Griddle tool kits
Judge a kit on the stiffness of its spatulas, not the number on the box.
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Quick picks
Ranked on published specifications using our scoring rubric. Tap a row for the full write-up.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Griddle Tool KitStarting from nothing | Starting from nothing | 7.9 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 |  Griddle Spatula PairThe two tools you actually use | The two tools you actually use | 8.7 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 | Squeeze Bottle SetOil control, which is most of the technique | Oil control, which is most of the technique | 8.3 | Check price on Amazon |
| 4 |  Melting DomeCheese, and steaming anything | Cheese, and steaming anything | 8.4 | Check price on Amazon |
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Piece count is the wrong measure
Kits are sold on how many items are in the box, which is the least informative number available. A 30-piece kit contains the same four or five useful tools as a 10-piece kit, plus twenty-odd items that will live in a drawer.
The useful measure is the quality of the two spatulas, because those are the tools you will use on every single cook, and because they are where kits most often economize.
What genuinely belongs in a kit
- Two stiff spatulas. The core of the kit. What to look for.
- A scraper. Ideally a proper flat one rather than a spatula doing double duty.
- Squeeze bottles. Two, for oil and water. More useful than they look.
- A melting dome. Not universal in kits, and worth having.
That is four or five items and it covers essentially all griddle cooking.
What is usually filler
- Tongs. You already have tongs, and a griddle is not where tongs excel.
- Extra turners in sizes you will not use.
- Skewers. Those are for a grill.
- Basting covers that duplicate the dome.
- Carrying cases that take up more space than the tools.
- Seasoning shakers and sauce brushes, which are kitchen items dressed as griddle items.
None of this is useless exactly. It is just not what makes a kit good, and it is what the piece count is counting.
Kit or separates?
Buy a kit if you own no griddle tools at all. It is cheaper than buying four items individually, and a first-party kit is matched to your griddle’s dimensions.
Buy separates if you care about spatula quality, or if you already have some of the pieces. Two good standalone spatulas will usually be stiffer than any kit’s, and stiffness is the thing that matters.
Specialist kits
Blackstone sells themed kits — a hibachi toolkit, a smash-and-serve burger kit, a breakfast kit, a 30-piece everything kit, and separate cleaning kits.
The themed ones are more honest than the big general kits, because they are assembled around a specific job rather than a number. A smash-burger-focused kit containing a press, two spatulas and a dome is a genuinely coherent purchase. Presses and domes individually.
Keep cleaning kits separate in your head
A cooking tool kit and a cleaning kit are different purchases for different jobs, and cleaning kits contain abrasives that strip seasoning — which makes them occasional-reset tools, not everyday ones.
Storage
A kit of tools needs somewhere to live near the griddle, or you will be walking to the kitchen mid-cook, which is how food burns. A caddy is the usual answer.
The picks in detail
Specifications are linked to their source on every card. Scores are ours, derived from those specifications.
#1 · Starting from nothing
Griddle Tool Kit
A reasonable way to start if you own no griddle tools at all — but the useful contents are a small subset of what the big kits advertise.
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Key specifications
- Must contain
- Two stiff spatulas
- Must contain
- A scraper
- Must contain
- Squeeze bottles for oil and water
- Nice to have
- A melting dome
- Usually filler
- Tongs, basting covers, skewers, extra turners
- Judge kits on
- Spatula stiffness, not piece count
Specifications from Blackstone accessory kits.
Scores
- Completeness8.0
- Tool quality6.5
- Storage6.0
- Value8.0
What works
- Cheaper than buying the three or four genuinely useful tools separately
- First-party kits are matched to the griddle's own dimensions
- Squeeze bottles are more useful than they look — oil control is most of griddle technique
What to know
- Piece count is a marketing number; a 30-piece kit is not three times better than a 10-piece one
- Kit spatulas are usually thinner than standalone ones
- You will end up storing tools you never use
#2 · The two tools you actually use
Griddle Spatula Pair
Two stiff, wide, bevelled-edge spatulas do 90% of griddle work — everything beyond that in a 30-piece kit is storage clutter.
