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Best Griddle OverallTraeger Flatrock 33-inch 3-Zone GriddleRead more
Best Rust-Resistant GriddleWeber Slate Rust-Resistant GriddleRead more
Best Lower-Cost GriddleLoCo Cookers 36-Inch Three-Burner SmartTempRead more
Best Griddle With an Air FryerBlackstone Iron Forged 36” Griddle Airfryer ComboRead more
A big outdoorgriddle can change your whole feeling about summer. And the best griddles can make dinner feel like an event to be proud of. There's little more satisfying than the slap of a spatula onto chopped onions and ribeyemeant for a perfect cheesesteak, the blister of corn tortillas cooked in the grease left by hard-seared carne asada, the smash of a burger at a backyard barbecue, the blessed evenness of pancakes cooked on a well-seasoned flat-top grill plate.
An outdoor gas griddle has become an essential backyard counterpart to the satisfying direct heat of a greatcharcoal or wood-fired grill—adding all the versatility of your favorite diner to your sunny-day toolkit. I've spent weeks cooking dozens of smashburgers, bacon strips, tacos, and pancakes to find the best outdoor griddles for each kind of backyard cook.
But a flat-top griddle requires care, and in the end you need to love it: My top-ratedTraeger Flatrock ($900)quite simply offers the most even and reliable heat out of any I tested, and it feels like a Cadillac idling in the backyard. Meanwhile the rust-resistantWeber Slate ($1,049)offers the best array of features to build out a flat-top grill into a true work station. A36-incher from Georgia brand LoCo ($500)offered impressively even heat distribution across its cooktop at a lower price, with a couple of quirks.
For more outdoor cooking action, check out WIRED's guide toThe Best Pizza OvensandThe Best Grills, or check out our pick for the bestCast Iron Pan.
I grew up in Oregon, where Traeger was also born. And even after the company got sold and moved to Utah, aTraeger grillorsmokerin the backyard has remained a source of both aspiration and pride for those who raised me—a sign you're living right and did OK. This sturdy-built three-zone Flatrock griddle feels the same.
The constant enemy of flat-top grills is uneven heat. This Traeger, more than any other I've tried, is designed to offer impressively even heat distribution—with three U-shaped burners that essentially double the heat sources under a thermally conductive thick carbon-steel. The Flatrock also grants tight temperature control between zones and sterling wind shielding on top and under the burners. No flameouts. Barely a hot spot—with less than 20 degree variation across the cooking surface. This means even, easy seasoning. It means nicely browned pancakes, burgers that cook the same way all across the surface, and easy temp regulation among veggies and meat and buns and tortillas.
The Flatrock is big, it's built sturdily, it doesn't shake or wobble, and it holds fast with the casters locked on its wheels. If you keep it plugged in, a handy extra feature lets you check on the fill status of your propane tank. It doesn't heat super-hot if you're trying to attain a fast sear on a smashburger, clocking in just under 600 degrees Fahrenheit, but the temp remains beautifully stable for the more dignified sear of a fish or a steak.
The worktop is spacious and is separated well from the heat of the griddle, though I might wish the side shelves came with hooks for grill tools by default. But if a backyard griddle is a constant labor of love, this is a griddle that will return the love you pour into it. This year Traeger added a slightly smaller,more affordable two-zone option ($800)that keeps selling out. I haven't tested it, but I'm looking forward to it.
Speaking as someone who's built and seasoned and tested and cooked on a lot of griddles this year, it was a candy-store-level treat that the griddle plate on this Weber arrived pre-seasoned, pressure-treated against rust, and fully ready to cook, with a five-year warranty to back it up. Seasoning a griddle is a constant process, and that's true for this Weber, too. But building that first base coat of oil seasoning especially can be time-consuming and take more than an hour and multiple cooks and a little bit of skill. I still laid down an extra coat of seasoning, but it took less oil, less time, and less worry. Thank god.
But in addition, this Slate 36-inch four-burner is a 48,000 BTU beast, sturdily built, with a carbon-steel griddle top and a pile of thoughtful features. A clever, weight-based system estimates the amount of liquid propane you've got left in a standard 20-pound tank, while an electronic feature indicates the temperature on the main grill surface. The work station is the most spacious out of any I've tried, with a fold-down extension I haven't seen from other grill makers. And because it's Weber, you can trick out the side table even more with a mess of add-ons like a hangablestorage bin ($42)orcondiment caddy ($25). A natural gas version is also available.
