I bought a Camp Chef griddle this past week, along with a couple other items through the TVWB Amazon link, after a long year of searching for a Griswold or Wagner; could not land a nice one at a decent price. Soooo, on the advice of one of my wife’s co-workers, an avid Boy Scout pack leader, I went with a Camp Chef. It’s the reversible Pre-seasoned cast iron grill/griddle that’s 24” X 16” (actually, slightly under). I wanted something that would fit perfectly on my Genesis 2000 and this does! About an inch space in front and back and nearly nothing on the sides. It’s heavy! 24 lbs. !!! The grill now takes about 45 minutes to come up to temp with the griddle on!



Anyway, I liked the Griswold and Wagner because of their smooth surfaces and high quality. Lodge is nice but has a rough surface to contend with. This does too! The surface is rough enough to shred paper towels or a scrubby while cleaning the pre-seasoning residual off. I had to take a very sharp chisel and hammer to top a couple dozen rough spots that would catch a plastic spatchula (sp) in any given direction. With that done, I lightly coated the “smooth side” surface of the griddle with lard and baked the griddle in the gasser for 3 hours at between 300 and 350º (won’t fit in the oven), (did this twice) and I’m much happier with the results over the pre-seasoned griddle. However, the surface is still quite rough. Other than going through a couple tanks of gas and cooking a lot of bacon and what not on the griddle, what, if anything, can I do to hasten the smoothing/build-up of this surface?

Thanks in advance for all responses.

Bill

EDIT: I should add, this griddle, used on the gasser, will be primarily used for cooking breakfast .. Eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage ... ...

I have three griddles from Lodge and none are smooth. They look like your pic. This isn't really an issue--and shouldn't be for you--as long as your griddle is seasoned well. With a good seasoning--and provided you don't try to move/turn anything you are cooking too soon--your griddle should be virtually nonstick.

Forgo plastic spatulas. Use metal. That will help your griddle become smoother. Also, for cleaning, use a griddle brick instead of scrubbies or anything else. While the griddle is still hot (but burners turned off) splash some water onto the griddle and immediately clean with your brick. Use a firm touch but not too heavy. Go from end to end, lengthwise, in one direction, then repeat, going in the opposite direction--but do not go side to side for the first several cleanings. Make sense?

Bill
An altenative to Kevin's suggestion is to use a BBQ Liner, these are now used quite a lot in Australia for grilling on a Griddle/Hot Plate.

They are currently available from Amazon for 5.99 and are a great product. You just place it on the griddle and cook as per normal. When you are finished just take it off and wash it in the sink with warm soapy water.

I use one direct on the grill of my Q220 and Genesis E320 instead of using a griddle, so do most of my friends. You don't need the 30 minutes to preheat and you still get the grill marks. It is an absolutely fantastic product.

This is the link BBQ Liner For the price you may as well buy a few. They sell for 22.50 here in Australia.


I just noticed the edit at the end of your post.
For eggs I have an old non-stick muffin tray that I put on the grill with a spray of oil in each and just break the eggs into them. It works a dream and only takes a couple of minutes or so with the lid down. Pancakes are not generally a staple in our breakfast diet.
An Aussie breakfast usually consists of Bacon, Eggs, Sausages, Grilled Tomato, Beans, Toast and maybee mushrooms and hash browns.


Regards

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Phil Hartcher,

I myself being an odd ball and always going against the grain of everybody else, would sand it till it's glass smooth. But I'm different in every way, and then some.

Thanks, Kevin. I had not heard of a griddle brick before. Yeah, makes sense, but why should you only go end to end initially before side to side?

Phil, very interesting! I'm gonna look into it. MAN, the things you learn here!

Bryan, this thing will eat sand paper! I'd have to grind it down! Either way, not gonna happen!

Thanks again guys!

Bill

Gonna cook breakfast on it tomorrow morning. Couple eggs, bacon (of course), sausage and maybe some pancakes. Would have today but I used the last of the gas seasoning the griddle last evening. Here's what it looked like last night after it's 2nd 3 hour stint..



Here's a pic of the other side, on the grill. There's the same spacing at the rear but the angle doesn't show it. I have noticed that the griddle apparently reflects much of the heat back toward the burners .. It's much hotter outside the lower half of the grill with the griddle on. Does anyone see any issues with this?



Bill

To the above question: because you want to establish a kind of wear pattern first. This seems to help in the overall smoothing process (at least with flattops it does and I am guessing the same dynamic applies; could be wrong though).

To this question: no. As long as you preheat the griddle to the appropriate temp the reflected heat is a non-issue for the griddle. Where it could pose a problem, maybe, would be at the burners themselves or at the interior surfaces of the grill. Presumably there is some open space at one or more sides of the griddle where heat can escape-or am I mistaken?

quote:

Originally posted by K Kruger:
To the above question: because you want to establish a kind of wear pattern first. This seems to help in the overall smoothing process (at least with flattops it does and I am guessing the same dynamic applies; could be wrong though).

