My 9 yr old son loves your videos! We watch them every night before his bedtime! He wanted me to let you know!

Lol, My wife thought I was ruining my flat top during the initial seasoning. She didn't think it was suppose to turn that color. Now I can show her a video from someone she trust lol

I've watched a few different peeps seasoning griddles. Never saw anyone use sandpaper. That's actually a pretty good idea. Thanks Neil.

Thank you for walking me through seasoning my first griddle yesterday. You took the stress out of my day.

Followed the FTK seasoning process to the letter, with excellent results. I now have many layers of seasoning on my blackstone. It’s completely nonstick and cleans up easy every cook. The quality of the food is next level too…whole other league! I’ve never had a bad cook on the flat top, and credit to FTK & his seasoning process, it totally works! I find his content to be exhaustive (which I like), and proven to be correct & proper.

My wife just got me my first Blackstone 36" and can't wait to put it together, get it seasoned, and get some food on it this weekend. Thanks for a GREAT tutorial! Gave me the confidence I need to tackle this job!

After watching your videos I bought a 22 inch black stone adventure ready flat top. Just finished watching your video and seasoning my griddle. You made it so easy with your video. I'm new to cooking on a flat top but look forward to it. Thanks for what you do.

I just sanded down an old Lodge griddle I want to use over my camp stove. I sanded it down with a detail sander and re-seasoned it with Crisco Vegetable Shortening and it came out fantastic. I'm getting ready to buy a Blackstone 22" Adventure Ready Griddle and I will use the same detail sander on it as well. Thanks for the tip!

Hey Neil, just seasoned my new 36 inch Blackstone following your directions using Crisco "five mini layers" and finishing off with avocado oil. It turned out perfect! I purchased the accessories you suggested and I cannot wait to start cooking some of your amazing looking meals. Many thanks for all of the great videos and tips.

I got the 28" model for fathers day and followed these easy steps and mine turned out perfect! Thanks for the video my friend, couldn't have been any easier!! 🤘🤙

I just seasoned my new blackstone tonight using these steps! I used Lard instead of crisco and it worked great! Thank you ❤

After watching your videos for several months I finally had the opportunity today to season my 36" Blackstone. I followed your instructions and it came out perfect...using sandpaper really helped. I finished off with some onions and avocado oil. This week I will probably start with smash burgers and then several of the recipes you have videos on. Thanks again for everything you do for the community. Tim

Thanks for the video. I have to scrape and clean my blackstone cause it’s a little rusty. I’ve struggled with seasoning it so I will try this method.

I am brand new to this. I purchased a blue rhino last night, and I just finished seasoning it. So in 2 hours I will be cooking my very first meal on it for my Dads 90th birthday 4-5-22 (and a Korean War vet). Brave aren't I. Thank You so much for your informative video's.

Neil. I loved this video. I probably watched 5 times after getting my griddle (I've had it for 2 weeks) I got a little nervous when you suggested to sand it. While seasoning, all I could think about was that I sanded too much. But by my 5th seasoning, I could see the sand marks go away an knew I was good. I've watched a ton of your other cooking videos and decided to make smash burgers tomorrow as my first cook. A total rookie to this style of cooking but very excited. It looks like a lot more work than grilling but looking forward to all the possibilities. As a side note, you and Amy seem to be a great team/couple. The love for cooking and each other really shows. Look forward to future videos.

Just a note, I have an abundance of sandpaper being a woodworker, if you can get a sanding sponge it makes it much easier to keep it even. That is what I used when I did mine.

Just got my Blackstone today for Father's Day, and I'm so glad I found your video! I'm going to season mine tomorrow, got a fresh bottle of avocado oil in the pantry and some quality paper towels! I've watched 2 other videos and neither mentioned sanding down the peaks, thanks for that info.

Absolutely right about paper towels. I use the blue shop paper towels.

I seasoned a #8 Griswold skillet your way. It worked great! Thank you!

I'm seasoning my first griddle while I'm watching this. Thank you for your videos! I'm excited to start using mine

Glad to know I’m not the only one using paper towels hell been using em on cast iron for years

Regardless of race, religion, or politics, us fellas all unite when it comes to grilling and outdoor cooking! Nice video. I love the Wounded Warrior pullover too. I have a fleece blanket myself. Keep up the good work👍🏼 I have a nice portable 22" Blackstone griddle that includes a hood and a stand. I love it. In a few years, I might get a 4 burner from Pit Boss.

