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Seeking advice on two-burner, cast iron griddles


GRoston

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All,

 

I am in the market for a two-burner, cast iron griddle, such as the Lodge LPG13. There are almost one dozen such products listed on Amazon (to say nothing of those listed elsewhere) and I would like your suggestions for a good one. The Lodge product, overall, has very positive reviews, but there are enough negative ones that I would like this group's wisdom to help guide my buying decision.

 

Thank you.

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I use three of the lodge grill/griddle pans frequently across 6 burners, cooking grilled veg and steaks for 30-40 at a time.  I would rate the pans very highly and was curious about the negative reviews you mentioned.  

 

The three common themes of negative reviews involved size, uneven heating and food sticking.  Proper size is important - the outside edge to outside edge of your two burners should be covered by the pan.  Easy to check with the availability of Lodge at any Ace hardware and a host of other retailers.  Uneven heating is valid - it's hotter over the heat source.  It's also workable, know this, rotate food and it's not a problem.  Food sticking is a function of seasoning the pan.  The Lodge out of the box seaoning works for some people, I do a more extensive seasoning with flaxseed oil before using a new cast iron or carbon steel pan.  

 

I've also used the All-Clad griddle pan at home.  Much lighter (which can be a good thing), non-stick, good quality and not too pricey.  It won't give you the distinct grill marks but will get the job done.

 

Hope this helps.

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The Lodge one is probably the best one out there. Again as mentioned by the PP be sure the size is correct for your application. The reason you see negative reviews a lot of times on cast-iron cookware is because people don't know how to use it and blame their problems on the cookware itself! Cast-iron cookware takes some time getting used to because it performs much differently than most cookware. Obviously, proper seasoning prior to use is critical but you also need to learn that it takes longer to heat up and longer to cool down so lots of people keep adjusting the burner temperatures without allowing time for the cast-iron to normalize temperatures.

I've learned that artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

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If you have anyone who can shop around Antique places for you they may find some Old Iron Ware.  Names like Wagner or Griswold

are the ones to look for, but there are others like Erie etc.  At least these are the ones I know and use.

 

If these are rusty they will need to be cleaned and seasoned properly.  To get rust off them I use Coca Cola as the acids tend to cut

through.  Then coarse Kosher salt to scrub with using the salt as an adbrasive which won't harm any cooking surfaces or contaminate them.  Once clean to your satisfaction,  use Flax Seed Oil smeared all over the utensil and then heat it in the oven. You can do this several times and  you will have a lovely black satin finish Iron Ware that will perform for you.

 

Lodge is good stuff that you can trust.  Those things coming in from offshore may contain more than just cast iron and that can be rather like the ceramic cookware that was found to contain lead awhile back.  I'm always proud to explain to my guest that my Iron Ware was made in America a long time ago when there was an ethic for doing things right instead of profitably.

 

There is loads of old American Iron out there if you'll just go hunting.  It never really wears out.

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I agree with boilsover on this.  I have an older version of the Le Creuset griddle:

 

http://www.lecreuset.com/giant-reversible-grill---griddle

 

 

The center of the grill/griddle does not get as hot as the ends which are under the burners.  But if you expect this and take the uneven heating into account, the Le Creuset works very well.  I've had mine almost twenty years.

 

I don't have experience with outdoor grilling, but my understanding is that having zones of different temperature is considered a feature, not a flaw.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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I'm a big yard sale & thrift shop fan.  Have a growing collection of cast iron and haven't paid more than $5 for any piece.  I look for a "name"... Lodge is good, but Griswold or Wagner is better, imo... NEVER any "made in CH... stuff!    Unknown CRUD is NOT an issue.  A trip thru the self-clean cycle of oven or quick/dirty clean up with oven cleaner will get pieces ready to reseason and get to cooking with.  Found a Lodge, 2-burner, grill/griddle for $5 at a yard sale where people were also selling a lot of camping gear.  After I cleaned up the very minor schmutz, it kinda lived on my stove top.  Found that if lowest burner just wasn't low enough, I could put pot right on top of griddle and use it as a flame "tamer".  When I realized I was RARELY gonna use all that cooking surface, I gave it to my sister.  Later found a BIG round Griswold griddle that's slick as glass to take its place.  I think people pretty much GIVE cast iron away... donation or yard sale... cuz they 1) don't like the weight, 2) THINK they need non-stick or 3) don't know what a great thing they have.

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