This all adds up to easily the best feature set out of any griddle I tested. But the Slate does have some clear hot spots above the burners, with about a 50-degree variation across the main cooking area. That's actually pretty good compared to most others on the market, but it kept this excellent griddle just below the Traeger Flatrock. Note, if you want to give up six inches and a burner,the 30-inch, three-burner Slate is available at $699(or$799 with the thermometer).
Georgia-based LoCo is not as well known as our top picks, but this three-burner griddle offered some seriously impressive heat distribution during our testing—not to mention temperature dials on its three burners that kept temperature accurate within about twenty degrees of the expected temperature in each zone. The temperature is managed through a series of thermocouple sensors under the griddle plate.
This is unusual and impressive functionality for a backyard griddle, especially at this price range, and it worked quite well throughout a few weeks of cooks that included pancakes and bacon, tacos, burgers, pork chops, and more tacos.
I also like the sturdy grease cup and chute, though doing the grease management system assembly was a little maddening. Note that the build quality on this griddle is lighter-weight, and the tables feel a little flimsy—and that it's nonetheless a bit heavy to be set up with only two wheels. Don't buy it if you'll have to move it around all the time. LoCo also has a shorter warranty than some, at one year. We'll keep using and testing this one to see how those thermocouples hold up over time.
Blackstone Products is the ur-daddy of American griddling, the company that sold a generation of backyard flametenders on the idea that fajitas are a human right. A Blackstone griddle's rear grease system, with a hole in the back of the griddle plate to shuttle away oil and then forget about it, is my favorite among the various griddle makers. And the cold-rolled steel construction means this four-burner Iron Forged griddle heats faster than any other on this list—topping 500 degrees Fahrenheit in five minutes.
And then here's this crazy “hold my beer” idea: A warming drawer and two stainless-steel air fryer baskets heated by a fifth propane burner underneath, with airflow coming from a 75-watt electric fan that needs to be plugged in. A griddle definitely does not need an air fryer, I wrote in my review of this Blackstone (7/10, WIRED Recommends). But lord, I do like fries with my smashburger, and this griddle delivers golden-crispy fries with the lower burner on high. (Temps range from about 325 degrees Fahrenheit on low, up to 450 degrees after 20 minutes of preheat on high.)
All of this is great, but that combination of high heat and high thermal transfer into the cold-rolled griddle plate also adds up to uneven temperatures —which can vary by as much as 100 degrees across the burner plate. This will require close attention during cooks.
This Cuisinart griddle is not perfect. Its burners can run pretty hot underneath the 28-inch carbon steel griddle plate, and that can mean hot spots and some unevenness in temperature. This makes seasoning a bit difficult to maintain, and requires some attention and judicious use of aninfrared thermometerto monitor griddle temps. That said, hot means hot, and hot can matter if you're trying to make a smashburger that needs to caramelize against the griddleat close to 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
This griddle is the only backyard standup I tested that will handily achieve this, with a griddle-plate center that can crest 650 degrees pretty easily in about 15 minutes (and can get above 500 degrees in half this time.) If my main goal for a griddle is to get fast, high-heat sears on smashburgers or other meats, this capability will cover for many sins. Cuisinart also loves multi-function devices, and this one is a pretty smart idea: Basically, the heat from the burners is fed to a lower toaster-broiler chamber, which is not wildly powerful but great for burger buns. A caveat, however: The knobs are low quality, which isstarting to feel like a standing issue for Cuisinart griddles and grills.
Griddles are a hallmark of the American diner and short-order cooking, and also the heroes of all street tacos. And we tested each griddle's ability to make the flat-top-grill's most hallmark foods.
On the seven griddles I tested for this guide, I made dozens of smashburgers, tacos, fajitas, pancakes, bacon strips, and eggs. I also crisped up skin-on fish, seared pork chops, and tested each griddle's ability to cook delicate vegetables like asparagus at lower temperatures while meat cooked at higher temperatures on a different burner.
For smashburgers, this involved cooking at the highest temperatures each griddle could handle—testing each griddle's ability to quickly caramelize meat smashed down on the griddle and then release the meat to a spatula to flip. Pancakes. laid out across the griddle, were a test of the grill's evenness across the cooking surface. Thicker slabs of meat, like a pork chop, tested the griddle's ability to retain temperature during searing.
But also, we just got very familiar with each griddle using an infrared thermometer—checking temperature at different points along the surface of the grill as it heated on high or low temperatures. We also raced griddles against each other, checking how long it took each griddle to heat up 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Though note that faster isn't always better: Griddles that heat faster are sometimes less temperature-stable, or less even. Our top-rated pick, the Traeger Flatrock 3-Zone, took 10 minutes to reach 500 degrees. But it did so evenly across the surface of the griddle.