Very (!) good job. I know I’ve commented on being an old cast iron guy before. You have this down, 100%. My only thing to add, after seasoning a couple of Blackstone: If your color doesn’t uniform up, right away, it will. Neil got a very beautiful season on this one. It is a lack of heat uniformity. If is really bugs you, use a propane torch to heat cooler spots. They will mostly be on the outsides, and they will be identical looking in seconds. And just remember that the only trick to perfect iron cooking, is to do it all the time. You can’t ruin iron. Without a torch. 😀

Using your video on how to season my blackstone right now. Working great! Loved the tip on the light sanding before cleaning.

Great video! Had a friend send to me and will be trying this method on my new Blackstone asap. :)

Love the sandpaper and washing with soap. Better than info than the other KZfaq videos including the ones sponsored by black stone. Good info thanks

My wife brought me a griddle for Xmas, and I plan to use your method. I have watched a few videos, and you were the first one to sand the top down. Make sense. Thank you, and I can't wait to season my griddle.

I got to where I season my cast iron pan every time I cook with them& haven't had any problem with food sticking and it just scrapes off easy and easy cleanup

This is the Blackstone I have now I love it especially the air fryers, I think you will love it

Just got my first flat top today and your video helped out sooooo much man thank you!!!im a big over thinker so I’m kind of worried that I didn’t season it enough/properly but I cooked burgers on it for the first cook and it went great!

Thank you for this - going to try this tonight on my brand new blackstone 36" griddle!

Good info, just did the 36 inch my kids gave me for father's day , first cook today. The tips are super.

This is what I love about your channel u r a master at your craft and u take the time to reach out to your viewers u have a subscriber for life happy saint paddy's day

Thanks for this video - it helped quite a bit when seasoning my new griddle. One thing to note though - While it is quite alright to use a paper towel, DO NOT use the 'Blue Shop Towels'. They WILL come apart and give you unwanted bits of PT on your griddle. (Ask me how I know) Once I ditched those and went with my store bought Bounty paper towels, it was smooth sailing. (Or should I say, seasoning) :)

So glad you have the Blackstone, looking forward to seeing your char & crust creations! Please do a bunch of content using the air fryers. Back to using your metal spatulas more often, you have a ton of those.

I like the sand paper trick for the first time. “Many mini layers” lol. 😝

Thank you for this vide. I just got a little 22" blackstone. Will season mine tomorrow, only had time to go over it with 320 grit paper is what I had on hand before dark. I will be ready with the Crisco tomorrow. :) Hope to learn from your channel. Thank you

Just got my Blackstone today! Thanks for the video, going to follow these directions!

This is a great step by step video. The new flat top turned out great.

This ages well. Using it for my new Flat Rock. Thanks!

I like your new flat top, it's similar to mind, I think you'll love the air fryers. Enjoy!!

I just put together my Blackstone 28. Followed your method for seasoning, except I used Canola oil instead of Crisco - it's what I had in the pantry. I used avocado oil for the last "cool down" or maintenance coat. Avocado oil is going to be the oil of choice for cooking on the flat top. Thanks for the videos and it is on to Smash Burgers tomorrow for the first cook. I better study up on your videos.

Excellent step by step Neal!! Nice Blackstone Brotha, she’s a Butte ✊🏼🧐😍!! I cant wait to see the 1st cook. Cheers Y’all 👊🏼😎🤙🏼

Just seasoned my flat top with your method. I just used the Blackstone seasoning and conditioner. Seemed to have similar results to the Crisco. Flat Top King smash burgers tonight!

Great video!! When you sandpaper the top you may feel bumps from welds on the bottom defusers. I used a medium flat polish stone to work them out and also knocked the high points of sandblast off. Smooooth now. Just a tip.

Im getting the 1/2charcoal 1/2 griddle blackstone tomorrow and thank you for your video

Great information. Perfect instruction, and answered my questions throughout the video. Nicely done young man. Keep em coming.

The sandpaper definitely helps. I just seasoned my new Blackstone last night and did not sand the griddle and it was destroying my paper towels until the 3rd round of seasoning.

Great info glad I found your channel, new Blackstone owner can't wait to check out more of your videos. Thanks man!

