Blackstone 17-Inch Tabletop Griddle

The Full Review

Unboxing the Blackstone 17-inch takes about 10 minutes. The griddle ships nearly fully assembled — you bolt on the four legs, attach the small grease tray, and snap in the battery for the electronic ignition. That's it. There's no complex assembly, no extra parts, no missing hardware. It's the easiest griddle setup in the category.

**Seasoning is the only required first step before you cook.** Heat the griddle to medium-high until any factory oil smokes off, wipe a thin layer of high-smoke-point oil (avocado or flaxseed) across the surface with a paper towel held by tongs, and let it smoke until the surface darkens. Repeat 4-5 times. A properly seasoned Blackstone 17 looks black, not silver — and that's what makes it non-stick. Budget 30 minutes for seasoning before your first real cook.

**The 267 sq in cooking surface is the headline number, and it's exactly right for 1-2 people.** I can fit 4 smash burgers in a single batch, or a full breakfast spread for two (eggs + bacon + pancakes simultaneously with careful zoning), or 2 ribeye steaks with room for asparagus. Stretching to 3-4 people requires batch cooking — finish the first round, hold in foil while you cook round two. For families of four cooking simultaneously, this is the wrong size; jump to the 22-inch Blackstone tabletop or the Camp Chef Flat Top Grill 475.

**The single H-style burner delivers 12,000 BTUs and hits ~500°F at the center of the surface, ~450°F at the edges.** That's plenty of heat for smash burgers (which need 450°F+ for the proper crust), steaks, fajitas, and stir-fry. The heat distribution is reasonable — center is the hottest zone, edges are cooler — but you only get one heat setting across the whole surface. You can't sear on one side and hold warm on the other the way you can on a three-burner griddle. For 90% of cooks, this is fine. For breakfast spreads where you want to sear bacon, scramble eggs, and warm tortillas at three different temperatures, the single burner is the real limitation.

**Fuel is the unsung convenience of this griddle.** Out of the box it runs on standard 1 lb propane bottles — the same green canisters that fuel camp stoves and Coleman lanterns. A single bottle lasts roughly 2 hours of active cooking, which covers a tailgate or a campsite weekend. For backyard use, spend $20 on a Blackstone 1 lb to 20 lb tank adapter hose; it turns the griddle into a permanent patio cooker that runs on the same propane tank as your gas grill. Stop wasting $4 disposable bottles after the first month.

**Cleanup is the same 2-minute Blackstone routine** that won this brand the loyalty of the entire griddle-cooking community. While the surface is still hot, scrape food debris into the rear grease trough with a metal spatula. Wipe with paper towels. Add a few drops of water to steam-clean stuck residue. Wipe again. Apply a thin layer of oil for storage. Done. Never use soap — it strips the seasoning. A 60-second post-cook cleanup prevents the 30-minute deep-clean session.

**Wind is the biggest enemy of this griddle.** Without a lid, exposed cooking sites (lakeside campsites, beach picnics, mountain ridge tailgates) steal heat aggressively. On calm days the Blackstone 17 cooks identically to a larger Blackstone. On 15+ mph wind days, you'll fight to hold 400°F at the center. Position the griddle behind your vehicle as a windbreak, buy the Blackstone hood ($89 aftermarket) for serious wind protection, or accept that windy days require batch cooking with longer rest times.

**Build quality is exactly what you'd expect at $99** — functional, durable, but not refined. The powder-coated steel body shows scratches easily. The legs are sturdy but wobble on uneven ground. The electronic ignition occasionally needs the AAA battery replaced. None of these are deal-breakers; they're just honest trade-offs at this price. For build refinement, step up to the Camp Chef Flat Top Grill 475 ($299) — better hinges, sturdier legs, three burners. But you're paying three times the price.

**Cold-rolled steel longevity is the underrated reason this griddle lasts.** The cooking surface itself is the same material Blackstone uses on its $400+ models — the difference is the supporting hardware, not the cooking surface. A well-seasoned Blackstone 17 surface will outlast the legs by a decade. I have a friend in Brisbane who's been cooking on the same Blackstone 17 for 6 years; the legs have been replaced once, the surface is more non-stick than the day he bought it.

**Where the Blackstone 17 doesn't make sense:** if you cook for families of 4+ regularly, if you specifically need three burners for breakfast cooking, or if you want a permanent backyard griddle that you'll never transport. For those buyers, the Camp Chef Flat Top Grill 475 ($299, 3 burners, 475 sq in) is the right answer. For everyone else — campers, tailgaters, solo cooks, couples, apartment-balcony grillers, and anyone testing whether they like flat-top cooking before committing to a full-size Blackstone 36 — the Blackstone 17 is the obvious starter griddle.

For the broader portable griddle comparison and how the Blackstone 17 stacks up against the Camp Chef 475 and Royal Gourmet PD1301S, see the [Best Tabletop Griddles buyer's guide](/guide/best-tabletop-griddles). For full-size griddle alternatives, see the [Best Flat-Top Griddles guide](/guide/best-flat-top-griddles).