Griddle - Cast Iron, or Stainless Steel?


 

JimT

TVWBB Pro
I recently purchased a large propane fired camp stove, and am now looking for a griddle to use on it. I've found both cast iron and stainless steel models in the size range I'm looking for, but haven't found much in the pro's and con's of either material.

I'd sure appreciate anyone's thoughts on the comparison!

Thanks,

JimT
 
Steel will heat up faster, but cast iron will hold heat better. So if you want that griddle to stay hot when you plop something cold on it, go with cast iron. With steel, you'll be moving to a new part of the griddle when you flip.

Also, a well seasoned cast iron griddle is as good as teflon.

On the other hand, if weight is a factor (you did say camp stove), steel is a lot lighter. In fact, you might look for a clad aluminum core steal griddle. I don't know if there is such a thing. But the aluminum core will help give you even heat.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I don't know if there is such a thing. But the aluminum core will help give you even heat. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
If there is I have never found one. There are nonstick aluminum griddles but I wouldn't recommend them (the nonstick coating wears).

I like CI. I don't trek it through the woods (I cook outside horse trailers so no hiking necessary). I do prefer those with a grease trough.
 
Yeah, I would definitely go with Cast Iron unless weight is an issue. Season it well before use (even if it is said to be pre seasoned) and wipe it with a light coating of oil after use and still warm (or heat it in an oven to 350 for 30 minutes if it's cooled down. It will become non stick over a short period of time.

My dual fuel range came with cast aluminum/non-stick coated grill grates and griddle. The coating is sensitive to abrasion so I always use plastic or wood utensils. I've had to replace the grill grates once. The griddle shows some wear but still fine. I've had this unit since 1994.
 
If this is for back-pack camping - I cannot be much help.

However, if this is for campsite use, where you haul stuff in your car / trailer / pop-up:

Look around for one of the old cast-aluminum units that were sold with some GE Electric Ranges. These were pretty heavy cast-aluminum, often with teflon, and had a grease-trough to catch any overflow. They should sit on top of a large 2 or 3-burner Coleman-type camp stove, essentially converting it to a decent-size flat-top. (Check yard & estate sales / classifieds.)
 
Sorry to bring this thread back around...just my two cents...

Cast is fine, Weil-Mclain is also a good choice. When I went to price boilers people wanted to sell me every option in the book from $30,000 water pre-treatment systems to very expensive blowdown units. And they will swear up and down that without these systems the boiler will be in shambles in a month. Then after a very long and heated argument with one of these salesmen I explained the usage in more detail and got him to admit that these additional measures were unnecessary. Most of these folks are going of the fact that most boilers are running 24 hours a day in much more stressful industrial applications such as adding water to tubes that are already scorching hot and causing oxidization. But I think most of us are filling cold and then bringing things up to temp, using and then blowing down for the night. Stainless is overkill unless your engineer can truly prove otherwise.
 

 

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