Bought for one job, used for another
Ownership origin. The October 2020 order records a 28-inch Blackstone and a griddle tool kit. In my ownership account, I explain that camping was the original purpose, while its bulk led to regular use at home.
My recorded cooking and maintenance experiences supply the rest of the story. Individual meals, such as the August thin-cut steak, retain their own photographs and accounts.
The best argument for my 28-inch Blackstone is the food I like making on it: cheesesteaks, stir-fry, steaks, pancakes and bacon. The harder part of the ownership story is everything around those meals. It takes up space, the grease collection could be better, and getting the cooking surface back into shape has become a recurring job. I like using it. Whether I would make the same purchase again is a more complicated question.
- The original jobBought for camping in October 2020.
- Where it landedRegular use at home, with room for breakfast and flat-top meals.
- The tradeoffA useful cooking surface, with bulk and recurring maintenance.
Bought for camping, used at home
I ordered the 28-inch Blackstone in October 2020, along with a griddle tool kit. I bought it to take camping. The size turned out to be pretty bulky for that purpose, so it now stays at the house, where I use it frequently. The cooking space is useful; moving it around was the mismatch.
At home, a pancake breakfast is a good example of where that space earns its place. Bacon and other breakfast food suit the surface, too. For that kind of cooking, I appreciate having a griddle with room to work. For the camping role I had in mind, I would have preferred something smaller.
The meal decides which cooker I choose
I also have a Weber Spirit, and which one I choose depends on what I am cooking. I have been pleased with steaks on the Blackstone, but I cannot say they are noticeably better than the ones I make on the Weber. The Blackstone gives me another way to cook, with particular appeal for food that belongs on a flat surface.
Cheesesteaks are one of my favorites on it. Stir-fry is another useful fit. Once it is up to temperature, I have found the heat manageable and have been able to dial it in. The spatulas and other tools matter, too; they are part of using this much cooking surface comfortably.
Food stories from the photo archive →
The maintenance is part of the purchase
My Walmart history also includes a 28-inch Blackstone weather-resistant cover in May 2021. In use, rust has been the recurring frustration. I have tried different ways of storing the griddle for winter, including bringing it inside. Removing rust and reconditioning the surface has still been roughly a yearly task. That is work I have to include when I judge how convenient the Blackstone is to own.
The grease collection is another detail I do not love. My model has a small removable tray at the back. It works well enough to use, but it is not a feature I particularly like. Neither issue takes away the meals I enjoy making. Both affect how enthusiastic I am about the whole package.
The cleanup after the cooking
In a separate August 15 maintenance note, I returned to the small grease tray. During cleaning, the water collected quickly enough that I wanted more capacity. That was a practical limitation I noticed while using this griddle, alongside the recurring work on the surface.
The photographs above preserve two different moments: an empty surface in June and food on the griddle in August. Together they show the two parts of ownership I keep coming back to—the cooking space I enjoy and the upkeep that comes with it.
Would I buy it again?
My first answer is that I would probably choose a smaller one. Then I hesitate: it felt expensive for what it is, and a skillet can cover some of the same cooking. I am not certain I would buy another.
That is where I have landed with this Blackstone. I enjoy a flat top for certain meals, and this one has a useful role at home. The question for my next purchase would be how much griddle space I actually need, how often I need to move it, and whether I want to take on the same maintenance again.
Ownership account recorded in August 2026, with purchase history from 2020 and 2021 and separate photographs from June and August 2026. Maintenance notes are personal observations; no measured cooking or restoration result is claimed.
A different job changes the value
The purchase makes more sense when the original camping job and the eventual home job are considered separately. Bulk worked against taking the griddle away. At home, that same cooking area became useful for breakfasts, sandwiches and other flat-top meals. One dimension of the product can be both an advantage and a drawback, depending on where it is used.
The unresolved purchase question therefore starts with the next job, rather than the brand alone. How often would I move it? How much surface would I regularly fill? How much space and restoration work would I accept between meals? Those questions preserve what I enjoy about this griddle while taking its less convenient parts seriously.