Normal for a Blackstone?

[nygiant]

Had my griddle for a little over 2 years. Have a top and keep it covered too. Was out cleaning it up today and noticed the storage shelf underneath looked real dirty. After wiping it down I noticed the paper towel looked orange. The rust was on the storage shelf but the shelf wasn’t rusting. I look up underneath and the entire bottom of the cook top is rusted. I always keep it wiped with oil too. Is this normal?

I assume moisture in the air has caused this because it’s raw steel and their is no way to oil the bottom of it unless you take the whole thing off. That’s a major pain. Also some more rust on what appears to be a heat shield. Are these blackstones like everything else and meant to be throw aways after a few years? Or is this normal?

 

[Brokenhandle]

Not for sure, but I'll have to take a look under mine. Had it not quite a year.

Ryan

 

[chopsaw]

I just looked at mine . Been using it all week . Not sure if somethings changed , but my top / cooking surface lifts right off .
It had some light surface rust . I had sprayed it with cooking spray when I first seasoned it .
I've had mine outside since January of 2017 .

 

[nygiant]

I just looked at mine . Been using it all week . Not sure if somethings changed , but my top / cooking surface lifts right off .
It had some light surface rust . I had sprayed it with cooking spray when I first seasoned it .
I've had mine outside since January of 2017 .

Yes, mine lifts off as well but I didn’t do it yesterday because I noticed right after cooking and it was still hot. Didn’t feel like messing with it. Maybe I’ll take it off today see if I can sand the bottom and put some oil on it. I’m wondering though how often that needs to be done?

 

[clifish]

Never looked under mine, will have to next time I am in PA. I can tell you my camp chef here is certainly rusting....but I don't cover it.

 

[sawhorseray]

I made tops for the BS and propane stove out on my patio with some scrap plywood I had. Weather-stripped the bottoms and primed them, makes a great wind block too. RAY

 

[bill1]

I have a very heavy Expert Grill griddle instead of a name brand. But to tell the truth I'm not that worried about the underside rusting...there's enough steel there to last a century. (Of course it's the cooking top that I want rust-free and with a slippery seasoning as well.)

But those of you oiling the bottom of yours...if that leads to a seasoned underside, let me know and I'll try it myself...since it certainly would make it cleaner for a minimal investment of effort. Guess I assume the "seasoning" would flake off any areas seeing direct flame...but best not to assume, eh?

 

[nygiant]

I really have no idea if it should be done or not. I actually sent an email and pictures in to Blackstone and I’m waiting to hear back. Since it is four separate burners, that underside is exposed to direct flames. So no high heat spray paint will work and where the flame touches it will probably burn that oil off. So it should be interesting to see what they say.

 

[bill1]

Heat's the universal catalyst, so no surprise it speeds up rusting. And cooking oil is the basic cast iron or griddle conditioning agent, and modest heat (at about the smoke point for the oil) breaks the double bonds that make the oil liquid and makes them cross-link into more of a hard plastic, like varnish curing on wood. And that cross-linking seems to find enough carbons in the steel surface to bond to it pretty well too. I scrape pretty hard on my griddle during cleanup and that conditioning stays put.

I took my topside griddle surface to >500F a week ago during warmup (got carried away with onions in the kitchen) and yet the conditioning was still fine, and I just use cheap canola oil. But at 2000F flame temperatures, I'm pretty sure you'll just turn all those pretty bonds into graphite and any surface conditioning you had on the bottom side will flake off. Still, that's no worse than where you started so I don't see much of a downside in giving it a try.

That said, I looked at mine last night and don't see any rust underneath yet. But it's been hot and it's only a month old.

As an aside, I'm really digging my griddle. Making (and consuming) breakfast outside at this time of year, while all is quiet (and the wife is still in bed) is a lot more enjoyable than I ever imagined. Totally different dynamic than BBQ at the end of a day...although the whiskey sure tastes good at that point.

 

[MJB05615]

I've had mine close to 2 years and never looked at the bottom. I will be doing very soon. Hope it's not too bad. Good info above.

 

[chopsaw]

I'd just brush it off with a rag . I wouldn't wire brush or sand it . That could make it worse .
Heat it up , and once it cools enough to handle it with gloves , flip it over and do a lite spray of cooking oil . A by product of propane is moisture . I wouldn't let it worry you to much .

I'm really digging my griddle

I'm with you . I got mine fired up last week , and have used it for the last 5 or 6 meals .

 

[nygiant]

Heard back from Blackstone customer service. Here’s what they said.


Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to us!

I am so sorry to hear about that issue. Let me explain a little about our griddles to assist you with this.

Our griddle tops (top and bottom) are manufactured from uncoated carbon steel. This is why it is required to season your griddle before use to create a nonstick surface and protect your griddle from rust. We only recommend you season the top of the griddle cooking surface because it is the only area that comes in contact with food. If the underside of the griddle top rusts, it won't affect functionality of the product. However, you can go through the same rust removal and seasoning process on the bottom of your griddle plate if you prefer.

