5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Buying a Blackstone Griddle

[@JohnnyBrunet]

My griddle 101 course is only $30. That's less than a new set of Blackstone spatulas. If you want to impress your family with classic diner style meals you can get acess to the course here: johnnybrunet.thrivecart.com/griddle-101-mastering-the-flat-top/

[@AccountsPayable-o6u]

In this economy?!?

[@biciguy66]

Johnny, I seriously wish you were my next-door neighbor. Drinking beer and making food on a Griddle or Grill is one of the best ways to spend time there is. Doing something you love, for those you love. There's nothing better. Best thing in the world on a fall day is to make a pile of food, feed your family and your friends, go watch football and stay hydrated. Love the channel, love your approach, love your sense of humor and the work you do. You make it look effortless and easy, and you even leave in the mistakes, and we all make them, so that makes your channel that much better. Keep up the good work, we love ya Buddy!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm so glad you like the videos and think they are helpful. I try my best to make it feel like I'm just the neighbor next door. I'm glad it comes through.

[@mikeschaefer2208]

I grew up working grill at Shoney's years ago and I love having a Blackstone now. I appreciate all your videos and your laid back style. Good on you for building an empire out of this with something you seem to enjoy.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thanks so much Mike! I stayed at a Shoneys Inn once in New Orleans. The hotel was attached to the restuarants, quite the experience. I really appreciate the support and I don't know if its an empire lol but it's definetly more than I ever thought possible from flipping pancakes on the internet. I truly am blessed.

[@mikeschaefer2208]

@@JohnnyBrunet Hey I don't know how to DM in KZbin, but I have something you might like as a Blue Jackets fan. Would love to send it to you.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

@@mikeschaefer2208 sorry Mike I didn't even see this until now. Glad you found my email.

[@stephengomes977]

Thanks for putting this video up. I really appreciate the way you “invite” us while you griddle instead of some sterile class room environment. These tips are a great start for any new comer to the griddle. Keep up the great work you are the Griddle Guru! 👍🏻

[@JohnnyBrunet]

You're very welcome, thank you for the kind words and for watching.

[@johnskalnik5571]

I did not quite go overboard starting out either. I did get the infrared thermometer plus a thermometer to check meat temps. I also have access to natural gas and bought the kit to change out oriffics as well. Never run out of gas.

[@alexanderpatrick4866]

You know Johnny you really are good at this and I appreciate everything that you do. I was about to get started buying a flat top and taking your course but unfortunately my company laid us all off and things are tight right now. In the mean time I continue to watch your wonderful thought-provoking educational videos and I look forward to the near future cuz I hope to be back on my feet after the winter. Once again thank you for everything that you do!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope you get back on your feet quick and find something. Thank you so much for taking the time to watch the videos.

[@alexanderpatrick4866]

@@JohnnyBrunet my pleasure

[@gregwonhoff7161]

Another great show, Johnny. As always, thanks for being here for us.❤️🙏❤️

[@trollop4866]

If you don't want to waste money on squirt bottles use the ketchup or squeezable mayo bottles when you're done. They're pretty handy because they lock closed and don't spill.

[@DavidDaws-t8w]

Omg that's so smart

[@gharv1313]

Awesome tips Johnny! Had my griddle for a few years now and watching your videos Gallery Backyard BBQ videos and countless others I've learned a lot thanks for all the great content. But you're never too old to learn LOL may check this out. cheers brother 👍 🍻

[@PAPAGRG-rx9eg]

My fellow Ohioan, I love your approach to griddling. Straight and to the point.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thanks!

[@OhioPS1]

Nice job. Westside guy here. Love cooking on my blackstone. You do such a great job, keep it up.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Hey neighbor! Thanks for watching man I really appreciate it.

[@alf3553]

Great info 👍. I enjoy using my griddle & I’m always looking for ideas to cook on it or my Big Green Egg. How much time it takes to clean anything depends on what you cooked. Those HashBrown Omelet’s are so good, we use the dehydrated HashBrowns because they are quick & easy to have on hand for when you want an awesome breakfast.

[@Gusserbean]

Your stuff just keeps getting better man! Thank you!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thank you.

[@daleley7645]

This would be great for many new griddle owners! I eventually figured out the tricks of a griddle, but it takes time and some not very good meals.

[@Mr1lolo94]

I just got my Blackstone - glad i found this video!! Thank you

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Congrats on the new griddle. I also have a free ebook and a weekly newsletter about griddling if you are interested. It's a great starting point. johnny-brunet.ck.page/69cccedc03

[@JoelAndersen-mb6ti]

Dude! Love that you're making this easy.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Glad to help.

