butter. When a griddle’s burner produces more firepower, it means effective cooking.
Now to settle the dispute between the Camp Chef and the Blackstone as to which brand has the best griddle burner, you’ll see that the Blackstone has an overall 60,000 BTU. This implies that it will facilitate easy meal preparation.
On the other hand, the Camp Chef has a total BTU capacity of about 48,000 BTU. This makes it suitable for cooking at a much lower temperature, providing moderate heat zones. From the stats, the Blackstone Griddle appears to produce more effective heat due to the overall BTUs.
Pre-seasoning
Cooking on the Blackstone Griddle will often require you to pre-season the cooking area’s surface. This process includes adding a tiny layer of oil and allowing it to burn to avoid creating sticky coats. You’ll usually need to do this process again as often as you will be using the griddle.
However, the Camp Chef Flat Top Griddle has been designed with a pre-seasoned surface constructed from cast iron. Meanwhile, proper maintenance demands that you recondition the griddle cooking surface.
In this regard, the Camp Chef Flat Top Griddle takes the edge over the Blackstone Griddle as you don’t have to go through the pre-seasoning process.
Cleaning
Regarding grease cleaning from the cooking area, the Camp Chef Flat Top and the Blackstone Griddle have a proper grease management system. Starting with the Blackstone Griddle, the cooking area design features a cup to collect grease and ease the cleaning process.
Likewise, the Camp Chef Flat Top Griddle has complementary griddle levers working with the bucket grease collector. This combination makes grease removal stress-free and easy to clean.
In summary, both griddles are easy to clean. All you need is a grill sponge, some warm water, and a scraping tool (should you notice some hard-to-scrub debris). Mostly, you’ll only need to wipe off remnants to have a clean cooking surface. Thus, it ends in a tie for this category.
Things to Consider When Choosing a Griddle – Buyer’s Guide
We have highlighted several grill features above between the camp chef and the Blackstone griddle. However, choosing the best griddle for your backyard or camping activities can be daunting. Here you’ll know what to look out for in a griddle.
1. Quality
Knowing the griddle’s quality is a vital point to consider as it ensures its longevity. Griddle quality always boils down to the brand you’re purchasing, so always weigh your options to see which quality works best for you.
Speaking of quality, griddles often have their vitals—legs, wheels, burners, e.t.c.—made of stainless steel or cast iron. Depending on your preference, you will have to settle for something that suits your needs.
2. Burners and Ignition System
The overall performance of a grill to cook what you want it to is hinged on how much heat it can generate. With this fact in mind, you should pay attention to the ignition system of the griddle, as it plays an important part.
Ensure you’re purchasing a grill that will supply even and sufficient heat. If you want a griddle that serves your personal needs, a minimum of one and a maximum of two burners will suffice. More burners will, however, be required for those who love hosting parties.
3. Cooking Space
Knowing the exact quantity of food that you’ll be cooking on the grill can be a tough one to crack. And choosing one without having the answer may be a risky step to take. When picking a preferred grill station, you must know if it offers enough space to cook.
The Blackstone Griddle, for example, provides sufficient space for cooking. It totals 720 square inches, implying that you can cook a lot of food simultaneously.
4. Cleaning Ease
Always choose a grill with a stellar cleaning system. A griddle with a stainless steel body construction makes grease cleaning easy, but in addition to that, there has to be a proper system that gets rid of grease easily.
5. Portability and Mobility
As much as you want to purchase an effective griddle for your outdoor cooking, you should be concerned about its portability. You need to ask yourself, how travel-friendly is it? If your answer is no, you need to consider that.
Furthermore, mobility is crucial when going about outdoor cooking. Whether you’re camping out in the woods or hosting a backyard party, you must ensure that your griddle is not too heavy and has wheels to move it about easily.
6. Affordability
The last but not the least thing to look out for when seeking to purchase a griddle is the cost. This factor alone can affect the customer’s final decision, depending on their budget. The effectiveness of the griddle should also increase affordability.
Camp Chef Flat Top Grill, True Seasoned Griddle Surface, Four 12,000 BTUs/Hr. stainless steel Burners
SPECIFICATIONS
- Dimensions: 22 L x 62.5 B x 37 H inches
- Weight: 140 pounds
- Griddle cooking surface: 604 square inches.
- 48,000 BTUs
- Price: $440
Overview
The Camp Chef Flat Top Grill is an outdoor griddle with a brilliant design that makes it ideal for backyard cooking. Apart from the design of this grill, it also promises to amaze users with seamless performance, stress-free cleaning, and quick assembly.
Weighing 140 pounds, some users may find this grill too heavy to move around. However, this problem vanishes with the inclusion of a wheeling system for mobility.
