Blackstone, bbq’s or campfire cooking?

[Dingit]

Bears vary. I've been at some campgrounds where folks were specifically told to get the stove in the bear box. I think the Hoh Rainforest was one...

 

[Bowman3d]

Typical setup for me. Coleman 413g, profane grill, Coleman 530 pocket stove in the silver canister, and a camp chef oven. But sometimes I feel like using a my 426b 3 burner.The griddle that comes with the camp chef is a perfect fit on the 413g.

 

[Everett Bartlett]

I wish I could find the right connector for my low pressure port on the outside. This is what the existing outside stove connects with.

That is not a low pressure connector, That is the high pressure for the Coleman trailers.

 

[jmkay1]

Do you think they would really mess with one if it’s cleaned after use?

I was camping with friends once and they left their grill out on the picnic table, in the middle of the night they heard a crash. Peaking out the window they saw a black bear had pushed their BBQ grill off the table and even attempted to drag it into the woods. Funny thing was this campground wasn’t really known to have an active bear population. So personally if it were mine, I would keep it locked up somewhere if in bear country. You can’t underestimate the damage bears can do If they get a whiff of food smells and trust me they have a far better sense of smell then we do. Just my two cents.

 

[Mark CASTELLANI]

we're campfire cooks here...tripod grate, cast iron skillet, pie-irons and hot-dog skewers... sometimes DW will bring her cast iron Dutch Oven (but, it's rarely brought)..

if there's rain in the forecast, it's the good-old 2 burner, propane Coleman stove setup in the "gazebo"

mostly, our meals are for sustenance... quick, easy and nutritious so that we can do the activities we came camping for.
(hiking, biking, canoeing, fishing) .

we have a tradition of one dinner meal of good steaks and baked potatoes... potatoes baked in the coals is easy-peasy (no specialized equipment for that) and, for me. there's nothing tastier than a steak cooked over an open fire!

Happy Trails!

Happy Trails!

 

[davido]

I have a 2-burner 14" style Camp Chef stove. They come in 1, 2, or 3 burner, in 14" or 16" depths.

For my CampChef, I have a matching griddle designed to fit the stove. They make a 1-burner and a 2-burner griddle. I prefer the single.

I also have the Pizza Oven accessory, which is useful for pizza, flatbread, rolls, biscuits.

And I have the Grill attachment for the CampChef stove. They make a single and double burner grill. Mine is single. It sits on top of the stove and works for grilling.

I converted my CampChef to use the low pressure propane outlet on my RV

 

[sargant]

I

I think that’s the same as our outside stovetop

I misspoke. It's actually high pressure and I think I need an adapter fitting to get it to connect

 

[lot_lizard]

Thanks so much for this excellent & well written, informative rundown on the Blackstone. Very, vey helpful for a newbie to griddle cooking. I’m definitely going to buy one. Watching for sales.

Could I ask if you could elaborate on the cooking surface? When you refer to finer quality sheet metal vs the Blackstone, is it because the Blackstone is a cast iron surface and not a plate surface? (Such as cold rolled steel plate which is very smooth) and if yes, could the Blackstone surface be ground smoother to get an even better surface to start with?

Blackstone is an excellent choice. And the differences are exactly as you say. A lower gauge (higher the gauge, the thinner… like wire gauges) cold rolled carbon steel (never stainless) is special as a cooking surface. You actually have a wider variance of hot spots since the metal is thinner while more dense (ideal because you are cooking many unique foods at once), and the surface seasons really easy since it is so smooth. Cast is less pure, more porous throughout, thicker typically, and heats more evenly. This is great for a single dish in a skillet. Less ideal for a griddle unless you’re filling the entire griddle surface with the same thing (a dozen burger patties). The real issue with cast is the surface is naturally rougher due to the cast itself (not the metals fault). In high-end skillets, they will grind/polish the cooking surface to compensate (see Finex skillets as example). You can certainly achieve a ideal surface on unpolished cast, it just takes either polishing yourself with a lot of effort, or many more rounds of seasoning. Where a nicer cast skillet is pre seasoned with just flax seed or vegetable oil, lower grade ones (like Lodge/Blackstone/etc) are very lightly coated with some mystery enamel that are much more forgiving (targets newcomers). I’d use the Blackstone as-is for a dozen times to see where your surface naturally goes with your style of cooking. You can always improve it later if needed. Only suggestion for everyone that might not be obvious, find a smaller stainless spatula (think pancake turner size) as your griddle utensil and don’t be bashful about scraping the surface. It will naturally polish your seasoning into the porous Blackstone surface.

 

[Canoe2fish]

Typical setup for me. Coleman 413g, profane grill, Coleman 530 pocket stove in the silver canister, and a camp chef oven. But sometimes I feel like using a my 426b 3 burner.The griddle that comes with the camp chef is a perfect fit on the 413g.

That’s a great setup.

 

[ThroughLiner]

We almost never cook inside our popup (notable exception was last weekend at 9,000' with snow and wind). I have an old Camp Chef two-burner 40,000 BTU stove, and we do everything needing stove cooking on that (with an assortment of pots, griddles, cast iron skillets, etc.). We also cook quite a bit on the fire grate or in the dutch oven(s) using coals from the fire.

 

[Tothetide]

My understanding is that all (current, at least) Blackstone griddles are made out of rolled steel, not traditional cast iron. They also come completely unseasoned out of the box and need to be seasoned prior to use.

 

[JimmyM]

I wish I could find the right connector for my low pressure port on the outside. This is what the existing outside stove connects with.

This is a standard propane bottle connection. 1"-20 thread
But this connection is typically high pressure (before regulator)

 

[Mark CASTELLANI]

We almost never cook inside our popup (notable exception was last weekend at 9,000' with snow and wind). I have an old Camp Chef two-burner 40,000 BTU stove, and we do everything needing stove cooking on that (with an assortment of pots, griddles, cast iron skillets, etc.). We also cook quite a bit on the fire grate or in the dutch oven(s) using coals from the fire. View attachment 89234 View attachment 89235 View attachment 89236

@ThroughLiner ... THAT'S what I'm talking about!...YEAH, BABY!

Happy Trails!

 

[Tonya Harding]

Or, you can have leftovers in a Wally World parking lot, taken this morning just after dawn

 

[JimmyM]

I was all set to get a big Camp Chef rig with grill box and griddle. But I'm just going to get a Coleman RoadTrip 285 portable grill. I just don't cook enough to warrant a set up that big, heavy, or expensive.

 

[ThroughLiner]

@ThroughLiner ... THAT'S what I'm talking about!...YEAH, BABY!

Happy Trails!

Haha! I am guilty (on occasion) of turning our boondock site into a full-service restaurant... but it's fun.

 

[ThroughLiner]

Or, you can have leftovers in a Wally World parking lot, taken this morning just after dawn

View attachment 89237

Needs ketchup...

 

[p]

Haha! I am guilty (on occasion) of turning our boondock site into a full-service restaurant... but it's fun.
A bunch of us Dads do a Father's Day weekend annual camp where no mothers are allowed. One of the dads is a chef at a high-end restaurant. We don't suffer from food quality.
(one of the other dads is also a bartender)

 

[J Starsky]

The only thing is the princess auto Blackstone's dont include lid.
Try this...

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I found my lid on AMAZON along with a storage bag

 

[Mytime]

Small charcoal grill for most things . I have a nonstick griddle I put on the propane stove that came with the pup for breakfast mostly.