What Is a Griddle? Materials, Uses, and vs. a Grill

A griddle is a flat cooking surface — steel, cast iron, or another conductive material — that cooks food through direct contact with the surface rather than over open flame or through grates. The defining characteristic is the solid, flat cooking area: no holes, no grates, no gaps. Food sits directly on the steel and receives heat across its entire face.

The most common outdoor version is a flat-top propane griddle, like a Blackstone. The most common indoor version is a griddle pan — a flat-bottomed pan used on a stovetop burner. Both work on the same principle: a conductive surface transfers heat directly to food, producing an even sear rather than grill marks.

What Is a Griddle Made Of?

Most outdoor flat-top griddles, including all Blackstone models, use cold-rolled steel — a dense, conductive metal that holds heat well and develops a natural non-stick surface over time through seasoning. Cold-rolled steel is slightly thinner and smoother than cast iron, which makes it faster to heat and easier to manage across multiple cooking zones.

Other materials used in griddles:

Cast iron — the traditional griddle material for stovetop and some outdoor models. Heavier and slower to heat, but retains heat longer once hot. Cast iron stovetop griddle pans have been used for centuries.

Chrome steel (chrome-plated) — used in commercial restaurant flat-tops. Chrome is non-porous, doesn’t require seasoning, and is easy to clean. Most commercial griddles you’ve cooked on at a diner are chrome-plated steel.

Aluminum with non-stick coating — common in electric griddles and some stovetop griddle pans. Lighter and faster to heat, but less durable and not suitable for high-heat searing.

Ceramic-coated — a non-stick alternative found in electric and tabletop griddles, often marketed as a safer coating alternative.

For an outdoor flat-top like a Blackstone, cold-rolled steel is the right material — durable, responsive to heat adjustments across zones, and capable of building a better non-stick surface over time than any factory coating. See how to season a Blackstone griddle for how that surface builds up.

What Is a Griddle Used For?

A flat-top griddle handles a wider range of foods than a grill because the solid surface has no gaps, no drip zones, and no flare-ups. The griddle’s advantages are most obvious for:

Breakfast foods

Pancakes, eggs, bacon, French toast, hashbrowns, breakfast sandwiches — everything breakfast requires a flat surface. A grill can’t cook any of these. A Blackstone handles all of them simultaneously, which is the reason most people who buy one end up using it more than their grill. The Blackstone breakfast hash and Blackstone hashbrowns are good examples of what zone cooking can do.

Smash burgers

The Maillard crust on a smash burger — the crispy, lacy-edged patty pressed hard against screaming-hot steel — requires full surface contact. Grill grates make it impossible. A flat-top is the only surface that produces a real smash burger at home. See the Blackstone burgers recipe for the technique.

Full-surface sear on proteins

Grill grates contact about 20% of a protein’s surface area. A flat-top makes contact with 100% of it. For chicken thighs, salmon, pork chops, or any cut where you want an even crust across the whole surface instead of just grill marks, the griddle wins. The Blackstone steak recipe covers this in detail.

Stir-fry, rice, and small-ingredient dishes

Diced vegetables, shrimp, rice, mushrooms, garlic — anything small falls through grill grates or gets lost in a regular pan. On a flat-top you can cook Blackstone fried rice or any stir-fry dish at full volume. The wide surface lets you spread ingredients out so they sear instead of steam.

Fajitas and sauced dishes

Teriyaki glaze, fajita marinade, garlic butter — liquids and sauces run off a grill into the fire. On a griddle you cook in them, reduce them, and coat the food. Blackstone chicken fajitas and steak fajitas are textbook flat-top dishes for exactly this reason.

High-volume cooking

A 36” Blackstone has 720 square inches of cooking surface, all usable at once. You can cook a full breakfast for 10 people simultaneously. Grills have dead zones and require food rotation; a flat-top handles large quantities much more efficiently.

Sandwiches, quesadillas, and pressed items

Any sandwich that benefits from full contact with a hot surface — grilled cheese, Philly cheesesteak, quesadillas — is better on a griddle. The whole surface of the bread or tortilla makes contact with the steel, giving you even browning that a grill can’t produce.

What Is a Griddle Pan?

A griddle pan is a flat-bottomed pan used on a stovetop burner — a compact version of the standalone flat-top griddle. Griddle pans typically come in rectangular shapes designed to span two burners, though single-burner round versions also exist.

Griddle pan vs. grill pan: a grill pan has raised ridges on the cooking surface that create grill marks. A griddle pan is completely flat. Both sit on your stovetop; the difference is whether you want marks (grill pan) or an even sear (griddle pan). For smash burgers, eggs, or pancakes on the stovetop, you want a griddle pan.