Areas on the powder coat can rust if they are exposed to continued extreme heat or get grease on them for a prolonged time, which can cause the powder coat to get eaten away. However, that area will not affect the functionality of the product. To prevent future rust in that area, you can treat it with a high heat grill paint. (Note: only use paint on areas that flames will not come in contact with.)

Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

[chp]

Heard back from Blackstone customer service. Here’s what they said.


Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to us!

I am so sorry to hear about that issue. Let me explain a little about our griddles to assist you with this.

Our griddle tops (top and bottom) are manufactured from uncoated carbon steel. This is why it is required to season your griddle before use to create a nonstick surface and protect your griddle from rust. We only recommend you season the top of the griddle cooking surface because it is the only area that comes in contact with food. If the underside of the griddle top rusts, it won't affect functionality of the product. However, you can go through the same rust removal and seasoning process on the bottom of your griddle plate if you prefer.

Areas on the powder coat can rust if they are exposed to continued extreme heat or get grease on them for a prolonged time, which can cause the powder coat to get eaten away. However, that area will not affect the functionality of the product. To prevent future rust in that area, you can treat it with a high heat grill paint. (Note: only use paint on areas that flames will not come in contact with.)

Please let me know if you have any questions.

It’s good that you received a reply. What direction are you planning on taking?

 

[bill1]

In the full light of day, I removed the steel griddle plate of my $180 3-burner Expert Grill. The underside is indeed not rusted, but it is coated, and that coating seems to be continuous with what's on the top surface. To call it "seasoning" in the traditional cast iron sense would be misleading. I suspect it's some kind of high-temperature plasma spray coating (possibly ceramic-based?) Now the top is accepting, and building up, my normal canola-oil seasoning, but I'm quite sure if I flip that over and expose that conditioning to blue flame, it would flake off badly.
I also note the Blackstone CS reply mentions powder coating. Now conventional powder coating wouldn't withstand blue-flame heats either, but plasma coating would. There might be some confusion of terms there or it could be a different underside coating than mine. But the Blackstone reply does seem to state their underside has some form of coating other than just oil or spray paint.

ADDENDUM: These griddles have the same sort of brownish, slighly green, color as old chromium dioxide audio tapes. I'll bet these are plasma-sprayed with CrO2. Maybe a toxic process in the USA (potential hexavalent Cr?) but probably cheaply done off-shore.

 

[chopsaw]

The Blackstones are raw steel tops . They come coated with a thick oil that has to be washed off , then the top needs to be seasoned .
The powder coating is on the frame and shelf underneath .

 

[bill1]

I just doubt the bottom side is powder coating Chopsaw, if it's in direct flame. Then it'd be no more heat-resistant than so-called high-temp paints.
My Walmart Chinese griddle (not a Blackstone) came out of the box with the same surface treatment on both sides, and I believe it's plasma- (or flame-) sprayed CrO2. The top still seasons well, better than any cast iron cookware I've ever had. I've probably made breakfast on it now ~20 times.

 

[chopsaw]

I just doubt the bottom side is powder coating Chopsaw, if it's in direct flame.

That's what I'm saying . It's raw carbon steel . The powder coating is on the frame that holds the top and the storage shelf underneath .

 

[bill1]

Thanks Chopsaw. Re-reading the Bs Customer Service message, they weren't necessarily claiming any coating on the underside. But it was a pretty awkward transition to that next paragraph if they meant the powder coating on the frame.

As far as the original poster goes, he could see how well seasoning of the underside holds up to direct flame, but I think he'd have more hassle than just living with the rust. And covered or not, these somewhat thermally-floating griddles love to condense out moisture underneath on cold, damp mornings. Short of putting a "block heater" on them, there's not a lot that can be done with bare steel. But like 12-gauge steel offset smokers (as opposed to $100 imports), there's enough steel there to last a long time.

 

[nygiant]

Thanks Chopsaw. Re-reading the Bs Customer Service message, they weren't necessarily claiming any coating on the underside. But it was a pretty awkward transition to that next paragraph if they meant the powder coating on the frame.

As far as the original poster goes, he could see how well seasoning of the underside holds up to direct flame, but I think he'd have more hassle than just living with the rust. And covered or not, these somewhat thermally-floating griddles love to condense out moisture underneath on cold, damp mornings. Short of putting a "block heater" on them, there's not a lot that can be done with bare steel. But like 12-gauge steel offset smokers (as opposed to $100 imports), there's enough steel there to last a long time.

You know you said it right. A typical BS canned customer service response. Nothing powder coated rusted. It’s a heat shield which is bare metal. And I guess you’re right, the cook top is pretty thick. I’m not going to waste my time seasoning it as direct flame will just burn that oil completely off. I’m just wondering if I’m the only one that has a rusted bottom? Again, it’s two years old.

 

[noboundaries]

That's dissimilar metals corrosion in the form of rust. The griddle is carbon steel and the rivets are something else. Clean, coat with a food-grade mineral oil, and check every so often. Repeat as necessary. Minor inconvenience.