Blackstone 17" eSeries

All the griddle we need - and more.

We had left our gas griddle at home for this trip and opted for the smoker/grill. We did 90% of the trip with no griddle and to be honest didn't miss it that much. Then we stumbled across the new eSeries from Blackstone. 

I watched some reviews and checked on the prices $247 at Amazon - Whew! All the reviews we read really played it up but for indoor use - What! Some of the complaints were "took too long to warm up", "didn't hold the temp", etc. After spending hours reading about how horrible this was, with a discouraged heart, we kind of put it behind us.

During one of our morning walks we happened by a camper using one, outside! It appeared to be handling the 1/2 dozen sausages and eggs she was cooking quite well, so I asked, "how do you like that griddle" - she loved it. We talked for about 10 minutes while she finished off their breakfast. All the things I had been reading - she was rebuking. Then her husband said the magic phrase "... and they're on sale at Walmart for $97 bucks". 

We jumped in the Jeep and headed to Wally World to check it. Long story short, they were $97.  We have one now and after two cooks here is our first impressions.

• Assembly - nearly nothing to assemble. Just remove stickers.
• Preparation / Setup - wipe off with a soapy cloth and rinse off.  
• Ease of use - push button, set temp, push button again, wait 2 to 3 minutes - COOK!
• Performance - I did crab cakes and a burger, rewarmed some leftover fries, and toasted my bread for use as a bun for me. Set for 350 degrees. It took about 2.5 to 3.5 minutes to get to full heat, I was outside. Added the goodies and the temp dropped a bit (like every other griddle I have ever used) but maintained 350 over the entire cook (I use a laser temp gun to test).  
• Second cook we set the griddle up inside out "outdoor kitchen" - came to temp even faster, maintained heat (350 degrees), and cooked ham, onions, mushrooms, and eggs very nicely
• My only complaint, if you call it that, was the surface was so slippery you had better have two spatulas or you'll flick the food right off the griddle. Again, cleanup was two paper towels, one wet, one dry.

I'm not sure that there won't be an issue or two down the road, but from these first two cooks I cannot imagine what they would be.

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