Here's How To Properly Season A Blackstone Grill

Looking to make your dinner a little fancier with grilled meats and veggies? The first step to success comes before the food ever hits the pan with a proper clean and seasoning of your griddle. In case you're envisioning pouring garlic powder and paprika on a brand-new Blackstone, the name is a little misleading. Really, it's more of a cleaning and oiling process meant to prepare your griddle. This makes it less sticky and makes the food cooked on it more flavorful, similar to the seasoning process for a cast iron skillet.

There's a detailed series of steps you should follow when you're first seasoning a griddle — which, by the way, is one of many kinds of grills, distinguished by its flat surface (ergo without the distinctive metal bars). First, you should rinse it with soap and water. Then, you should preheat it until the light grey surface starts to darken. Turn it off and use paper towels with heat-resistant tongs to spread a very thin layer of any regular cooking oil across the griddle, and then turn the heat back up to high and wait about 10 to 20 minutes until all the smoke disperses. Finally, repeat the process (sans the soapy wash) two to three times. And there you have it: a perfectly seasoned griddle.

Seasoning a griddle essentially builds up layers of polymerized oil, or oil that, when heated up, becomes a smooth layer that helps prevent food from sticking to it. This is because the heat transforms the small oil molecules, called monomers, into larger chain-like polymers that fill the small gaps in your griddle's surface. At the same time, you don't want the oil to burn, which is why high smoke point oils like avocado oil, sesame oil, or even solid vegetable shortening work well for the task.

Even if your griddle isn't new, and you simply never underwent the process of a proper seasoning, you can start now — just give it a quick rinse with water and then oil away. Afterwards, regular cooking on your griddle will naturally help it maintain its layers of oil. But if you feel that it's not as nonstick as you would like, you can certainly do maintenance with another oil-and-smoke routine. Now, your griddle is ready for those homemade double-patty smashburgers, perfectly cooked vegetables for the dinner table, or whatever else your heart (or stomach) desires.