There’s nothing like outdoor cooking when you’re camping, and a camping griddle can take your breakfast and burger games to a whole new level. So, just in time for your next camping trip, today’s post looks at 7 of the best portable griddles for easy cooking AND easy clean-up!
Let’s get the bacon sizzling, the grilled cheese melting, and the steak searing!
What’s a Camping Griddle?
A camping griddle is typically a griddle that can be used over an open campfire or over a camping stove with double burners. But, there are also portable griddles that are standalone units that have their own burners built-in and run on propane.
Traditional griddles are made of cast iron. They’re easy to heat and clean, but cast iron is also heavy and does require some maintenance.
Newer models are lightweight and easy to carry and store, and often have a non-stick surface of some kind.
What to Consider When Shopping for a Camping Griddle
If you’re in the market for a portable griddle, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind.
Size, Weight, and Portability
You have to store and carry your griddle in your camper, and we all know that space and weight are considerations for every RVer.
Based on the amount of space you have in your camper, how much weight you can spare, and whether or not you’ll need to carry your griddle to hike into a campsite, you’ll need to consider the size, weight, and ease of portability as you shop.
Fuel or Fire?
Do you want to do your cooking over a campfire at your campsite? If so, a camping griddle you can set across a campfire is the perfect choice for you.
Some RVers prefer to use propane-fueled grills or griddles, and if you fall into that category, then you’ll want to check out the griddles that use propane as their heat source.
Just remember that having a propane-fueled griddle means either carrying a propane canister or connecting to your rig’s built-in propane tank. (For more information on this, see our post on how to use your BBQ grill connection with your RV’s onboard propane tank.)
Size of your Dining Party
That’s just a fancy way of saying that you’ll need to consider the number of people you’ll be feeding. If you’ll be regularly feeding a family of 5, you’ll want a griddle with a large cooking surface.
Descriptions from most griddle manufacturers will tell you the number of square inches of cooking space there is on a particular griddle, so you can get an idea of how many eggs or pancakes the griddle top will hold.
Cooking Surface
One of the key features of any camping griddle will be the cooking surface. Some griddles offer a flat surface made of stainless steel, cast iron, or cold rolled steel, while others have some type of non-stick surface for easy cooking and clean-up. Some even have some sort of grease management system that’ll collect excess grease, making clean-up even easier.
In addition to ease of cleaning, be sure to consider any concerns you may have with the content of the cooking surface.
We cook on a portable gas grill all the time, and we use tin foil for easy clean-up of our camping grill. However, many people are very much against cooking on aluminum/tin foil.
Our point here is that you need to be comfortable with your food cooking on the surface of the griddle you buy, (or on the aluminum foil that’ll cover it).
Either way, we encourage you to check user reviews to get a sense of how satisfied users are with any given camping griddle surface.
Here’s a good video from an experienced griddle chef on the most important things new griddle owners need to know:
7 Best Portable Griddles for Camping
All 7 of the griddles we’re about to highlight are portable and capable of cooking your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even dessert. But we’ve selected different variations of portable griddles so you’ll be able to compare features of each type to determine which type suits your traveling style best.
As always, we’ve also offered ideas for varying budgets. We’ll start with the most budget-friendly way to get into the camping griddle scene and work our way up to propane-fueled griddles.
Coghlan’s Two-Burner, Non-Stick Camp Griddle
This is a small, basic, inexpensive camp griddle that measures 16 1/2″ x 10″ and weighs only 1.8 pounds. Great for solo campers or couples, this little griddle is highly portable and easy to store, even for car campers or backpackers.
Made of coated heavy-gauge aluminum, this griddle has a non-stick surface for easy clean-up. It will sit nicely over most dual-burner camp stoves and has an integrated hook for drying or storing.
This griddle is not suitable for use over an open fire such as a campground fire pit but is intended for use with a two-burner camp stove.
Lodge LDP3 Reversible Grill/Griddle
This is a cast iron camping griddle by Lodge, a popular and reputable name in the world of cast iron since (wait for it)…1896!
Cast iron is well known over the centuries for even heating and the ability to retain heat well… IF it’s well maintained.
This rectangular griddle measures 16.75″ x 9.5″ and weighs 9.38 pounds. This size allows the griddle to be used across a double-burner camping stove. It’s designed for use in the oven, on a stove, on a grill, or over an open campfire. It also has cast iron dual handles for easy movement from place to place.
This griddle is pre-seasoned with 1% natural vegetable oil and is reversible. The smooth side is where you’ll cook your grilled cheese sandwiches, eggs, bacon, and pancakes. The ribbed side is the side you’ll use to grill hamburgers, steak, chicken, fish, etc.
This Lodge griddle is easily stored and very portable, though certainly not a great choice for backpackers at over 9 pounds.
Legend Cast Iron Griddle
Legend is another big name in the cast iron market and promises that its cookware lasts a lifetime and then some.
At 20″ x 10″, this reversible (smooth on one side, ribbed on the other) cast iron camping griddle gives you almost 4 inches more in length than the Lodge griddle highlighted above. However, you’ll pay a little more for those few inches, and it’ll also mean you’ll be carrying an extra 3 pounds or so, with this Legend griddle weighing in at a pretty hefty 12.10 pounds.
Legend’s cast iron griddles are cast from premium-grade steel and iron. They’ll fit across two stove burners and can be used on any heat surface including gas, glass, and electric stoves, in the oven, or over an open fire at the campground.
This griddle has handles on both ends for easy gripping and carrying, and comes with 100% vegetable oil as its foundational seasoning, meaning that it uses no synthetic chemicals to coat its cookware.
Cuisinart MCP45-25NS Camping Griddle
This 18″ x 10″ griddle from Cuisinart is a very different product from its cast iron cousins above, as illustrated by the fact that this one weighs in at only 4 pounds.
