The Best Outdoor Griddle for 2025

The outdoor griddle is a hot commodity in the outdoor cooking space, and it's time to determine who makes the best outdoor flat top griddle. We recently put 8 different brands to the test.

Why Trust Our Review

We have personally used every outdoor griddle mentioned in this article. Not only have we used each one, but we also used each one side-by-side so that we could best compare similar qualities. Don't just take my word for it. The evidence is in the pictures and video.

This article was not written by AI; it was written by real humans who have actually used these products.

We have run each outdoor gas griddle through the same series of tests and will let the data speak for itself.

Though the flat top griddles themselves were supplied to us for free for this video and article, none of the manufacturers have paid to be involved or "win" this review.

We are affiliates, however, and will earn a small commission if you purchase any of these gas griddles using our link. That is one of the ways we are able to continue doing what we do, so we do appreciate your support in that way.

Our Quick Picks

The griddles least affected by cooking in the wind included the Steelfire, Flatrock, Primate and Napoleon. The Blackstone and Pit Boss models struggled the most.

Cooking Space

I’m sure you noticed there is a wide range of flat top griddle sizes in our comparison, with the largest being 37" and the smallest coming in just under 28 inches. You can see the breakdown in griddle sizes here, but basically there’s a group of griddles that range from 28-31 inches, and another group that range between 36-37 inches. 

The Weber is also available in a larger size, as well as what you see here. 

So what’s the difference in capacity between a 28” and a 37” griddle? Let me show you in pancakes.

Capacity

Melissa made a batch of her homemade buttermilk pancake recipe to see how many we could fit on each griddle. We laid out the exact same (approximately) 4-inch pancakes to calculate the maximum capacity. To be clear, we would never actually cook this many pancakes at a time, so close together, but we're aiming to give you a visual representation of what each flat top *could fit.

The Blackstone and Pit Boss both had space to fit 40 pancakes, followed by the Gridiron Pro, which had space for 32.

The Flatrock, Slate, and Primate all had enough room for 28 pancakes.

While the Steelfire is difficult to really calculate in the same manner with it's oval shape, we estimate 25-26, followed by the Napoleon, with 24 pancakes.

Cooking Height

Cooking height is something to strongly consider if you’re very tall, or more on the petite side. Melissa is 5’2” and I’m 5’11” so what’s comfortable for me probably feels too high for her and vice versa. There's about a 4 inch difference in cooking height between these models, with the Napoleon having the highest cooking position at 38 inches and the Pit Boss with the lowest cooking height at 34 inches high.

This is probably an appropriate time to point out that the Solo Stove Steelfire can be removed from its cart and set on top of a table or counter, making its cooking height flexible.

Low temperature test

We get a lot of questions about how low of a temperature each flat top griddle can run, so we tested each griddle using the Thermoworks weighted griddle thermometer.  

We ignited all of the burners on each griddle, turned them as low as they would go, and set a timer for 15 minutes.

The griddle with the lowest temperature was the Camp Chef Gridiron Pro, with a low of 323°. The second lowest after 15 minutes was the Solo Stove with 349°, and in third place was the Traeger, coming in at 357°.

The griddle with the highest low temperature was the Blackstone, with a low of 450°, over 120 degrees hotter than the winner in this category. Here is the graph of the temperatures for each griddle, going from cold to low for 15 minutes with all burners ignited and set to low.

High Temperature Test

To understand the top level heat for each griddle, we started from a cold griddle and cranked all of the burners up as high as they would go and set a timer for 15 minutes.

The hottest griddle was the Weber, which topped 708° Fahrenheit at the 15-minute mark. The Blackstone came in second with a top heat of 654°, and the Primate comes in third with a high of 646°.

The griddle with the lowest high heat was the Camp Chef Gridiron Pro, with a high of 526°. 

Ambient Temperature Test

At the end of the high-end heat test, we wanted to see how hot the side shelves on each griddle got when set to high.

The griddle with the lowest temperature shelves was the Solo Stove, coming in at 117° when measured at the closest lip to the griddle surface. The second lowest was the Weber, which measured 139°, and the Traeger comes in third with 177° temperatures measured on the side shelves.