I assembled each griddle myself, both to familiarize myself with the amount of work each customer will face but also to get down into the nitty-gritty of how each device is put together: You really get to know a grill, while spending an hour screwing together each and every part.
And especially, I put in the work of cleaning and seasoning and reseasoning each griddle over time, getting to know its foibles and hot spots, how fast it cools, and how fast it heats—learning the amount of effort each griddle requires, and the degree to which this effort is rewarded.
What Is Griddle Seasoning, and How Often Is It Needed?
Griddle seasoning is, quite simply, protection for your griddle. When a thin layer of oil is heated above its smoke point and allowed to cook off atop the griddle and then cool, it forms a polymer that protects the top of the griddle and leads to better cooks. (Some think that griddle seasoning is to help food not stick to the metal. It may or may not add some nonstick properties, but the main purpose is to protect the griddle against rust and other wear.)
For the first time using a griddle, look at the instructions for each griddle. Some arrive with shipping oil that must be scrubbed off with soap, before seasoning the griddle from scratch. Some, like theWeber Slate Rust-Resistant 3-Burner ($799), come pre-seasoned with food-grade oil and are ready to use immediately once assembled.
But seasoning is not a one-time process. You'll probably want to add a layer once every two or three times you cook, because seasoning wears down over time.
In order to season a grill, I usually prefer to use a plant-based oil with a high smoke point. Grapeseed and avocado are great, but can be expensive. I'm perfectly happy with a big jug ofcanola oil. Two or three tablespoons of oil is the most you'll need for the entire grill surface.
The easiest method is to use a good pair of grill tongs likemy favorite pair from Traeger ($25). Fold up two or three paper towels to the size of a sponge, then lock them into the jaws of the tongs: This is now your oil-spreading rag. Heat up the grill to around 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and then use the paper towel to spread a paper-thin layer of oil across the entire surface of the griddle, including the walls.
When the griddle reaches temperatueres much above 400 degrees Fahrenheit, the griddle will start to smoke. This is good. Wait until it's done smoking, then let the griddle cool a bit. You may have to do this two or three times when you first get a grill, until you have an even, black-brown, seasoned surface.
But later on, a single coat will suffice, as needed—you'll be able to see when the seasoning starts to wear thin in places, but you can also just make a habit of re-seasoning once every few cooks.
In general, don't use soap and water, unless the manufacturer tells you to do so right after buying a griddle—or unless you're trying to remove all the seasoning on your grill.
In general, the first step to cleaning a griddle full of food gunk is to use a spatula orgriddle scraperto scrape up gunk, residue, or char and drop it down the hole to the grease trap.
Usually, this won't do the whole job. Let the heat of the griddle be your friend: Clean while the grill is hot. Use a few splashes of water to create steam, and deglaze the brown bits. Then, use your scraper or a thickly folded paper towel (usinggrill tongs, not your hand, to hold it!) to wipe any residue off the griddle.
I tend not to go too crazy with this, but if you've got bits of char that won't leave, you can also throw salt on the grill, and use this as a sandpaper scrubber to get material off the grill. Flush or sweep all the food residue into the grease treap, then dispose of it.
Every time you're done cleaning the griddle, use tongs and paper towels to rub a thin layer of oil across the top of the griddle, same as if you were going to season it. This adds a layer of protection for your griddle while you store it, even if you don't heat the griddle to reseason it.
This Cuisinart offers a pretty small griddle surface compared to other picks on this list, and the construction can be a little clattery. But I did find this Cuisinart pizza oven, grill, and griddle to be one of the rare multi-cookers that's more than the sum of its parts. The Propel+ is on the one hand a standard four-burner grill with a pair of side tables. But its lid is instead shaped into the squashed arch of a pizza oven, with a pizza stone that can be affixed to the grill top to achieve admirable pies at around 700 degrees. Open up the right-side grill table, and there's a fifth burner with a 176-square-inch cast iron griddle surface. The griddle has a bit of a hot spot over the burner, but maintains temp well above 600 degrees and offers great sear on a couple of two-patty smashburgers at a time.
Nexgrill 4-Burner Daytona for $400:The price is attractive on this Nexgrill four-burner, but the heat from its 60,000 BTU burners seemed to be going everywhere but the griddle plate on the model I tested. The sides and back of the case got pretty hot, but it took well over a half hour for any part of the griddle to get anywhere near 500 degrees Fahrenheit, and most of the griddle plate's surface didn't ever get hot enough to hit the smoke point of the oil I used to season the griddle.
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