Griddle pan vs. outdoor flat-top: the cooking principle is identical — direct contact between food and a hot solid surface. The scale is not. A 36” Blackstone has roughly 10 times the cooking area of a standard two-burner stovetop griddle pan and runs hotter and more evenly across the full surface. For everyday cooking for one or two people, a stovetop griddle pan works. For family meals or anything that requires zone cooking, an outdoor flat-top is a different tool entirely.

Griddle vs. Grill: The Key Differences

A grill cooks food over an open flame or heat source through metal grates. A griddle cooks on a solid, flat steel surface. That structural difference drives every practical difference between them.

A grill does things a griddle can’t:

Impart smoke flavor — fat drips through grates, vaporizes on the heat source, and comes back up as smoke
Produce true grill marks from bar contact
Handle low-and-slow indirect cooks — whole chickens, ribs, brisket

A griddle does things a grill can’t:

Cook breakfast — eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns require a flat surface
Make smash burgers with a full-face crust
Cook small ingredients without losing them through grates
Produce a full-surface sear on proteins rather than contact-only grill marks
Reduce and cook with sauces and liquids
Run high volume without dead zones

Side-by-Side

	Flat-Top Griddle	Gas/Charcoal Grill
Smoke flavor	None	Strong
Grill marks	No	Yes
Breakfast foods	Yes	No
Smash burgers	Yes	No
Eggs / pancakes	Yes	No
Small ingredients	Yes	No
Full-surface sear	Yes	No
High-volume cooking	Excellent	Limited
Indirect / low-and-slow	Limited	Yes
Flare-up risk	None	Yes
Cleanup	Fast	Longer
Seasoning required	Yes	No

Which should you get? If smoke flavor matters most to you — ribs, brisket, traditional BBQ char — get a grill. If you cook breakfast regularly, want smash burgers, or cook for a family most nights, a flat-top griddle covers more of what you’ll actually cook. Most serious outdoor cooks end up with both. They don’t overlap — they complement each other completely.

Related guides: Griddle vs Skillet · Griddle Temperature Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a griddle?

A griddle is a flat, solid cooking surface — typically steel or cast iron — that cooks food through direct contact rather than over open flame or through grates. Outdoor flat-top griddles like a Blackstone are propane-powered freestanding units with a large steel cooking surface. Indoor griddle pans are stovetop versions of the same concept.

What is a griddle made of?

Outdoor flat-top griddles like Blackstone are made from cold-rolled steel — a dense, heat-retentive metal that builds a natural non-stick surface through seasoning. Commercial restaurant griddles use chrome-plated steel. Stovetop griddle pans are typically cast iron, carbon steel, or aluminum with a non-stick coating.

What is a griddle used for?

A flat-top griddle handles breakfast foods (eggs, pancakes, bacon, hashbrowns), smash burgers, full-surface protein sears, stir-fry and rice dishes, fajitas and sauced dishes, sandwiches and quesadillas, and high-volume cooking. The solid surface with no gaps means any food that would fall through grill grates or flare up is better suited to a griddle.

What is a griddle pan?

A griddle pan is a flat-bottomed stovetop pan — the indoor equivalent of an outdoor flat-top griddle. It’s distinguished from a grill pan by its smooth, flat surface (no ridges). Griddle pans are used for pancakes, eggs, smash burgers, and any food that benefits from full contact with a flat heated surface.

What’s the difference between a griddle and a grill?

A grill cooks food over an open flame through metal grates; a griddle cooks on a solid flat surface. The key practical differences: grills add smoke flavor and grill marks; griddles produce full-surface sears, can cook breakfast foods and small ingredients, and handle sauces and liquids. Neither replaces the other — they’re built for different tasks.

Do you need to season a griddle?

Yes, if it’s a cold-rolled steel or cast iron flat-top. Seasoning means applying thin layers of high-smoke-point oil and heating the surface until the oil polymerizes into a hard, non-stick coating. A new Blackstone requires an initial seasoning (about 90 minutes) before first use, and a quick re-oiling after every cook to maintain the surface. See the full Blackstone seasoning guide.

What size griddle should I get?

For a family of 4, a 36” Blackstone (720 square inches) is the most popular choice — large enough to cook an entire meal at once across multiple heat zones, practical for weeknight dinners without being oversized. A 28” model works for 1–3 people. The 17” tabletop is good for camping or small spaces. If you’re regularly cooking for groups larger than 6, the 36” is the minimum — nothing smaller keeps up.

What’s the best oil to use on a griddle?

High-smoke-point oils for cooking and seasoning: avocado oil (smoke point ~520°F) is the most versatile, flaxseed oil is popular for initial seasoning coats, and vegetable or canola oil works well for everyday cooking. See the griddle temperature guide for matching heat levels to different foods.