The best 36-inch griddles
At this size the surface areas converge and the heat does not — which is the only thing separating these six.
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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 | Pit Boss Deluxe 4-Burner GriddleRaw heat per square inch | Raw heat per square inch | 8.5 | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | Blackstone 36" Original GriddleLarge families and crowd cooking | Large families and crowd cooking | 8.6 | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 | Nexgrill Daytona 4-Burner GriddleBlackstone 36 output for less money | Blackstone 36 output for less money | 8.2 | Check price on Amazon |
| 4 |  Weber Slate 36" GriddleLarge cooks who do not want to babysit the surface | Large cooks who do not want to babysit the surface | 8.7 | Check price on Amazon |
| 5 | LoCo 36" SmartTemp 3-Burner GriddleAnyone who wants a real thermostat | Anyone who wants a real thermostat | 8.0 | Check price on Amazon |
| 6 | Member's Mark 4-Burner 36" GriddleClub-store buyers | Club-store buyers | 7.8 | Check price on Amazon |
#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
The 36-inch class is tighter than it looks
Every griddle on this page lands between 720 and 769 square inches. That is a spread of under 7%, which means surface area is effectively not a differentiator at this size. If you are choosing between two 36-inch griddles on square inches alone, you are choosing on noise.
Heat is a different story. The Pit Boss Deluxe delivers 62,000 BTU across 753 square inches — 82.3 per square inch. The Weber Slate 36 delivers 48,000 across 756 — 63.5. Same surface, 29% less heat behind it. That is the real axis of this category.
Who should actually buy a 36
Be honest about this one. A 36-inch griddle makes sense if you routinely cook for more than six people, or if you cook multi-component meals where staging matters more than raw volume — a full breakfast with four things going at once, for instance.
It does not make sense simply because it was not much more than the 28. The extra surface is cheap to buy and expensive to live with: a bigger cover, a bigger footprint, more plate to season and more plate to scrape after every cook. Our 28-inch roundup covers the size most people should be buying instead.
Four burners is the point of this size
Five of these six run four burners. The LoCo runs three across 738 square inches, which gives it large, less precisely controlled zones — a reasonable trade for its genuinely unusual thermostatic control, but a trade.
Four zones over 750-odd square inches is what lets you run a true gradient: a searing end, a working middle, a holding end, and one zone spare. At this scale that is worth more than any individual specification, because cooking for a crowd is a staging problem, not a heat problem.
Watch the BTU labels at this size
Two of these six are sold at more than one BTU rating under the same surface area. Member’s Mark ships 720-square-inch griddles at both 48,000 and 60,000 BTU — a 25% difference you have to catch off the box. We flag this on the card rather than averaging it away, because a buyer comparing listings will hit the same discrepancy.
The LoCo is the interesting outlier
It is the only griddle in this guide with a real thermostat: digital displays and temperature control in 25-degree increments, rather than a knob position you learn by feel. It also has a cooktop leveling system, which addresses the most common real-world griddle complaint — grease that will not drain because the top is not sitting flat.
Those are both genuine answers to genuine problems. The cost is 63.0 BTU per square inch, near the bottom of this group, and outdoor electronics that can fail in a way a brass valve cannot.
The picks in detail
Specifications are linked to their source on every card. Scores are ours, derived from those specifications.
#1 · Raw heat per square inch
Pit Boss Deluxe 4-Burner Griddle
62,000 BTU across 753 square inches — 82.3 BTU per square inch, the highest heat density of any griddle in this guide.
#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
- Cooking area
- 753 sq in (top 37 × 20 in)
- Burners
- 4, separately controlled stainless
- Total output
- 62,000 BTU
- Cooktop
- 4.7 mm steel, pre-seasoned with organic oil
- Portability
- Fold-and-go
- Includes
- Side shelves and lid
Specifications from Pit Boss product page.
Listings disagree: Sold as 753 sq in (model 10963) and 748 sq in (model 10942), both at 62,000 BTU.
Scores
- Cooking area9.5
- Heat output10.0
- Zone control9.5
- Surface care7.0
- Portability4.5
What works
- 82.3 BTU per square inch is the highest here — it recovers fastest when a full load of cold food goes down
- A 4.7 mm plate is thick for this price class, which is what buys you stable temperature
- Pre-seasoned with organic oil, so it is usable sooner than a bare plate
What to know
- Fold-and-go legs are less stable than a fixed cart under a loaded 753 sq in top
- The sibling SKU is listed at 748 sq in with a slightly different top — check which you are buying
- Still a steel top: seasoning and covering are on you
#2 · Large families and crowd cooking
Blackstone 36" Original Griddle
The default large griddle: four burners over 769 square inches, with the highest burner count in its size class and the deepest accessory ecosystem of any brand here.
#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
- Cooking area
- 769 sq in (35¾ × 21½ in)
- Burners
- 4, stainless steel
- Total output
- 60,000 BTU
- Cooktop
- Carbon steel
- Ignition
- Single spark
- Grease system
- Rear
Specifications from BBQGuys spec sheet.
