The best 4-burner griddles
The fourth zone is not more heat. It is a holding area that does not cost you a cooking temperature.
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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 |  Pit Boss Ultimate Lift-Off 4-Burner GriddleSkipping the seasoning routine entirely | Skipping the seasoning routine entirely | 8.1 | Check price on Amazon |
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What the fourth zone actually does
It is not about power. Adding a burner to a bigger plate keeps heat density roughly constant — that is the point of adding it. What the fourth zone buys is staging.
With four zones you can run a searing zone, two different working temperatures and a holding zone simultaneously. That means you can cook a full breakfast — bacon rendering, eggs gently, pancakes at a steady 350 °F, finished food waiting — without anything going cold or overcooking while you deal with the next thing.
With two zones you do the same meal in sequence and something is always compromised. That is the entire argument, and it is a cooking argument rather than a specification one.
The heat spread inside this class is large
All five of these griddles sit between 647 and 769 square inches, so surface area is close to a constant. Heat density is not:
- Pit Boss Deluxe — 82.3 BTU per sq in
- Nexgrill Daytona — 79.4
- Blackstone 36 — 78.0
- Pit Boss Ultimate — 71.1
- Weber Slate 36 — 63.5
Top to bottom that is a 29% difference in available heat over nearly identical surface. The Weber is at the bottom of that list for a reason it is upfront about: its rust-resistant cooktop is the trade.
Two Pit Boss griddles, two entirely different propositions
The Deluxe is a 4.7 mm steel plate with the highest heat density in this guide — a conventional griddle, taken seriously. The Ultimate is a non-stick armored ceramic surface that never needs seasoning and will not rust.
They are not better and worse versions of each other. The Deluxe is for someone who wants a steel top they can restore indefinitely; the Ultimate is for someone who does not want a maintenance routine at all and accepts that a coating is a wear item. We work through that trade in detail here.
You do not need four burners to have four burners lit
Worth saying plainly: a four-burner griddle run with everything on high is just a big single-zone griddle with a higher gas bill. The fourth zone only pays for itself if you actually use the zones differently.
If your cooking is one protein at a time for four people, a two or three-burner griddle is the better purchase and the money is better spent on a cover and decent spatulas. Mapping your plate’s hot spots will do more for your cooking than a fourth burner will.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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 · Skipping the seasoning routine entirely
Pit Boss Ultimate Lift-Off 4-Burner Griddle
The only griddle here with a non-stick armored ceramic surface rather than steel — no seasoning, no rust, and a different set of trade-offs.
#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
- 647 sq in
- Burners
- 4, stainless steel
- Total output
- 46,000 BTU
- Cooktop
- Non-stick armored ceramic
- Lift-off top
- 89 lb
- Grease
- Removable tray
Specifications from Pit Boss product page.
Scores
- Cooking area8.5
- Heat output8.0
- Zone control9.5
- Surface care8.0
- Portability3.0
What works
- No seasoning and no rust — this is a genuinely different ownership experience from every steel top here
- Four zones across 647 sq in, and the top lifts off for cleaning
- Folding shelves with built-in tool hooks
What to know
- A ceramic coating is a wear item — steel can be restored indefinitely, a coating cannot
- The lift-off top weighs 89 lb; 'removable for cleaning' is a two-person job
- Non-stick surfaces do not develop the fond that makes a seasoned steel top sear the way it does
Common questions
Do I need a 4-burner griddle?
Does a 4-burner griddle get hotter than a 2-burner?
Which 4-burner griddle has the best heat density?
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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