The Texas BBQ Forum

Finally pulled the trigger on a Blackstone. Hunted around for weeks trying to locate a 28" but gave in to the 36". Ordered online from Walmart and picked up the next day. That saved about 15 bucks. So, on with the pics.

Da' Box in Da' House



Naturally, there's always something wrong with the unit I buy. The regulator hose was pinched in two places. Blackstone said to try it first, check for leaks and call back if I needed a new one. This didn't leak but needed some heat-gun work to straighten out.

Da' Hose (python)



One of the complaints I see on the Interweb is grease dripping down the right side leg. The griddle as it comes out of the box has an area I think is the culprit.

Da' Gap



Nothing like a little excuse to fire up the wire welder and a grinder. Building up the ledge and forcing the grease to the drip rail seemed to be the way to go. I also added a piece of tubing under the drain hole to ensure nothing ran back uphill and missed the grease tray.

Da' Fix



Five coats of flax seed oil and some time. Also worked the corners with a torch to finish things up nicely.

Da' Seasoning



First cook was a learning experience. Trying to keep it simple with sausage, onions and taters. Tasted great and I'm looking forward to many more. Thanks for looking.

Da' Food

Beautiful!!

Me thinks the Bar has just been raised on Future Throw Downs

Congrats on that, ur gonna love it. !!
I hate to be the one to give you the easy ( leg drip ) solution, but here it is..

Ready ??

Open up a paper clip just enough so that the tension holds it in the hole on the end..
That fixes the problem 100%, the grease goes to the hole, then onto the clip and drips straight down. That is where the grease drippage comes from, goes in the hole and travels back underneath and drips on the leg.

As for the hose, all u need to do is boil some water ( Russ can help you with that )

And lay the kinked part in the hot water for a bit and it will soften it back up.

Other than that, they are solid grills.

I'm betting ur shocked on how heavy that box was, LOL !!

woodenvisions wrote:Congrats on that, ur gonna love it. !!
I hate to be the one to give you the easy ( leg drip ) solution, but here it is..

Ready ??

Open up a paper clip just enough so that the tension holds it in the hole on the end..
That fixes the problem 100%, the grease goes to the hole, then onto the clip and drips straight down. That is where the grease drippage comes from, goes in the hole and travels back underneath and drips on the leg.

As for the hose, all u need to do is boil some water ( Russ can help you with that )

And lay the kinked part in the hot water for a bit and it will soften it back up.

Other than that, they are solid grills.

I'm betting ur shocked on how heavy that box was, LOL !!

Lol, I have no idea what you mean.

Russ

Welcome to the club! So how are you going to incorporate a baking sheet and PVC contraption on this one? :)

Biggest piece of advice I'd give you is to have everything outside with you needed when it comes time to cook. Things tend to get kinda crazy when the food gets going.

Even though you wanted the 28", you'll be glad you got the 36 in the long run.


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What he said ^^^^^^^^^^^


Also, get urself a small metal garbage can lid. It works Perfect in helping cook things like home fries and sausage. After it's up to temp, squirt a small amount of water ( around ) your food and put the lid over all of it.
The water will vaporize and steam cook at the same time, u only need a little.


Wait till u do home made burgers on that beast, the flavor will blow ur mind.

castironchris wrote:Beautiful!!

Thank you....

woodenvisions wrote:I'm betting ur shocked on how heavy that box was, LOL !!

Definitely a two person job. I had to stop the little girl (lady) at the Walmart pick-up station as she was going to try and move it herself. I made her get some help.

bsooner75 wrote:Welcome to the club! So how are you going to incorporate a baking sheet and PVC contraption on this one? :)

Biggest piece of advice I'd give you is to have everything outside with you needed when it comes time to cook. Things tend to get kinda crazy when the food gets going.

Even though you wanted the 28", you'll be glad you got the 36 in the long run.

Funny guy - - - Not much to modify but if I find something I'll post up.

The pace is quick - found that out the first cook. On the sniff for some good spatulas now. That unit gets HOT.

With the shelf being so easy to take off I believe I'll have enough room in my quasi-outdoor kitchen for the 36".

woodenvisions wrote:
Also, get urself a small metal garbage can lid. It works Perfect in helping cook things like home fries and sausage. After it's up to temp, squirt a small amount of water ( around ) your food and put the lid over all of it. The water will vaporize and steam cook at the same time, u only need a little.

Wait till u do home made burgers on that beast, the flavor will blow ur mind.

Great idea. Did pork steaks, fried corn and taters last night. Burgers are up for the holiday weekend. Looks like i'll be using a new belt notch pretty soon.

I'll take some pics of my spatulas and cheese domes and post them up later. Got the spatulas at Ace Mart and cheese domes at Academy. Have also seen them at Wal Mart and Tuesday Morning (not sure why I was in there so I'm blaming the wife).


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bsooner75 wrote: Have also seen them at Wal Mart and Tuesday Morning (not sure why I was in there so I'm blaming the wife).

LOL... Yeah, I wouldn't admit to that either.

So here are the tools I mentioned earlier. Haven't taken that great care of the spatulas but they work fine. Wife says she wishes they were thinner for flipping eggs. I'd probably get the plastic handles next time because the exposed metal gets hot.

I also use some plain condiment squirt bottles to squirt water under the cheese dome. The small disposable aluminum bread tins fit nicely in the drip pan for easy cleanup.


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Went to a restaurant supply place locally and got my spatula/scraper set. Ended up spending more that I should have but gift cards are handy to have. Professional grade with the plastic handles and they make that classic ringing noise you hear in the hibachi restaurants.

On the other end of the spectrum - a $2 stainless dog food dish from Family Dollar works great for a dome. Now I'm on the hunt for a hamburger press. That Lodge cast iron one I saw at Academy looked cool but not sure it's worth the $$$'s

Play around with making meat balls and smashing them on the griddle before you decide on the press. When it's just us I do the meat balls. If we have a crowd I press then out.


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bsooner75 wrote:Play around with making meat balls and smashing them on the griddle before you decide on the press. When it's just us I do the meat balls. If we have a crowd I press then out.


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Wisdom written in gold right there ^^^^^^^^^^

Smash over press wins every time on the Black Stone imho...

So... I gotta ask.... Don't you smash with a press or is my terminology incorrect????

I've been using a pot to smash things down but it's a little cumbersome.

Bacon, egg & cheese tortillas came out great this morning.