Features
Accommodative Flat Top
This flat-top grill stands out as a prominent unit that can feed people quickly. As an all-in-one solution, especially for lovers of BBQ, this grill can allow you to feed up to 100 friends in an hour. There are myriads of propane grills with hot spots. However, the Camp Chef Flat Top Grill provides an even distribution of heat as a result of the accommodative griddle and design for dispersing heat.
Versatility
People often desire to have a grill that allows them to cook various meals. If you are part of that number, then you’ll appreciate the Camp Chef Flat Top Grill as your go-to grill for your various cooking needs. You can easily make some pancakes for breakfast in the morning, and also utilize the grill gates to prepare some shish kabobs in the afternoon. This makes it a versatile griddle and a must-have for every person who fancies variety in cooking.
Burners
You’ll find powerful 12,000 to 18,000 BTU burners on this grill. They are sufficient to heat up, in no time, the ready griddle. Thanks to the heat control system, it is easier to create zones of warmth and coldness to ensure that you have your desired result.
Grease Management
Another feature that sets the Camp Chef Flat Top Grill apart is its grease management system. Cooking on a grill is consequential, and without a good system, cleaning up the grease could be daunting. This grill has a catch bucket, a grease tray, and a small adjustable griddle for easy cleaning of grease.
Portability
Wherever it is you want to have your cooking on the grill, the Camp Chef Flat Top affords you some travel-friendliness with its portable design.
Pros
- Good quality and body design.
- It is easy to use and clean
- It includes grates, a griddle, and two cooking areas
- This grill provides enough space for cooking and storing utensils.
Cons
- The adjustable legs require some improvement.
- Holes to drain grease are not sufficient.
- The plastic heat control system is less durable.
Blackstone 1554 36″ Griddle Cooking Station Gas Grill, 36 Inch, Black
SPECIFICATIONS
- Dimensions: 22″ D x 22″ W x 36″ H
- Weight: 120 pounds
- Griddle cooking surface: 720 square inches.
- 60,000 BTUs
- Price: $360
Overview
It’s time for you to replace your BBQ or grill with a competent setup. The Blackstone 1554is an easy-to-use, and easy-to-assemble grill. With this grill, you don’t have to worry about charcoal, kerosene, and a matchbox to create the ignition needed to cook. At the push of a button, you can have your griddle ready to start cooking. Overall, this grill lets you spend more time enjoying outdoor activities and less time cooking.
There is no doubt that traditional grills and barbecues help make one of the best hamburgers. The Blackstone 1554 Griddle, however, presents a better way to cook tasty hamburgers.
Features
Dial-Adjustable Heat System
The Blackstone 1554 Griddle has a heat control system through 4 adjustable dials. This feature is important when creating different heat zones. Heat zones allow you to cook different foods on this griddle, but be sure not to burn any of them. In addition, you can decide to create a “red-hot zone” while other areas keep the food warm. This is an amazing feature when cooking different food types.
Grease Management
Poor grease management on a griddle could be a huge turn-off for people who do a lot of outdoor cooking. The Blackstone 1554 Griddle has a 36-inch cooking station that comes with a grease cup. The flat top of this griddle, with the grease cup design, implies that the food will retain its juice and only the excess will be collected in the cup.
This also makes it easier to maintain the griddle when cleaning, as you only have to scrub the area around the cup collector and dispose of the grease in the cup.
Battery-powered Ignition
Unlike other traditional grilling systems, the Blackstone Griddle allows you to start cooking in little or no time at all. With the addition of a battery-powered button, you barely have to push anything to start cooking your sumptuous meal.
Rock-solid Legs
There are four test-proven legs on this griddle that ensure a sturdy foundation and easy mobility around your outdoor coordinates. To keep your griddle steady, just lock the casters and you have an immovable griddle.
Pros
- There’s enough cooking space on this griddle
- Its design makes it easy to clean
- It is suitable for cooking on travel trips.
- Great build quality
- 15,000 BTUs of heat per burner
Cons
- Cleaning has to be done after every use.
- It has just one rack in the middle
- Shelves on both sides cannot be folded
Final Verdict – Camp Chef vs. Blackstone Griddle
Both brands of the riddle are designed with distinct functions, which makes them unique. Taking a closer look at the highlighted features of the Camp Chef Flat Top Griddle and the Blackstone Griddle, you’ll notice they focus on certain areas.
Although both brands offer effective cooking, are relatively affordable, and have ideal grease management, the Blackstone 36-inch Griddle Cooking Station stands a better chance over the Camp Chef Flat Top Grill. It has more space on the cooking surface, is more affordable, and is a lot easier to move around.
