Can You Turn Your BBQ Into a Flat-Top Grill?

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The discussion revolves around the idea of transforming a standard BBQ grill into a teppanyaki-style cooking station by using a flat-top grill attachment. Participants explore the availability of such products, noting that while many flat-top grills are standalone units, options might exist that can be added to existing grills. Suggestions include searching for cast iron griddles at BBQ specialty stores or online. Concerns about stability when using a heavy cast iron griddle on a BBQ are addressed, with reassurance that it can work well on suitable grills. The conversation also touches on creative DIY solutions, such as using scrap stainless steel plates, with advice on cleaning and preparing them for cooking. Overall, the thread emphasizes the practicality and versatility of flat-top grilling for enhancing outdoor cooking experiences.
Pengwuino
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I was at this japanese tepenaki places or however you spell it where they make the food in front of you and my dad had an interesting though. The stations they have have these big flat cooking areas powered underneath by what I assume were a bunch of gas burners.

We bought a new bbq and my dad wondered whether or not there exists something that would kind of turn your bbq into one of those stations! It would be a large, flat, metal surface that could hook onto your actual bbq grill. The concept seems ridiculously simple. The grills are just called "Flat-top" grills, but they all seem to be self-contained units from what I've noticed. Does anyone know of one that you can just add onto your own bbq grill? :O

Here's the link if you're wondering http://www.cook-n-dine-usa.com/GALL...eppanyaki_grill_cooktop_MO-80_Ki-CDS120-L.jpg

DISCUSS!
 
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Sure, you can buy a flat top. The evo child had a huge all-clad cast iron flat grill that she LEFT at an apartment she moved out of and to this day I still agonize over it's loss.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00005AL8X/?tag=pfamazon01-20

you can probably find what you want at a BBQ specialty store.
 
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Google "cast iron griddle". You'll get things like this:

41CHoPbptEL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
Would it be stable when put on a bbq pit though? I mean, beyond the stability due to it's ginormous weight?
 
Pengwuino said:
Would it be stable when put on a bbq pit though? I mean, beyond the stability due to it's ginormous weight?
Yes, as long as you put the flat griddle on a decent grill. Obviously, it's not going to be a good idea to try to balance a cast-iron griddle on a little Weber Smokey Joe, but it will work perfectly on something like this, fired by gas, wood, charcoal...

chargriller.jpg
 
I have used big cast iron griddles on just about every kind of cooking fire you can imagine. They are great, and you never really wash them, which is always a plus in my book.
 
hypatia said:
They are great, and you never really wash them, which is always a plus in my book.

"Mmm, what is this? It tastes like chicken... and peppers... and salmon... and eggs and barbecue sauce, and onions, and mushrooms, and carbon, and steak, and..."
 
FlexGunship said:
"Mmm, what is this? It tastes like chicken... and peppers... and salmon... and eggs and barbecue sauce, and onions, and mushrooms, and carbon, and steak, and..."

:smile:
 
Pengwuino said:
We bought a new bbq and my dad wondered whether or not there exists something that would kind of turn your bbq into one of those stations! It would be a large, flat, metal surface that could hook onto your actual bbq grill.[/quite]

I'm thinking "manhole cover," but there's got to be a more sanitary option.
 
  • #10
I'm thinking "manhole cover," but there's got to be a more sanitary option.

I like it. I like ideas that are 1) cheap and 2) involve me stealing from government agencies.
 
  • #11
How about a scrap piece of stainless plate? There are often new material "drops" for sale. Drops are the left over pieces from a larger sheared order. You might also try the local scrap metal yard for used material. For food, however, used material might be a little risky.
 
  • #12
montoyas7940 said:
How about a scrap piece of stainless plate? There are often new material "drops" for sale. Drops are the left over pieces from a larger sheared order. You might also try the local scrap metal yard for used material. For food, however, used material might be a little risky.
Shouldn't be too much of a problem. Hit the plate with a wash of muriatic acid, then scrub it with Dawn or some other heavy detergent and rinse. Put the plate on the grill and heat the crap out of it to burn off other impurities. It ought to be ready to use. After burning off the plate, I would coat it with cooking oil and sea-salt and re-heat it, but maybe that's just me.
 
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