Blackstone question

I had the first iteration of the Blackstone; 36 inches wide, poor cover design, but it was great. I frequently had parties with 15+ adults and kids, and turned out a ton of burgers, steaks and dogs.

1) Burgers take less than three minutes to cook (diner style, thin patties). If you cook 15 burgers for a party all at once you need space. However, they're never going to be as awesome as a to-order style. Don't worry, Momma A is going to go ask her what her three kids want, and you'll make four or five at a time. The point of this is that I never used the 36" of iron. I used probably 12-15 inches on the opposite side of where the wind came from. The big ones are BIG; remember, you have what appears to be a 36" cooking surface, but then you have the shelves you're probably going to put up during use to store stuff, so you're looking at (estimating) 72" wide while in use. I think I filled 2/3 of it with bacon, once, in two years.

2) Using propane vs. natural gas does create a big difference in heat. If you're using natural gas, it's going to be difficult to control the heat on delicate foods like pancakes and eggs. You may not have this problem, but if you regularly have a stiff breeze wherever you're installing it, even NatGas will need to be cranked up higher than it should be in order to keep the fires lit.

3) If you're in a windy area, you must have the wind guards, and they're not going to completely solve the problem.

4) Grease splatter is immense. If you're on anything but un-coated concrete, dependent upon the wind direction, that area will end up sloppy pretty quickly. The deeper the guards on the sides/rear the better.

5) Both of your models have an "integrated" lid, which is far better than the manual one I would hook on the back when in use.

6) You must, must get a cover for it and use it religiously. If parts of it get moisture (and I mean even mist from sprinkler overspray) you have a problem. The irony is that the cooktop itself wasn't the problem, necessarily, it was all the other metal stuff (wind guards, etc.) that took the greatest brunt.

I have the original 36” with the grease trap in the front, only thing bad about the old ones.
Like said above, it’s great for parties, etc because you can cook a lot at once.

Our favorite thing to do is “build your own” stir fried rice.

I will fry the cooked rice until it get a little crispy, brown edges, and then side it to one side of the grill where I have it set very low. Inside, my wife has several bowls of ingredients to choose from, you make your bowl and bring it to me. I will fry it up for a few minutes, add some rice, then crack an egg or two and fry it, chop it up and add to the mix, done.

I replaced my gas grill with a blackstone (also have a charcoal/smoker for other uses). It sears a great steak and is the breakfast king. Also does excellent stir frys and meal prep type chicken breast. I haven't used it as much as I should lately and it has a couple slight rust spots. Will need to reseason soon. All in all I love it and agree it's worth it. As for size, I have a family of 5. I could make do with 24", but really really like having the full 36". You can keep everything warm on one end while working on the other

I have a 22" stone. I take it camping otherwise I'd have gotten the big boy.

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I have the original 36” with the grease trap in the front, only thing bad about the old ones.

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You can procure an extension to the end of the grease catch on Amazon that makes the grease trap catch all of the grease.