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Key specifications
- What matters
- Blade stiffness — a flexible blade cannot lift a stuck smash burger
- What matters
- A bevelled front edge that gets under fond
- Width
- Wide enough to carry a whole patty, narrow enough to turn in a crowd
- Quantity
- Two — one to lift, one to steady
- Handle
- Riveted, not glued
- What fails first
- The handle rivet and the blade's leading edge
Scores
- Stiffness9.0
- Edge9.0
- Handle7.5
- Value8.5
What works
- A stiff bevelled blade is the difference between turning a smash burger and destroying one
- Two spatulas lets you work food against itself rather than against the plate
- Stainless blades can be scraped and scrubbed without degrading
What to know
- Thin, flexible 'griddle' spatulas sold in big kits are the wrong tool and are what most kits contain
- Long handles get in the way on a tabletop griddle
- Riveted handles collect grease at the joint
#3 · Oil control, which is most of the technique
Squeeze Bottle Set
Two bottles — one oil, one water — are the most underrated griddle tools there are, because dosing oil by eye is how food sticks or swims.
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Key specifications
- How many
- Two minimum: oil and water
- Tip
- Narrow, so you can lay a thin line rather than a puddle
- Water bottle use
- Steam-lifting residue and steaming under a dome
- Material
- Heat-tolerant — bottles sit near a hot plate
- Caps
- Must seal; open bottles collect everything
- Label them
- Oil and water look identical in an opaque bottle
Specifications from Blackstone accessories.
Scores
- Control9.0
- Material7.0
- Sealing7.5
- Value9.5
What works
- A thin controlled line of oil is the difference between a seared crust and a fried one
- The water bottle makes daily cleanup a 60-second job
- Trivially cheap for how much technique they unlock
What to know
- Wide-tip bottles over-dose oil and defeat the purpose
- Cheap plastic deforms if left on a hot side shelf
- Oil goes rancid in a bottle left outside for months
#4 · Cheese, and steaming anything
Melting Dome
A dome plus a squirt of water turns a dry griddle into a steamer for thirty seconds — it is how cheese melts before the patty overcooks.
#ad We publish no prices: there is no verified price feed on this site, so the retailer’s page is the only price. How this is funded
Key specifications
- What it does
- Traps steam so cheese melts in seconds, not minutes
- Diameter
- Larger than your patty plus the cheese overhang
- Material
- Stainless holds up; aluminum warps
- Handle
- Must stand off the dome — it gets hot immediately
- Technique
- Squirt water beside the food, then cover
- Also good for
- Steaming vegetables and reheating buns
Scores
- Seal8.5
- Material8.0
- Handle7.0
- Value9.0
What works
- Solves the real smash-burger problem: the patty cooks in 90 seconds, cheese does not melt in 90 seconds
- Doubles as a steamer for anything on the plate
- Cheap and essentially unbreakable in stainless
What to know
- Aluminum domes warp and then do not seal
- A dome with a flush handle is unusable without a glove
- One dome covers one burger; cooking six means working in rounds
Common questions
Are 30-piece griddle tool kits worth it?
What should a griddle tool kit contain?
Should I buy a kit or individual griddle tools?
Is a cleaning kit the same as a tool kit?
Sources
Every specification on this page came from one of these. If you find one of them has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
Read next
Griddle spatulas
Why stiffness matters more than anything, why two beats one, and why the spatulas in big kits are the wrong tool.
Smash burger presses
Why mass decides whether a press works, why a domed face ruins the patty, and the one-press rule.
Melting domes
Why a dome plus water beats waiting, what to look for in material and handle, and the other things it is good for.
The best griddle cleaning kits
What a cleaning kit is genuinely for, what the daily routine actually needs, and the picks for each.
Griddle caddies
What a caddy needs to hold, why mounting is the hard part, and the side-shelf trap to avoid.
The best griddles for beginners
First griddles ranked on how forgiving they are: rust resistance, pre-seasoning and the mistakes each one punishes.