Blackstone or cast refurb peoples.....I need advice


 

Darryl - swazies

TVWBB Diamond Member
I have a potential purchase that may arise. I was hoping to get some good inside info before I put pressure on this and make a purchase.
The scenario looks like this.
Have a buddy, I don't see him a ton....he was able to pick up a floor model of the 36" blackstone from his place of employment....he got it dirt cheap.
No idea if it was a model number that was being replace by a newer model.......the fine details don't really matter.
I would be looking to pay him what he paid for it.....considerably less than 50% of current pricing.
2 things I was hoping for advice from people with past experience.

1) It is a natural gas model and I would need it to be converted to propane.....is there a safe way to do so, or can it even be done. I could run a a gas line outside but I don't really want to start that as I won't need it for any other appliance ...ever. I don't really want to start doing things like this just to take advantage of a good priced griddle.

2) He used it a bunch when he first brought it home......I was over once for him to cook me one of his smash burgers which was not too bad of a meal.
I looked at the griddle, it was dark in colour and looked like he did indeed season it up......I asked him also...and it looked like he used it a fair amount.
Now what has happened is the usage has basically halted and it now has some rust started on it. I do not have any pics at the moment, all I know is there is a rust issue....

Like I feel like the top can be removed and cleaned up, although I have little experience with this, I would assume if nothing else worked it could get blasted and then re seasoned and work as new......I know the steel is a bit textured so getting sand blasted might not mess it up?????

Thanks for the input if you can help with these issues.
 
You sure can remove the top clean it up well and re-season it. Just like any plain steel or CI cookware. The NG to LP thing likely CAN be done but I honestly know nothing about the Blackstone appliances.
However food for thought. I too had been considering something like this. IDK what your bud is charging you or the model. But, start watching end of season sales at Sam's Club. Member's Mark has a (IMO) much nicer large griddle. IMO way better made than anything I've looked at from Blackstone. It may be more price attractive and will already be LP
 
I don't think that Blackstone ever made a natural gas model, so he likely used a conversion kit on it. Blackstone sells conversion kits that work on most of its model. I would bet you can take care of the rust issue relatively easily. Depending on the level of rust it might simply need a re-seasoning. Scrub it with dish soap and water, dry it, oil it up and re-season. But I would mention that these things are dirt cheap, use for a few years and discard type of build and pricing. Not sure I would want to put any effort at all into restoring these or messing with used ones when new ones are typically $300 or less.
 
I don't think that Blackstone ever made a natural gas model, so he likely used a conversion kit on it. Blackstone sells conversion kits that work on most of its model. I would bet you can take care of the rust issue relatively easily. Depending on the level of rust it might simply need a re-seasoning. Scrub it with dish soap and water, dry it, oil it up and re-season. But I would mention that these things are dirt cheap, use for a few years and discard type of build and pricing. Not sure I would want to put any effort at all into restoring these or messing with used ones when new ones are typically $300 or less.
Makes a lot of sense with the natural gas......he must have switched it over which means he has what I need to switch it back.
That is an easy fix...thanks.....
As far as the rust I was hoping maybe the steel wool and water and soap would clean it up....I would think its just surface rust which should clean easily......
I needed confidence that what I was thinking about doing was easier than I led myself to believe too.....

About the quality of the Blackstone.......
Would you be referring to build of the cooking surface or more about the cart and the burner tubes and such?

His is maybe 2 years old and honestly I feel like the 36" is way more real estate than I really need.
I am north of the boarder and the most cost effective 36" blackstone I can get is $499....no lid no cover so all that would be extra cost.
The 28" is priced the same with a cover and a lid and a cooking utensil kit....but this is only 2 burner and about half the rated BTU.

I think he picked his up for about the $200 mark and I would think I would be able to pay him what he paid it would be a quick sell on his part.


You sure can remove the top clean it up well and re-season it. Just like any plain steel or CI cookware. The NG to LP thing likely CAN be done but I honestly know nothing about the Blackstone appliances.
However food for thought. I too had been considering something like this. IDK what your bud is charging you or the model. But, start watching end of season sales at Sam's Club. Member's Mark has a (IMO) much nicer large griddle. IMO way better made than anything I've looked at from Blackstone. It may be more price attractive and will already be LP

Thanks for the heads up.....being north of the boarder will propose some challenges on what I can my hands on.
 
When you’re the first, everyone else has a chance to bring something “better” as a knee jerk. Blackstone is the top of the class and the, well they’re the Traeger to pellets or Weber to kettles. Is the Members Mark better? Nah. Now that’s not to say the Blackstone is perfect, the cart is pretty chintzy as are the knobs. But, it’s a cooking SOB.

If you think you don’t need 36”, I guarantee you will love it after you use. I couldn’t imagine having anything smaller than my 36”, and use the entire cooking envelope every cook.

As for cleaning, just use steel wool and reseason, you may have to give it a couple rounds of seasoning. There are a TON of vids on YT if you’d like some pointers.

And I’m not aware of any factory natural gas Blackstone, maybe they had a run when they came out but the newer stuff isn’t.
 
Makes a lot of sense with the natural gas......he must have switched it over which means he has what I need to switch it back.
That is an easy fix...thanks.....
As far as the rust I was hoping maybe the steel wool and water and soap would clean it up....I would think its just surface rust which should clean easily......
I needed confidence that what I was thinking about doing was easier than I led myself to believe too.....

About the quality of the Blackstone.......
Would you be referring to build of the cooking surface or more about the cart and the burner tubes and such?

His is maybe 2 years old and honestly I feel like the 36" is way more real estate than I really need.
I am north of the boarder and the most cost effective 36" blackstone I can get is $499....no lid no cover so all that would be extra cost.
The 28" is priced the same with a cover and a lid and a cooking utensil kit....but this is only 2 burner and about half the rated BTU.

I think he picked his up for about the $200 mark and I would think I would be able to pay him what he paid it would be a quick sell on his part.




Thanks for the heads up.....being north of the boarder will propose some challenges on what I can my

That makes sense, prices are different north of the border. Don't get me wrong if I had to buy a griddle right now I'd go blackstone. But the carts, and parts are kinda chincy and they look like crap after some time outside. But they are priced right and still a good value. Here you can get the 36", 60k btu for $300 at tractor supply. At Walmart they have a newer lesser btu model and they are on sale for less than $300 all the time.
 
Darryl we have a 36” Blackstone.
It is just the wife and I and I definitely wouldn’t go any smaller.
Heck I’d even go bigger if I could.
Re-surfacing and re-sealing it is not a big deal at all and like Chuck said YouTube has info on that.
I’m sure they have videos on the gas conversion too.

When or if I have to resurface mine I might be tempted to use a belt or vibrating sander on it to make is as smooth as possible.

About the gas conversion, that‘s not really a big deal.
Propane has higher pressure than natural gas so it has a smaller jet or orifice.
It can get exciting if you if you put a natural gas cooktop into a propane kitchen without converting it.
I, I mean my friend :) had 16” flames the last time I, I mean him did that.
Swapping out the parts to correct that is not hard but I recommend using some soapy (dish soap) water to check for leaks anytime you open a gas line.
Good luck to you.
Andy.
 

 

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