To this question: no. As long as you preheat the griddle to the appropriate temp the reflected heat is a non-issue for the griddle. Where it could pose a problem, maybe, would be at the burners themselves or at the interior surfaces of the grill. Presumably there is some open space at one or more sides of the griddle where heat can escape-or am I mistaken?

Thanks Kevin. I wasn't really concerned with the griddle as it's heating slowly but more with the grill it's self. That 2nd pic shows an approx. 1" gap in the front and there's another in the rear, although not visible in the pic because of the angle. No gaps along the side. The grill still seems to settle in at the same temp of 350-375º with all 3 burners set to low, with or without the griddle (takes longer with the griddle, of course) and I don't plan on ever taking this configuration any higher than that.. I just noticed that when standing in front of the grill with the griddle on, I can feel the heat radiating from the lower half and had not noticed that before.

Bill

Shouldn't be a problem.

If it is something you are unfamiliar with, allow me to suggest the use of clarified butter for the times when you'd rather butter and its flavor over that of neutral oil or bacon fat. (You can also use a 50-50 mix of clarified and oil or fat.) Clarified can take higher temps and the lack of milk solids means you won't have stuck on stuff that burns onto the grill that you have to clean off. It is also perfect for standard pan sautéing for the same reasons.

I use the classic tecnique for clarifying but CookingforEngineers has an excellent no-fuss method posted here.

Thanks for the info, Kevin.

Bill

Bill
The gap will pose no problem it is an added bonus really as you will be getting a good convection flow with the lid down (cooks eggs to perfection in a very short time).
Generally here we get griddle plates that are smooth, it helps stop sticking and the build up of bbq residue, though the bbq residue is what gives the food that extra bbq taste.

To reduce the preheating time you can take the flavoriser bars out as the will be serving no purpose and just directing some heat away.

Bottom line - with a 1" gap top and bottom you can cook with the lid closed (recommended)
With no gap you should cook with the lid up.

Regards

Phil, was just hoping that there was enough breathability (is that a word?) with the griddle on since so much heat was being reflected back down. Great tips ~ Thanks! I thought long and hard about their 24" x 18" polished steel griddle with drain lip but I wouldn't have been able to close the lid. It's made for their 2 and 3 burner grills mostly used in camping and such. I've cooked on that type of surface in the past and really like it but decided to go this route for the gasser until we can get that combo for camping.

I don't plan on cooking food on this griddle at 350+º, btw .. Just mentioned that because it seemed important to note that the grill, other than taking longer to come up to temp and the heat radiating from the bottom half, seems to be operating as usual. The carified butter info will defenitely come in handy .. Thanks!

Bill

Well, I cooked 5 strips of bacon, 2 maple sausage patties and 3 eggs on the griddle this morning. The griddle got a bit hotter than I wanted by the time I got out with everything (325-330º) but it turned out pretty good. The bacon turned out perfect! Never was able to cook it like that on a frying pan. Sausage was great too but the griddle was just a bit too hot for the eggs. Turned out really good but the outside edges were to the point they were a bit hard to cut through with a fork. Only got this one pic, after the bacon and one pattie was removed .. sorry .. Thanks again for all the help.

Bill

quote:

Originally posted by Bryan S:
I myself being an odd ball and always going against the grain of everybody else, would sand it till it's glass smooth. But I'm different in every way, and then some.

Bryan I'm with ya bud. I'd wet sand that puppy till it was just about smooth with an orbital sander. I bet you could do it in less than half an hour!

Hey Bill
Good work Mate.
Tell me - did you do the eggs with the lid down?

Regards

quote:

Originally posted by Phil Hartcher:
Hey Bill
Good work Mate.
Tell me - did you do the eggs with the lid down?

Regards

Thanks, Phil.

Yeah, for the most part. I did keep opening the lid to check on them, expecting I'd see some evidence of cooking from the top based on your post (convection) and not wanting them to over cook on me and I probably kept the heat from building in the lid because of that. I'll know better next time.

Bill

If you were thinking about the BBQ Liner for 5.99, too late. It's now 19.99

I agree with the"sanders". I have used this method on griddles as well as dutch ovens and fry pans. If you smooth them somewhat, the baked on seasoning soon fills in the gaps---

Probably the one thing I never cook on griddles: eggs.

quote:

Originally posted by K Kruger:
Probably the one thing I never cook on griddles: eggs.

What a shame Kevin. You just blew any chance of being hired as a cook in a diner.

Jeff -- I like mine sunny side up.