[@paulhandwork8405]

Great video! Thank you! I also worked at a Bob Evans and a Perkins once upon a time. 😅 Just had a friend give me their old one when they moved. Gotta clean it up and apply some tlc. On my Christmas list was all 4-5 tools you mentioned along with the bottles and a lid. Good to know I’m on track.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

You're welcome, thank you for watching. Congratulations on the "new to you" griddle. I'm sure it will look great once you clean it up.

[@dennisdecker7808]

Great information for anyone thinking about pulling the trigger on a ne griddle! Well done! 🔥🔥🍺

[@Dissident0910]

Bro thank you for referencing that a couple of beers goes best with some griddle cooking! Your content is amazing would love to see a collaboration with other griddle cooks.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thanks so much man. Ya that would be fun to do a collaboration

[@auchaplainfci8336]

I learned about the Infrared thermometer from you. One of the best investments I made and helped me the most, outside your videos.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Glad I could help!

[@bionicdan1959]

Good hints that should come with every new griddle purchase!!! 🍺

[@sonja619purrsnpoms4]

Hilarious video 👏 I purchased this griddle specifically to make cheese steaks I'm from NJ but live in San Diego for the last 25 years. We literally would order cheese steaks & Italian hoagies from White House sub shop and pay a small fortune for over night delivery. Now I can make my own cheese steaks... Well sorta the hoagie rolls out west will never compare but it cures my cravings for a few months. Ok time to season my new griddle 🤞😅 Your food looks delicious btw👍

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Awesome! Congratulations on the new griddle! Ya finding the right rolls is the hardest part. I can't seem to find anything in Ohio that resembles the east coast. I hope you have fun with your new griddle and thanks for watching.

[@dannymarkgraf34]

the lid comes in handy for melting the cheese on smash burgers. a little squirt of water and the cover and instant melted cheese. lol. i need to clean my blackstone and get it back up and working. it was so nice to whip food up. i miss making smash burgers.

[@MarcvanKralingen-d1z]

Love your videos up here in Canada Johnny!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thanks so much!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thanks so much!

[@MrAndydavis78]

I like that he understand WINTER! Not like some channel in Texas or the South where 'brrr is chilly, wear a sweater when you go out'

[@bradleywagner8727]

Hey man, another really great video!! Your honesty is so darn refreshing! It feels as though I'm listening to a long time friend every time I watch one of your videos. (No...I'm not a weirdo. It's just that comfortable, lol!) Anyway, keep up the good work!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

lol I didn't think you were weird. Thank you very much, I try to be honest and calm. I don't want to sound like the crazy talk radio guy playing fart noises and what not lol.

[@bradleywagner8727]

Lol...nahhh. Just very down-to-earth and trustworthy. Enjoy your day!​@JohnnyBrunet

[@dirtyjersey8562]

Griddle gold as always thanks Johnny 🤙🏻🍻

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thanks brother.

[@jasontroester3874]

Man of the people!

[@Justoutdoors360]

I love my blackstone I”ll never go back to a regular grill, I scrape and wipe my griddle at the end of each use and I stop using water to clean it, if I do clean it with water it will be right at the beginning of cooking and definitely you need to put one of those orange protector when done using it.

[@debbiehaney2467]

Okay…everyone go easy on me as I’m new to griddle/grill cooking. I don’t have either a grill or a flat surface griddle and am looking to purchase one or the other. One thing I’d like to be able to do is use whatever I get to cook soup, etc. in a cast iron Dutch oven in the event of a power outage. Can I do that with a BlackStone griddle or do I need some with an actual burner for pans?

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Hi Debbie. So you "could" do it with a flat top but I would not recommend it. It takes way too long to hear up the pan. A direct burner on your dutch oven would be easier. So for that specific instance I think a grill may be better for you.

[@nathanalitz4841]

My favorite part of learning a new outdoor cooking appliance is, i get to eat my mistakes!! 😁

[@officialfredreviews]

Hi Jonny, another good video. My griddle sits at a slant. When I put oil or eggs, they tend to run away from me. Is that okay or should I put shims under the two front wheels? Thank you!! :)

[@davebo9615]

Yes. You should want your griddle to be flat and level. Unless it helps you...maybe you watch the eggs run away from you and by the time it hits the edge you know you can flip them 🤷

[@JohnnyBrunet]

it's up to you. Depending on the slant it will make some things harder so it'd probably be better to level it. Unless, like Dave said, you want it to specifically slat toward the drain or something.

[@chriscarter7182]

My griddle is not flat. I do use shims so that the oil, (I use mostly butter), will puddle in the corner away from the grease drain. Having that puddle, I can simply push cooking fat, as needed, back up onto the cooking surface. As needed, it’s easy enough to put additional butter in the corner and have it melted when I need it.