 The griddles with the highest temps on the shelves were the Blackstone at 226° and the Primate, which measured 233° Fahrenheit. There were three griddles that all measured over 200°, so if you decide to go with these models, I'd keep your bottles of BBQ rub away from the inside lip of each shelf, or they could easily melt through the plastic.

The Results of Our Flat Top Grill Testing

How To Choose The Best Flat Top Griddle For You

We did a full week of testing 8 griddles and in the process, we were able to conclude what our favorite (or favorites) were from the bunch. The thing is, we don't necessarily use outdoor gas griddles the same way you might. And the things we care about might be different from the things you care about. So you and I might look at the exact same data and reach different conclusions about which flat-top we prefer.

Here are a few questions we recommend asking to help you decide which griddle is right for you.

How much cooking area do I need?

Outdoor gas griddles come in a variety of sizes and it can be difficult to decide what the perfect size might be for you. You don't want to go too big and have a cooking appliance that takes up too much patio space, but you also don't want to go too small, limiting what you can cook on your new griddle.

Before you commit to a particular griddle size, I recommend making a list of 5-10 foods or meals you plan on cooking on your griddle. Does your list consist of mostly single-course foods or do you find that you're wanting to cook full meals?

In our experience, we often run out of space when cooking a full meal on a griddle, so more space is better for us.

What is the heat source for a flat-top grill?

Most flat-top grills on the market are heated by propane or natural gas burners below the griddle surface. These burners can come in all shapes, sizes, and BTUs.

Sometimes the arrangement of burners results in hot spots and cold spots that present challenges when cooking. Other times the arrangement is just right for even cooking front to back and side to side.

When shopping for your next outdoor gas griddle, take a look under the hood to see what the burner situation is.

How is grease managed?

Flat-top cooking often produces grease and food debris that needs a place to go, so manufacturers have designed their griddles to channel grease into some type of removable grease tray. The location of the grease trap varies from griddle to griddle; some in the front, and some in the back. As you compare each grease management system here are some things to consider:

1. How much cooking surface is lost to the grease trap and does it look like food might accidentally get lost down that hole while cooking? There's nothing worse than accidentally knocking a shrimp down the grease trap.
2. Is the removable grease tray exposed to the elements? If the griddle is left uncovered and it rains, will the grease tray collect rainwater?
3. What's the capacity of the grease tray? Will it need to be emptied after every cook?

How will the flat-top grill perform in windy conditions?

Not all outdoor gas griddles perform equally in windy conditions. Many griddles are built with a gap between the griddle surface and the burners below for airflow. These griddles struggle to perform well in windy conditions.

There are some flat-top grills available with a recessed griddle surface, protecting the burners from exposure to the wind. These flat-top griddles perform equally regardless of the wind.

I highly recommend choosing an outdoor griddle that will perform well on a windy day.

How much prep and storage space will I need?

Griddle cooking is typically hot and fast. Emphasis on the fast.

It is important to have all your ducks in a row before you start cooking because you can't generally leave your food on the hot griddle surface and run back inside to grab something. Not only do you need to have all your ingredients and cooking utensils ready, but you also need to have your clean dish or dishes to transfer the cooked food into when it's done cooking.

This is why sufficient shelf space is absolutely critical in my opinion. Unless you want to have to set up a table every time you cook on your griddle, your griddle shelves need to be able to accommodate the tools and ingredients for the job.

Do I need to season my outdoor gas griddle before I use it?

Most carbon steel outdoor griddles will need to be seasoned before use unless clearly labeled "pre-seasoned" in the manual. Stainless steel griddle surfaces do not require seasoning.

The seasoning process will help your griddle develop a non-stick cooking surface as well as help protect your griddle from rust, extending the life of your flat-top grill.

What griddle care and maintenance is required?

Treat your carbon steel griddle surface the same way you would your favorite cast iron pan. Season it with oil (several layers) before first use, don't wash with soap, but instead, use water and an abrasive scrub tool to remove any food debris, and reseason with oil after each use. Failure to reseason your griddle surface after each use may result in rust developing.