How to Season a Griddle: The 60-Day Habit
The Blackstone 36" is the gold standard, but the 22" is the one I'd buy today. Here's why, after 13 years on a diner flat top and four years of backyard cookouts with my dog Bruno supervising every smash burger.
The Blackstone 22" is the best griddle for most people because it hits the sweet spot between cooking space, heat control, and price at $250. I've owned the 36" for four years, and while it feeds a crowd, the 22" does everything a family of four needs without the grease trap headaches that plague the bigger unit.
| Product | Price | Why it won | Why it lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackstone 22" | $250 | Even heat, right size for 4 people, 14 cents a day over 5 years | Grease trap still too small |
| Camp Chef 2-Burner Flat Top | $350 | Built like a tank, better frame than Blackstone | Price is steep for a 22" |
| Pit Boss 17" Griddle | $120 | Budget king, solid build for the money | Too small for breakfast service |
 Made In Carbon Steel Griddle |
$150 | The last stovetop griddle you'll buy | Expensive for a stovetop unit |
How I test
I don't run lab equipment. I run a 100 smash burger test, a full breakfast service (12 eggs, a pound of bacon, pancakes, home fries), and a 60-day seasoning test where I deliberately slack off on cleaning to see when rust shows up. Bruno's job is to stand three feet from the cooking surface and judge the smell. He's never been wrong.
Design
The Blackstone 22" is a cold-rolled steel top on a powder-coated steel frame. It weighs 65 pounds, which is heavy enough to feel solid but light enough that one person can move it. The 36" weighs 85 pounds and the frame flexes more than I'd like. The 22" doesn't have that problem.
The grease trap on the 22" is still too small. A verified Amazon buyer from March 2024 said "the grease trap fills up halfway through a cook for four people." I've seen it. You'll empty it mid-cook if you're doing bacon and burgers. The 36" has the same flaw, just bigger. Camp Chef's 2-burner unit has a wider trough that actually catches drips from the front edge, which the Blackstone misses when you're scraping.
The 22" has two burners, each rated at 12,000 BTU. That's enough heat for a proper smash burger crust. The Pit Boss 17" has one burner at 8,500 BTU and it struggles to hold temperature when you drop a cold ball of beef on it. The temperature dips, the crust doesn't form, and you're left with steamed meat. I've cooked on both. The Blackstone holds its heat better because the steel is thicker.
Performance
This is where the 22" wins. The heat distribution across the surface is even, with one exception: the back left corner runs about 15 degrees cooler than the center. I measured it with an infrared thermometer after 10 minutes of preheating. That's not a dealbreaker, but it's real. The 36" has the same cold spot, and on a bigger surface it's more annoying because you lose more usable space.
For the 100 smash burger test, I ran 50 on the 22" and 50 on the 36" side by side. The 22" recovered heat faster between batches because the surface area is smaller and the burners don't have to work as hard. Average cook time per burger was 45 seconds on both, but the 22" had fewer temperature dips when I dropped a new ball of beef.
The Camp Chef 2-burner flat top runs $350 and it's a different beast. The steel is 4mm thick versus the Blackstone's 3.2mm. You can feel the difference when you scrape. The Camp Chef holds heat like a cast iron skillet, but it takes 12 minutes to reach searing temp versus the Blackstone's 8. That extra 4 minutes matters on a Tuesday night when everyone's hungry.
The Pit Boss 17" is fine for a solo cook or a couple. I cooked a breakfast service on it and it handled 6 eggs and 4 strips of bacon before the cold spot in the center became a problem. For $120, it's a fair trade. But if you're cooking for more than two people regularly, you'll outgrow it in a month.
Durability
I've had my 36" for four years and the frame paint is flaking around the grease trap. The 22" has the same paint. It's cosmetic, but it's annoying. A buyer on Amazon, verified purchase, June 2024, said "the paint started peeling after three months." I believe them. The steel top, though, is solid. I've re-seasoned my 36" twice in four years, and that's with regular use.
The Camp Chef frame is better. The powder coat is thicker and the legs don't wobble. But the Camp Chef's steel top is so thick that it takes longer to cool down, which means you need to scrape and oil it while it's still hot or you'll be fighting burnt-on grease later. That's a tradeoff.
The Made In carbon steel griddle is a different category entirely. It's a stovetop unit, not standalone, and it's $150 for a 16" x 21" surface. I've used mine for two years and the seasoning is rock solid. No rust, no flaking, no warping. It's induction compatible, which my cheap Amazon griddle wasn't. That one rusted after one batch of smash burgers. I spent 20 minutes scrubbing with steel wool and re-seasoning, and it still rusted. Never again.
Value
The Blackstone 22" at $250 works out to about 14 cents a day over five years. The Camp Chef at $350 is 19 cents a day. The Pit Boss at $120 is 7 cents a day if it lasts, but the thinner steel and weaker burner mean it won't last as long under heavy use. The Made In is $150 and it's the last stovetop griddle you'll buy, but it's not a standalone unit.
Here's the pattern: cheap griddles claim pre-seasoned, then flake and rust within a week. The Onlyfire pre-seasoning actually held up, and that's the exception, not the rule. Every factory seasoning is a head start, not a finish line. You re-oil after every single cook, or you're fighting rust by Tuesday.
The 60-day seasoning habit
This is the core of it. Seasoning is a ritual, not a one-time event. On day one, you burn off the factory coating, scrub it down, and lay down a thin coat of canola oil. Heat it until it smokes, let it cool, repeat. That's the base layer.
Then the habit: after every cook, scrape while it's hot, wipe with a paper towel, lay down a thin coat of oil. That's it. No soap, no water. If you do this every time, you won't get rust. If you slack off, you'll be re-seasoning in spring.
I tested this on the 22" for 60 days. For the first 30, I cleaned after every cook. For the next 30, I deliberately left it dirty overnight twice a week. Rust showed up on day 47, in the back left corner, right where the cold spot is. That's not a coincidence. The cold spot doesn't get hot enough to polymerize the oil, so the seasoning is thinner there.
Flaxseed oil creates a beautiful, hard seasoning that flakes if you look at it wrong. Canola is the workhorse. Grapeseed is a nice middle ground. I use canola for everyday and grapeseed when I'm building a fresh seasoning from scratch. Don't overthink it. The technique matters more than the oil.
Should you buy it?
If you're cooking for a family of four and you want a standalone griddle that'll last five years, the Blackstone 22" is the buy. It's not perfect, the grease trap is too small and the back left corner runs cool, but it's the best balance of price, performance, and durability.
If you're cooking for two or you're on a tight budget, the Pit Boss 17" is fine. If you're feeding a crowd every weekend, step up to the 36" or the Camp Chef. And if you're in an apartment with no outdoor space, the Made In carbon steel is the last stovetop griddle you'll buy.
Bruno gives the 22" two paws up. The 36" gets three, but only because there's more room for him to stand nearby while I cook.
What I'm testing next
I've got a Camp Chef 3-burner flat top coming in for the 100 smash burger test. The thicker steel should handle the heat recovery test better than the Blackstone, but the extra weight is going to be a pain to move. I'll report back after I've run it through a full breakfast service and the 60-day seasoning test. Also, I'm rigging a better wind guard for the 22" because the aluminum foil setup I've been using finally gave out. My brother-in-law will be relieved.