[@officialfredreviews]

@@chriscarter7182 I think I've come to a conclusion. I am working with an insert for the Weber Genesis. As you may know, the drain is at the back and grease drips down on to the box itself. But because my griddle it uneven, grease collects towards me which I like. Given this, I am faced with oil, eggs running towards me, but on the other hand I don't have the laborious clean up. I added 2 large galvanized washers so the slant won't be so drastic. Thanks guys, & Jonny!

[@GavinK-42]

Thanks for all these tips!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

You're so welcome!

[@jamesgallegos4665]

Johnny, may I add... "Make sure you don't run out of propane in the middle of cooking!" Great videos!

[@nathanalitz4841]

Guess i didn't ever realize not everyone always has a backup propane tank until just now! 😁 Probably pretty good advice for those that don't tho!!

[@almostgem]

Nice but I'm just as guilty. I have about 6 different kinds of spatulas, egg rings, larger rings for omlets, you name it, I pretty much have it. Most haven't been used in months. I added hooks all along the shelves of my griddle and have everything hanging within easy reach, but definately bought way too much. Like you I go back to the tried and true. Infrared thermometor, and nice size cover for steaming, a press for smash burgers, a small and a long spatula for nearly all of my cooks, and a scraper that helps with the spatulas to move food from griddle to plate. Used to cook much more on the griddle then bought a smoker and a pellet Grill (up to 1000 degrees). All my steaks and pizza's moved from the griddle to the grill. I still do a 3 step process for birria - Smoke for 3 hours, Cut into chunks and sear on the griddle, then into a slow cooker with the consome to finish cooking. These along with a sous vide have really have opened up a whole new world of cooking. Good luck with your course.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

wow that birria sounds fantastic. I really want to get a sous vide, that's on my short wishlist.

[@almostgem]

@@JohnnyBrunet Sous Vide opens another whole new world. If you are a fan of fish, the sous vide cooks everything to exactly the temperature you want. Doesn't matter that the fillet is uneven. It all cooks perfectly. One thing I would recommend also is a chamber vacuum sealer. Unlike a standard sealer you can seal brine's, soups, and marinades etc. Since the air is evacuated from the chamber, the bag doesn't squish out the liquid when sealing. So cool the way it works. Love it for making pastrami, or corned beef from brisket.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

@@almostgem ya it sounds great. So someone reached out to me about doing a video for there chamber vaccum sealer and I was hesitant. Not that I wouldn't use it I just don"t want to feel like I'm selling out my audience just to get free stuff. But it did look cool and I'm getting a garage freezer for christmas so I'm getting ready to dive right into that world.

[@dennistravise3056]

Any rice dish , tortellini, and cabbage and noodles (best C&N I've ever ate or made). Griddles are great for quick meals. Usually all meats go in smoker. Mainly use Griddle for side dishes.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

I've never done cabbage and noodles on the griddle. How do you do it?

[@dennistravise3056]

@JohnnyBrunet highly recommend. I precook the noodles. Little oil at the beginning and toss chopped cabbage and onions (bacon is also a great option) Little salt and pepper to taste. Butter (I use a liquid garlic butter, but any will work). Let cabbage and onions go for a bit. Once gets cooked a bit add more butter and noodles. We like ours a bit more crispy so I let go longer than you need to. Kinda depends on personal preference. You can add any kind of meat you like. I usually do pork chops, sausage, or something on the side. Comes out really good

[@dennistravise3056]

Basically cook how you would in a pan on stove. Only it comes out way better on a griddle

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Nice! thanks for sharing. What type of noodles?

[@bobbicatton]

You got me craving that hash brown omelette... It's a winner👍😊

[@mikethompson7290]

im new to flatop cooking and I tried Fajitas and I used 2 different seasonings and both were salty, what's a good seasonings packet to use?

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Anything in a packet or premade fajita mix is always going to be very salty. Your best bet is to look up a recipe andale it yourself. It's not that many ingredients just like garlic powder, cumin, salt, pepper. If your don't want to make your own I would try to just use half or even only 1/4 of the packet. I think you'll still get plenty of flavor.

[@HoundStuff]

Nice video!! For your IR thermometer, what do you set the emissivity setting to for your griddle? On mine, I am getting very different results, wondering if it is the setting or if it is defective.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Honestly I've never changed it from whatever emissivity it was on when I got it. I haven't had many problems. Are you getting different results on the whole griddle at the same time? Sometimes even though I have them all on low I'll still have 15 degree differences in spots. I just have some hot and cold spots.

[@HoundStuff]

@@JohnnyBrunet I’ve gotten weird things like when the burners haven’t been lit yet it will measure 90+ degrees on a cool 65deg fall day in the shade and it is clearly not 90. Or like measuring other objects in my house it will often, but not always, be 10-15deg warmer than it actually is. I sort of thought emissivity had something to do with it but it happens so oddly I wonder if the unit is defective. On mine, it shipped set to 0.95 but for iron and says to set to 0.78 or something. I’m not seeing the setting make a big difference given the other odd behavior. Guess I should return it, only a couple weeks old. lol

[@JohnnyBrunet]

@@HoundStuff you could be right about the emissivity I honestly don't understand exactly how that works. Maybe try setting it to what it recommends.