Scores
- Cooking area9.5
- Heat output9.0
- Zone control9.5
- Surface care6.5
- Portability3.0
What works
- Four independent zones is the real argument for this size — you can hold a warm zone and still sear
- 769 sq in is enough to cook a full breakfast for eight without staging
- The widest accessory and spare-parts availability of any brand in this guide
What to know
- Bare carbon steel: it will rust if you leave it uncovered and unseasoned
- Needs real patio footprint — this is not a griddle you put away each week
- Rear grease management means the drain is behind the unit, which is awkward against a wall
#3 · Blackstone 36 output for less money
Nexgrill Daytona 4-Burner Griddle
756 square inches and 60,000 BTU — the same heat and nearly the same surface as a Blackstone 36, from a brand with a smaller accessory ecosystem.
#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
- Cooking area
- 756 sq in
- Burners
- 4 × 15,000 BTU, stainless
- Total output
- 60,000 BTU
- Cooktop
- Steel
- Lid
- Stainless steel
- Panel
- Stainless control panel
Specifications from Nexgrill product page.
Scores
- Cooking area9.5
- Heat output9.5
- Zone control9.5
- Surface care6.5
- Portability3.0
What works
- 79.4 BTU per square inch matches the Blackstone 36 almost exactly
- Even 15,000 BTU burners — no weak zone
- Stainless lid and control panel at a size where rivals use painted steel
What to know
- Far fewer first-party accessories and spares than Blackstone
- 13 sq in less surface than a Blackstone 36 for the same burner count
- Sold mainly through a small number of retailers, which complicates warranty and parts
#4 · Large cooks who do not want to babysit the surface
Weber Slate 36" Griddle
Four burners across 756 square inches on a rust-resistant, pre-seasoned cooktop — the large griddle for someone who cooks less often than they think they will.
#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
- Cooking area
- 756 sq in
- Burners
- 4
- Total output
- 48,000 BTU
- Cooktop
- Rust-resistant carbon steel, pre-seasoned
- Dimensions
- 72 W × 39 H × 28 D in
- Stated temp
- Reaches over 500 °F
Specifications from P.C. Richard spec sheet.
Scores
- Cooking area9.5
- Heat output7.0
- Zone control9.5
- Surface care9.5
- Portability3.0
What works
- The rust-resistant surface is the single biggest practical difference in this guide — it tolerates neglect that kills a bare carbon-steel top
- Pre-seasoned from the factory, so the first cook is genuinely the first cook
- Four zones over 756 sq in, with a digital thermometer on some configurations
What to know
- 63.5 BTU per square inch is notably lower than the Blackstone 36's 78 — it heats and recovers more slowly
- Costs more than the equivalent Blackstone for less heat
- Smaller accessory ecosystem than Blackstone
#5 · Anyone who wants a real thermostat
LoCo 36" SmartTemp 3-Burner Griddle
The only griddle here with digital thermostat control in 25-degree increments — it holds a set temperature instead of a knob position.
#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
- Cooking area
- 738 sq in (36 W × 20.5 D in)
- Burners
- 3 SmartTemp
- Total output
- up to 46,500 BTU
- Cooktop
- Oil-treated steel
- Control
- Digital displays + thermostat, 25° increments
- Other
- Cooktop leveling and locking systems
Specifications from Bass Pro listing.
Scores
- Cooking area9.0
- Heat output7.0
- Zone control8.5
- Surface care7.5
- Portability3.0
What works
- Thermostatic control is a genuine category difference — every other griddle here asks you to learn where 'medium' is
- The cooktop leveling system is the fix for the most common real-world griddle complaint: grease that will not drain
- 738 sq in puts it in 36-inch territory with only three burners to manage
What to know
- 63.0 BTU per square inch is on the low side for this surface area
- Digital control means electronics outdoors — one more thing that can fail
- Three zones over 738 sq in means each zone is large and less precise than four over 769
#6 · Club-store buyers
Member's Mark 4-Burner 36" Griddle
720 square inches with 304 stainless burners — a credible large griddle, sold in two BTU ratings that are easy to confuse.
#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
- Cooking area
- 720 sq in
- Burners
- 4, 304 stainless steel
- Total output
- 48,000 or 60,000 BTU depending on model
- Cooktop
- Steel
- Ignition
- All-weather electronic
- Sold at
- Sam's Club
Specifications from Sam's Club listing.
Listings disagree: Sold at both 48,000 BTU and 60,000 BTU with the same 720 sq in surface. Read the BTU figure off the box.
Scores
- Cooking area9.0
- Heat output7.5
- Zone control9.5
- Surface care6.5
- Portability3.0
What works
- 304 stainless burners are a better grade than several pricier griddles use
- All-weather electronic ignition, which is the part that usually fails first
- 720 sq in is real 36-inch-class surface
What to know
- Two different BTU ratings (48,000 and 60,000) ship at the same 720 sq in — a 25% heat difference you have to catch on the label
- Club-store exclusivity makes parts and warranty harder outside that channel
- Thin third-party accessory support compared with Blackstone sizes
Common questions
Is a 36-inch griddle too big for a family of four?
Which 36-inch griddle has the most heat?
Do all 36-inch griddles have the same cooking area?
Why do some griddles list two different BTU ratings?
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.
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