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Cooking temp on Blackstone griddle
There are probably as many different ideas about ideal cooking temperatures as there are cooks. If you are new to cooking on a Blackstone grill or griddle, however, the tips below should help get you started until you discover your own secret perfect practices.
How long do I preheat my Blackstone griddle?
The Blackstone griddles tend to reach their highest temperature after eight to nine minutes. Most foods do not require the highest temperature available on the Blackstone, and in fact are better cooked at lower temperatures.
Usually, these temperatures are reached in between three and five minutes. You can use an infrared food thermometer to determine the exact temperature. These are available in many department stores, hardware stores, or cooking supply stores, as well as on the internet.
What is the average temperature that you should use on a Blackstone Griddle?
Blackstone griddles are designed to function at a range of temperatures from between 300 and 640 F.
The temperature you choose should depend entirely on the type of food you intend to cook, although most foods cook quite nicely at temperatures of between 350 and 375 F.
What is the best temperature to cook on the Blackstone griddle?
The best temperature to cook on the Blackstone griddle depends entirely upon what food you are cooking.
Eggs and omlets require the lowest cooking temperature as they burn quite easily.
A temperature of 300 to 310 F should result in an egg or omlette that is cooked completely, and not burned on the outside or underdone on the inside.
Hot dogs and toasting bread or buns also require a fairly low temperature of 310 to 325 F.
Most things cook best at a slightly higher temperature of 350 to 375 F.
This includes most meats, including bacon, sausage, hamburger and other ground meats, diced potatoes, other vegetables, and steak after it has been seared.
Very few things really demand a high temperature of 400 to 450 F.
Searing a steak for a minute or two at a high temperature can give it a nice color; afterwards, the heat should be turned back down so the steak can cook at a lower temperature.
Also, a very thin hamburger or “smash burger” should cook for a minute or two in its own juices at high temperature.
What temperature should my griddle be for pancakes?
Like most foods, pancakes cook best at medium heat of 375 F. Overheating the pancakes may lead to a pancake that is burned on the edges or on one side, while still being underdone in the middle.
Heat is only one element of making good pancakes, though. Although this is not a cooking blog, the quest for the ideal pancake is everybody’s business, so we looked into the matter.
You may want to try these tips to improve your pancake game:
1. Use a whisk to mix the pancake batter, not a spoon or a spatula. A whisk allows you to whip more air into the pancake batter, allowing a fluffier pancake.
2. Don’t overmix the pancake batter. Mixing activates the gluten in the pancake flour. You don’t need to mix until you get all the lumps out, you simply need to mix the ingredients together. Overmixing the batter will make the pancakes chewy.
3. Don’t be impatient. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes before you start to put the pancakes on the griddle. Don’t set the heat up too high in hopes of cooking the pancakes more quickly. You will simply char the outside and edges of the pancakes before you cook the middle. Instead, let the griddle heat up slowly to 375 over 3 to 5 minutes. To see if the griddle and the batter are ready, cook a small amount of the batter on the griddle to see what happens.
4. Don’t use butter as the cooking fat or oil. Butter has a low smoke point, which means that it burns off quite quickly. This means you have to use still more butter, to avoid burning the pancakes. An oil with a higher smoke point is better.
5. Don’t flip the pancake more than once. If you flip the pancake more than once, you will only succeed in forcing the air out of it, and you will end up with a less fluffy pancake.
What is the ideal flat top grill cooking temp for hamburgers?
Accounts vary on the ideal temperature for cooking a hamburger, and range from as low to 350 F to as high as 400 F.
To one extent, the question depends on how well-done or rare you like the hamburger. The higher temperature will allow a nice sear and color on the exterior of the meat, while still preserving a red or pink interior for a rare burger. The lower temperature will cook more evenly and thoroughly, and will result in a well-done hamburger.
The ideal interior temperature, however, should be 160 to 180 F, which you can check with a food thermometer.
A very thin hamburger, sometimes known as a smash burger, presents a somewhat different case.
It is pressed very thin and allowed to cook in its own juices. This requires a higher heat of between 400 and 450 F, and a shorter cooking time, of a minute or two, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 to 180 F.
Ground pork, lamb and veal have the same internal cooking temperature as ground beef, according to the USDA food safety standards.
Ground turkey and chicken should be cooked to a slightly higher temperature of at least 165 F
Can you overheat a Blackstone?
Quick temperature changes can cause the griddle top to warp. Therefore, don’t overheat the griddle or pre-heat it to a high temperature if you plan to cook a lot of frozen or chilled items.
A better practice would be to pre-heat the griddle to the ideal cooking temperature of the food, and to thaw or warm the food slightly before placing it on the griddle.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.