The 3 Best Flat Top Grills and Outdoor Griddles We Tested in 2024

Our Favorite Flat Top Grill

All the grills we tested scored highly, but the Blackstone Original Series 36-Inch Griddle is the only model that earned perfect scores. The Blackstone had an excellent balance of quality, consistency, and price that made it stand out from the rest.

How We Tested Flat Top Grills

We ran griddles through a series of tests, performing common tasks that the typical griddle owner would. Through these tests, we considered design, ease of use, and cooking performance. 

• Setup: We followed the manufacturer's instructions on assembling the griddles, noting the difficulty level, clarity of instructions, and if the job required any tools not noted in the instructions. After setup, we seasoned the griddles, noting how involved the process was.
• Preheating: We lit the griddles and brought them to 350°F, noting how easy the controls stabilized the temperature. Once the griddles stabilized at their target temperature, measured with an infrared thermometer, we recorded the time it took to reach that point.
• Breakfast: Working from the left side of the griddle to the right, we cooked bacon, French toast, and sunny-side-up eggs. We judged each griddle on its ease of use, non-stick quality, and the quality of the end products, paying particular attention to any inconsistencies in cooking that may indicate uneven heating of the griddle.

• Cheeseburgers: We used this test to see how well each griddle performed with multiple temperature zones. We set one side of the griddle to “high” (450°F) and the other side to “low” (250°F). We placed 12 burger patties on the hot side for four minutes, then flipped them, allowing them to cook for two minutes before topping them with cheese and cooking another two minutes to melt that cheese. While the burgers cooked, we toasted buns on the cool side, cooking them on a lightly buttered grill for two minutes. We removed the burgers and the buns, inspecting them for any inconsistencies that might show hot or cool spots, then recorded impressions of how easy each griddle was to use. 
• Cleanup: After completing the cooking tests, we cleaned each griddle per the manufacturer’s instructions. We rated each on how easy to clean they were, how difficult any disassembly was, and how easily everything was to put back together.

Factors to Consider

Number of Burners

More burners give you more control in creating multiple heat zones. Be cautious of too many burners in a small cooking area, as there can be “bleed-over” heat transferred from a burner to adjacent sections. A wider surface area, say, 36 inches, is fine for three or four individual burners, as the space between burners is wider, resulting in less encroachment from neighboring burners.  

Cooktop Material

The best cooktop materials are rust-resistant and non-stick. Some non-stick coatings and high temperatures don’t play well together, so a well-seasoned carbon steel or rolled steel cooktop is your best choice for getting non-stick results. Those two metals also retain and evenly distribute heat, which are key factors in evenly cooking food and keeping your cooktop hot for multiple cooking rounds. With high-quality cooktops such as these, keep in mind that it’s better to undershoot your cooking temperature, as you can increase the heat quickly, but they retain heat so well that cooling them down from too high a temperature takes longer than expected.

Design Features

Depending on your preferences, you can choose from a spartan griddle on a stand, or a full cooking station with side tables and storage compartments. Some models feature built-in thermometers and digital temperature controls, if that appeals to you.

Maintenance

I think most of us prefer low-maintenance in most areas of life. Our top-rated griddles shared common traits that keep cleanup to a minimum. First is they were all easy to season, and that’s an unavoidable task in keeping your cooktop non-stick and free of rust. Secondly, they were all easy to scrape, removing pooled grease, errant bits of cheese, and the seared meat buildup know as fond. Third is what to do with that material after scraping it up. Our top models had easily-accessible grease management systems, both for removing the material from the cooktop and emptying them as part of cleanup after the cooking is done.

Other Flat Top Grills and Griddles We Tested

Strong Contenders

Weber 28-Inch 3-Burner Liquid Propane Griddle ($449 at Amazon)
This griddle from Weber was also rated highly with a 4.5 score, so it’s not a bad option at all. We found it had too many burners for its small size, however, and that sometimes made the temperature run away, giving us some hard-seared French toast and stuck-on eggs. This model may perform better when cooking at a single temperature at a time than when cooking in multiple heat zones. 

LoCo Cookers 36-Inch 3-Burner Digital Series II SmartTemp Griddle ($700 at Home Depot)
The LoCo is a good griddle, considering it scored 4.8 out of 5. We had issues with the assembly process, which was, at times, confusing and overall time-consuming. This griddle had some noticeable hot spots, despite its temperature settings on the dial and burners that shifted on and off to maintain temperature.

Our Expertise

Greg Baker is a six-time James Beard Award nominee who spent 36 years working as a chef, including as owner of Fodder & Shine and The Refinery in Tampa, Florida. He retired from professional cooking in 2019 and has been a frequent Food & Wine contributor since.