You won’t get the same versatility of use out of this griddle, though, as it’s best used over your gas camping stove (or in a home setting). While you can’t use it over an open fire, we wanted to include it for its lightweight nature, the slightly deeper design (it’s 3.25″ deep), and the Cool Grip™ solid stainless handles that stay cool (although the protrusion of the handles could be said to make it less easy to store in some cases).
This Cuisinart grill/griddle is made of pure aluminum with a brushed stainless exterior.
So, this is a non-stick, double-burner griddle surface that uses stainless steel, a material that’s come under some scrutiny for leaching chemicals. We did a little research and, according to Cuisinart, this model doesn’t use the stainless steel additive that promotes the leaching of nickel & chromium.
As always, before using any product that comes into contact with your food, follow up with your own research if you have concerns about construction materials.
It’s worth repeating that while you won’t be carrying around 9-12 pounds as you would with a cast iron griddle, you can only use this griddle on your gas camping stove (or in/on your home stove/oven). It won’t survive your campfire!
PIT BOSS PB336GS Two Burner Portable Flat Top Camping Griddle
Now we’re getting into the standalone griddles that come with their own heat source. These are gas griddles/grills that are portable (depending on how you camp) and are for use with a propane cylinder (not included).
Pit Boss’s 336GS tabletop gas griddle offers 289 sq. in. of cooking surface (dimensions are 18.5” x 14.3”). The griddle surface is pre-seasoned with organic oil, but Pit Boss advises to continue seasoning the surface. (It’s common practice to season a gas griddle at least 3-4 times, with 100% vegetable, coconut, or flaxseed oil.)
This camping griddle has two independently-controlled 9,000-BTU stainless steel burners, and an easy push & turn ignitor. The base of the unit is made from black powder-coated steel and it has four adjustable non-skid feet for support.
A couple of notes based on reviews that may apply to most gas griddles:
Several reviewers note that the back 2/3 of this griddle’s surface runs hotter than the front 1/3. But this may be by design to offer the ability to cook different foods (at different temperatures) all at the same time.
Also, this Pit Boss griddle is set up to be used with the small propane canisters that are easily found at big box stores. We looked for information on how long those are likely to last, but everyone cooks differently so it’s a pretty difficult assessment to make with any real definition.
Most commonly, we found small canister users saying that this griddle burns through them “fairly quickly”, with several saying that an adapter for use with a larger propane tank is a must.
We also found that some RVers who use this griddle have indicated that although Pit Boss doesn’t supply an RV adapter, it works very well with Blackstone’s RV adapter. There are a number of adapters available on Amazon for use with RV tanks or propane cylinders (many with quick-connects). As always, be sure to read reviewers before purchasing.
And finally, some reviewers noted that if there’s much wind in the area where you’re cooking, it’s tough to keep the griddle lit. One reviewer noted that she picked up a couple of folding windscreens that made all the difference.
That’s a given issue with camping stoves as well, so those of you who carry windscreens for a gas camping stove may find the screen useful on a griddle like this as well.
Pit Boss grills/griddles come with a storage cover and a 2-year warranty.
Blackstone 1971 Flat Top Gas Griddle
The Blackstone 1971 is a small stainless steel gas griddle with a 17-inch (267 sq. in.) flat-top cooking surface. It may be best for one or two people, although Blackstone’s notes state that it’s designed to feed up to 4 people and that you can cook up to 9 hamburgers on this 17″ surface.
Full dimensions of this griddle are 17.32″D x 21.71″W x 8.62″H and it weighs 17.5 pounds.
The Blackstone 1971 uses a single 12,500 BTU gas burner and a push & turn ignition system. That’s a nice powerful burner, but we want to note that there’s a single control for the entire surface. (The Pit Boss highlighted above and the larger Blackstone highlighted below offer separate heat controls.)
This griddle has a grease management system that uses a small grease trap that users say works fairly well though it can get clogged when it captures small pieces of food.
Blackstone 1517 Heavy Duty Flat Top Grill Station
And finally, for those of you with lots of storage space and the ability to carry around a heavy grill (69 pounds!) with a larger cooking surface (470 sq. in.), here’s a much larger (and much heavier) Blackstone grill/griddle.
We’ll acknowledge that this one is less a camping griddle than it is a full-time grill/griddle because there aren’t a lot of campers who want to carry and move nearly 70 pounds. However, a number RVers who are owners of the Blackstone 1517 weighed in with overwhelmingly positive reviews, so we wanted to include it. It might be best for RVers who stay in one place for longer periods of time rather than for travelers who move from campsite to campsite regularly.
With all of that noted, let’s take a look at this Blackstone grill/griddle setup! The full dimensions of this unit are 44.5″L x 33.5″H x 19.5″W, giving you that full 470 sq. in. of flat-top grilling.
This 34,000 BTU grill with a removable griddle top uses two burners across its 28 inches of cooking surface, which Blackstone notes is large enough to fit 44 hot dogs. The base of the unit includes two wheels, so you can wheel it around the campsite or backyard, and the legs fold up for storage and transport.
This Blackstone grill/griddle offers battery-powered push-button ignition that requires one AA battery to operate.
The legs can be removed to place it on a picnic table or counter, but Blackstone recommends having 6″ of clearance around the griddle for airflow, and at least 3 feet from anything that is combustible.
This unit is noted to have a rear grease management system as well as a built-in cutting board and a 28″ “garbage holder”.
Final Thoughts
With the wide variety of camping griddles at various price points on the market today, there’s a griddle out there for most campers, regardless of how you travel and how big your rig is.
As always, we encourage you to read user reviews before buying, but we hope this guide is a helpful starting point if you’re in the market for a quality camping griddle.
Happy cooking!
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