[@HoundStuff]

@@JohnnyBrunet unreliable performance no matter what I do it seems. Is your consistently accurate across different types of materials and temperatures? What brand is yours? Thanks much!!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

@@HoundStuff I've honestly never tried it on anything other than the griddle. Here's the link to the one I use. It's thermpro. amzn.to/4euUKi0

[@bokneeza]

Just got mine a few days ago and holy shit does this make meal prepping so much faster

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Awesome! Congratulations on the new griddle. What all are you prepping if you don't mind me asking? I'm trying to do some more videos on that subject.

[@bokneeza]

@@JohnnyBrunetI made chicken fajitas and grilled onions, red/ green bell peppers and while I was doing that outside I had my instant pot making the white rice w/ black beans. Fajitas bowls 💯

[@JohnnyBrunet]

@@bokneeza Heck ya!

[@johnbartolovich62]

GO Columbus Crew. Good video. Thanks

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thanks John! And yes go crew!

[@stevenm.6886]

I bought one and ended up giving it away. Was a pain in the ass. Carrying everthing outside, cleanup, it’s still just fried stuff. Like a skillet. I guess if you cook for 10 people it may be worth it. But the hassle wasn’t for me

[@henrykennedy1120]

Blackstone grilles are the best

[@tank1110]

Great video

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Thanks!

[@Sgten01]

have you moved? Everything seems to look different

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Ya we moved a few months ago. Got a real house with an actual yard lol. Not just a tiny sidewalk behind a condo.

[@MrAndydavis78]

Good on ya! Looks like a big wide open spot for the kiddo. .... Saw the BGE in the background. You know.. you COULD cure and smoke your own bacon to put on the griddle..... 😉

[@JohnnyBrunet]

@@MrAndydavis78 thanks. And ya I definitely have that in my list.

[@MrHarryhere69]

Dude just cook on it. I make everything. Just clean after cooking. I got domes, thongs, scrapers, you name it they all have a place when you are cooking. I got my griddle ran it for 2 meals. I said to my friend come over for for breakfast, he brought he mom, dad, sister ,brother in-law, kids. All said and done I was cooking for 12 people. We never went hunting that day.

[@Lettuce-and-Tomatoes]

Wait a minute. You became a fry cook at Bob Evans AFTER college? 🤔 Is that the typical career path for The Ohio State University (or wherever you attended) alumni? 🤷🏻‍♂️ I thought that people went to college to avoid having to take those jobs. I’m sure that there’s some rational reason for this. I’m just grinding your gears. Cool video and remember to keep hydrated 🍻 this weekend while watching the football games, Johnny!!!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

I was technically a manager. But no I did not plan it n going to college for that. And the explanation is that I graduated in 08 when the housing market collapsed. So there weren't any jobs. It was pretty frustrating and definitely left a bad taste in my mouth about how valuable a college education was.

[@ScottysBackYardBBQ]

you had me at hash brown omelets.

[@brianfeeney9493]

Let’s Go BUCKEYES 🎉🏈🇺🇸

[@JohnnyBrunet]

Good dominant win today!

[@brianfeeney9493]

We Must beat MI 🎉🏈

[@mike20155]

They rust very fast

[@rebeccafgouveia]

Then you aren’t seasoning it correctly. I’ve had cast iron pans, from my Grandmother, for years. Just takes a little more effort.

[@tarisimonek2295]

people always want to go for name brand crap.. do research blackstone was not on my radar!! i did research

[@BigBroWatcher]

I just can't get the hang of a blackstone yet...I've only cooked on it twice after the first time, it had rust on it, why? Not sure what I'm doing wrong, at this point, it's easier for me to cook inside. I feel like I've wasted $500.

[@JohnnyBrunet]

I'm sorry to hear that man. If it's just a small amount of rust that will happen but after 2 cooks that's pretty quick. Do you have my free ebook? I go over cooking temps and cooking order in that and it's usually a good place to start. I can send you one if you email me at [e-mail]. Also what did you try to cook the first two times? I'd be happy to give you some suggestions.

[@NipItInTheBud100]

It’s not you! All cooks have too many accessories! I don’t care if they are for the kitchen, for the grill, for the griddle, etc. it happens to the best of us!

[@JohnnyBrunet]

It sure does I guess it's just part of having a hobby. When I was younger it was golf but now it's cooking and I can't stop buying stuff lol.

[@henrykennedy1120]

Dont cook fries on the griddle deep fry the fries