Blackstone vs Camp Chef Griddle: 36 Inch and Tabletop Compared

Choose Blackstone if

• You cook for 8 to 12 people and want the published 768 sq in of the Blackstone 36 in. Original Griddle with Built-in Hood.
• You want grease pushed to the back, away from where you stand.
• You want the widest accessory and replacement-part selection on Amazon, from hoods to tool kits.
• Budget matters most: the hoodless Blackstone 36 in. 4-Burner Griddle Cooking Station is $399.00.

Choose Camp Chef if

• You want to cook on day one without doing a seasoning session first.
• You boil corn, fry fish or simmer a sauce while the flat top runs, which the included Sidekick burner handles.
• You want a lid that locks for transport, as on the Camp Chef Gridiron Gameday 24 in. Portable Griddle.
• You value a published BTU figure on a tabletop: the Gameday lists 24,000 BTU, while Blackstone's tabletop listings do not publish one.

Blackstone publishes burger counts that make the math easy: 30 burgers on 768 sq in, 21 on the 28 inch (524 sq in), 14 on the 22 inch (361 sq in) and 9 on the 17 inch (268 sq in). That works out to roughly 25 sq in per quarter-pound patty including spacing. On that basis, the 240 sq in Camp Chef Gridiron Gameday 24 in. Portable Griddle fits about 9 burgers, the same as a Blackstone 17 in., even though it is wider, because its listed cooking area is smaller.

A full meal uses more space than burgers alone: onions, buns and a side take up half the plate. Plan on 60 to 80 sq in per person when everything cooks at once. That makes a 36 inch griddle right for 8 to 12 people and a tabletop right for 2 to 4. The griddle size for a family of 4 page runs those numbers for a typical household.

Propane holds 21,548 BTU per pound, so a 20 lb tank holds about 431,000 BTU. Divide by the BTU you actually burn. The hoodless Blackstone 36 in. 4-Burner Griddle Cooking Station lists 60,000 BTU: with all four burners on high it burns about 2.8 lb per hour, roughly $2.30 of propane, and empties a 20 lb tank in about 7 hours. Most griddle cooking runs at medium, which roughly doubles that time.

The Camp Chef Gridiron Gameday 24 in. Portable Griddle at 24,000 BTU burns about 1.1 lb per hour on high, so a 1 lb disposable cylinder lasts under an hour. If you cook often, run tabletops from a 20 lb tank: the Blackstone 5471 Propane Adapter Hose and Regulator fits Blackstone 17 and 22 inch tabletops, and the Gas One 4 ft. 1 lb to 20 lb Propane Adapter Hose suits most other 1 lb cylinder appliances. Neither the Blackstone hooded 36 nor the Gridiron Pro 36 publishes BTU, so the honest way to know your burn rate is to weigh the tank before and after a cook with a Flame King Digital Propane Tank Scale. Cost examples use propane at $3.50 per gallon (4.24 lb per gallon, about 83 cents per pound) and 21,548 BTU per pound; swap in your local price.

For the first week, yes. Camp Chef seasons the top with plant-based oils at the factory, so it releases eggs sooner. After a month of regular use the difference disappears, because every steel griddle builds its own seasoning from the oil you cook with. What decides long-term condition is aftercare: scrape while warm, wipe on a thin coat of oil, and keep water off the steel.

Owners of both brands commonly report surface rust on tops left uncovered in rain or humid weather. A hood or lid helps but does not seal. A HECASA 36 in. Aluminum Griddle Hard Cover fits 36 by 22 inch tops including Blackstone rear-grease models, and a vinyl cover over the whole cart keeps rain off the burners. Rust on a steel top is fixable with a scrape and re-season, which our how to season a griddle guide walks through.

Weber also sells flat tops under its Slate line, which Weber markets as a rust-resistant, pre-seasoned carbon steel cooktop. They are not in our verified catalog, so we do not list specs or prices for them here; you can see current models under Weber Slate griddles. If you are cross-shopping Weber against Blackstone or Camp Chef, compare the same four things this page uses: published cooking area, whether a lid is included, where the grease goes, and the warranty term printed on the listing.

If you already own a Weber gas grill and only want to griddle occasionally, a griddle insert for the grate may be a better buy than a second appliance. The trade-offs are covered in griddle vs gas grill.