Gear
Starter Kit: Press, Dome, Scraper
A spatula smashes a burger. It just does it worse than a press, and it cannot melt cheese or clean the plate.
Skip the 27-piece kits. Those exist to sell you a third spatula, egg rings, and a bag. You already have the flippers. Buy three tools.
1. Smash press
A stiff spatula can smash. A press smashes evenly. The difference is the lacy edge: even thickness browns at the same time instead of a thick middle and burnt fringe.
What to look for:
- Cast iron, or stainless with real weight. Under a pound is a toy.
- Flat face, about 6–7 inches. Bigger than that is awkward on a 3-ounce ball. Smaller leaves a ridge.
- A handle you can put body weight on for one hard press, then lift. You are not sitting on the burger.
Blackstone sells a Smash Burger Kit (press, spatula, basting dome) for $59.99 on their site. Fine kit if you needed a spatula. You do not. A generic 7-inch cast iron smash press is the cleaner buy.
2. Melting dome
This is how you invite steam on purpose. After the flip, cheese goes on, dome goes on for 15–20 seconds, dome comes off. Same tool later for a splash-and-cover on vegetables at burner 3. See Steam vs sear.
What to look for:
- Stainless, 12 inches. That covers two smash patties, or one pile of peppers, without having to jockey a tiny 8-inch lid around a 36-inch plate.
- A handle that stays grabable after two minutes on hot steel. Bare metal knobs will brand you.
- Heavy enough that it does not wander when fat pops.
Park it on burner 4 (off) between uses so it is not sitting empty over high heat and warping.
3. Griddle scraper
Your spatula is for food. A scraper is for the plate. The fond from a smash wave is flavor for the next bun toast. The carbon from the wave after that is bitter and it steals heat.
What to look for:
- A straight, stiff blade, 4–6 inches wide. Bench-scraper shape, not a flimsy dough cutter.
- A handle you can push toward the rear grease trough. On a 36-inch Blackstone, that is where the lake wants to go.
- No plastic blade. It will round over on the first dirty preheat.
The value pick (August 2026)
A generic 12-inch stainless melting dome bundled with a 7-inch cast iron press, plus a separate metal bench scraper, lands around $32. Blackstone’s own smash kit is $59.99 on their site and still leaves you without a scraper.
Press + dome. Look for a generic 12-inch stainless melting dome with a 7-inch cast iron press. Recently around $23. That is the whole point of a combo: one box, two jobs, no extra spatula. If it is a third-party storefront, check the rating before you click.
Scraper. A stainless bench / griddle scraper with a wide metal blade, not a plastic edge. Recently around $9. Flyisland makes one that fits.
If the combo looks sketchy the day you buy, split it: a 7-inch cast iron press (EWFEN and others, recently about $10) plus any 12-inch stainless dome around $15. Same three jobs, still under the Blackstone kit.
Prices move. Recheck before you spend.
What not to buy yet
A mega accessory kit. You will own four spatulas and still be missing a decent scraper.
The Blackstone 3-piece smash kit, unless it is on a deep sale. You are paying for another spatula.
A patty press / mold. Smash burgers start as balls. A mold is for a different sandwich.
An infrared thermometer. Fun. Not the bottleneck. Learn the water-skitter test first.
Refined avocado oil is the one consumable worth adding later. Not gear. It belongs on a fats page, not in this kit.
How it works on the 36-inch
Burners 1–2 hot. Press lives in your right hand for the first 10 seconds of each ball, then it leaves the plate. Spatula scrapes and flips. Dome comes in from burner 4, covers cheese, goes back. Scraper cleans toward the rear trough between waves. Burner 3 toasts buns in the fat you just moved.
Three tools. The spatulas you already own stay in the rotation.