Flattop Gourmet
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Cooking on steel

A grate gives you stripes. A flattop gives you a crust.

Recipes, heat, and three tools that change the cook. Written for a 36-inch Blackstone — four burners, so the plate can sear and hold at the same time.

36-inch flattop, four burners: two hot, one hold, one off.
36-inch plate. Burners 1–2 hot, 3 hold, 4 off.

Recipes

  1. 01 Smash burgers Maximum contact, one hard press, a lacy edge. The shortest proof that steel beats a grate.
  2. 02 Fried rice Each grain is a tiny steak. Day-old rice, a hot plate, and the dome stays off.
  3. 03 Fajitas Sear the steak whole. Steam the peppers somewhere else. The sizzle is not a puddle of lime.
  4. 04 Breakfast hash Leave the cubes alone until they crust. Hash is fried rice for leftover potatoes.
Technique Steam vs sear Water boils at 212°F. Browning starts around 300°F. Decide where the water goes. Gear Starter kit: press, dome, scraper Three tools. You already have spatulas. Skip the 27-piece kit.