The four sizes, as Blackstone publishes them
| | 17 in tabletop | 22 in tabletop | 28 in Omnivore | 36 in station |
|---|
| Cooking area | 267 sq in | 339 sq in | 516 sq in (28¾ x 18 in) | Four-burner station |
| Heat zones | 1 | 2, independently controlled | 2, independently controlled | 4, independently controlled |
| Total BTU | — | — | Not published for this plate | 60,000 BTU |
| Hood | No | Yes | Yes, integrated | No |
| Capacity claim | Two to four people | — | Up to 21 burgers or 15 pancakes | Up to 30 burgers, 21 pancakes or 126 hot dogs |
| Grease management | Rear | Rear | Rear | Front |
| Stand | Tabletop | Tabletop | Legs and side shelves | Wheeled frame, folding legs |
| Warranty | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year |
A dash means Blackstone publishes no figure for that size on the pages we read, and we would rather leave a cell empty than fill it from a retailer’s listing. Prices are on the buttons above and move often.
Two zones is the feature, not the inches
A flat top earns its place by letting you run two temperatures at once. The classic example is smash burgers: you want one side as hot as the plate will go to get a crust in ninety seconds, and a cooler side to toast buns and melt cheese without burning them. The same logic covers breakfast — eggs on the low side, bacon on the high side — and fajitas, where the peppers and the steak want different heat.
Both the 22 and the 28 give you that. The 17 does not: one H-style burner means one temperature across the whole plate, so cooking in stages becomes cooking in sequence. If somebody is choosing between the 17 and the 22 to save money, the two zones are the reason to stretch.
Where the extra 177 square inches actually goes
Blackstone counts up to 21 burgers on the 28-inch plate. The practical difference against the 22 is not that you cook for twice as many people — it is that you stop cooking in batches for four or five. On the smaller plate, a family breakfast is eggs, then pancakes, then bacon, with everything earlier going cold. On the 28 it is all three at once with a holding zone, which is the whole reason people say a griddle changed how they cook.
The flip side is that 516 square inches of steel takes longer to preheat and more oil to season and maintain, and for a household of two most of it is heating air. If most meals are for two, the 22 is not a compromise.
The hood is worth more than people expect
Both the 22 and the 28 here come with a hood; the 36-inch station does not. A hood keeps weather and debris off a bare steel plate between cooks, which matters because the thing that kills a griddle is rust, not use. It is also useful during cooking as a basting dome — dropping it over cheese or vegetables for a minute traps enough heat to melt and steam. It is not an oven lid, though, and neither maker intends it to be cooked under closed for long periods.
If you buy a griddle without a hood, budget for a cover the same week. And either way the first job after delivery is seasoning the plate — our guide to seasoning a Blackstone follows Blackstone’s own routine.
So which should you buy?
Buy the 28-inch Omnivore if this griddle is going to be a real outdoor cooker. It is the size that covers breakfast through dinner for a family, it has the two zones, and the integrated hood means it can live outside from day one. It is our overall pick in the griddle roundup.
Buy the 22-inch tabletop if portability or storage is the constraint — camping, a tailgate, a balcony, or a household that already owns a grill and wants a flat top alongside it rather than instead of it. It keeps the two heat zones and the hood.
Buy the 17-inch only to find out whether somebody will use a griddle at all, which is a genuinely good reason at that price. Buy the 36-inch if they host — four zones and 60,000 BTU is a small restaurant line, and nothing smaller batches food the same way.
Whichever lands, the tools are different from grill tools: wide turners and a scraper, not tongs and a fork. Our gifts for Blackstone and griddle owners covers the kit, and charcoal grill vs flat-top griddle is the page to read if a griddle is still competing with a grill for the budget.