Thank you for your videos! I have watched several different channels, and by far I have learned valuable information from you. Appreciate that you include your wife's suggestions as well. I do not feel like I am wasting my time. Well organized and easy to follow. Not jumping back and forth to one person talking over the other. Well done! So, here is my question. Looking to purchase my first griddle. My wife and I have five children and we are planning to use the griddle quite often. What would you recommend? I have watched the reviews pros/cons. What is your go to griddle? The first one that comes to mind? Appreciate your input! Keep the videos coming!

Good video Neil,, I also used Crisco on my Blackstone when I first bought it . worked great for me ! Thank you Frank from montana... Gotta catch up on watching my videos I missed...

Awesome Griddle and seasoning job! We have this one and the 37" Blue Rhino (propane company) that we take camping. Love the Blue Rhino but if you air fry a lot then this one is a great complement to any outdoor space.

Thank you bud. very thorough and I got mine done right the first time !

Yeaaaa bawwww!! I’m looking forward to cooks on this one. 👊🏻

Nice work Neil. Even a novice like me can follow your instructions with great results! Thanks!

It was your videos that got me interested in flat top cooking to enhance my summer cooking repertoire. It only makes sense that I would look up your seasoning video when it came time to season my first flat top. Thank you for all you're great ideas and most of all, thank you for your service!

Bring back the Crisco ! That’s how I’m gonna Season mine! Thanks!

ayyee my man! About to take mine outta the box and season for the 1st time. This is going into my favorites and i'm gonna sub!

I like your Wounded Warrior shirt.

Grape seed oil is great to use as well 👍! Great video!

Nice vid. I hadn't thought of seasoning the outside edges of the griddle; that just makes sense. 👍🏻 on the WWP.

Literally just got some seasoning my new BS and after i made couple cheese quesadillas 🤙🏼

First, thank you for your service. And thank you for this video. I just won a 36 inch Blackstone griddle at a fundraiser and am seasoning it this weekend. I’ve been watching many videos and reading articles on the seasoning process. This was very helpful. I did do the sanding already thanks to your video and probably did a bit more than you did, but I’m like that. I like the Crisco idea, but I don’t have any. I do, however, have grape seed and avocado oils for cooking. So I’m going to do a few coats of grape seed oil first. If there are any areas in the front not black, I’ll turn the griddle around. Then a couple coats of avocado oil to finish. I’ll follow your advice about preheating slowly and avoid warping. I’m really enjoying all of your other videos as well. I love to cook and am really looking forward to having fun with this griddle. It’s my first.

I love your top! I am a Wounded Warrior.

Nicely done 👑. Very informative demonstration. Happy cooking on the new addition.

Wish I would have watched this before I Cooked my first meal on it lol. I’m such a noob. I knew I should have seasoned it as soon as my pancakes were sticking to it terribly.

Really well done(no pun) video. I just got my 22 inch Blackstone and am researching the seasoning process. I like the idea of hitting the surface with a light sanding. Even though I did this on my cast iron pans, I wouldn't have thought to do this on my flattop. Thanks!

Thanks for the info! I just bought my husband the 17” for Father’s Day and we will also use it while camping! A much larger one is in the works after we build our new back deck next month!

Seasoning mine today. Thanks for the help!!

Look forward to seeing your cooks on the BlackStone. I have seasoned my 36 twice using Crisco and Olive oil roughly seven coats. I also hit mine with a 4” grinder with a cup brush before each seasoning like I do with all of my cast iron. Smooth is better for me. Great video!!

Awesome! I’d love to see a camp chef vs blackstone comparison video once you’ve gotten used to the new flat top.

Nice video and great job. You're on a roll with griddles...can't wait to see you season and cook on the new Loco griddle when you get one. Still very happy with my Camp Chef. Thanks.

Thank you! Just got the 36” and can’t wait to start cooking!!

Although I am greatly impressed with the Pit Boss, I ultimately purchased the exact Blackstone you have and love it. We use the air fryers A Lot. I am surprised that no Pit Boss reviewer questions the longevity of the ceramic surface or the lost of griddle surface due to that grease hole. One thing about a cast iron surface it will last.

Outstanding teacher! I love your style.

Going back to this 1 so i can do it correctly brotha! 👊🏼😎🤙🏼

I have re-watched a few of these seasoning videos but I am looking for the one where you talk about how your first cook should be a "loose" cook, thanks. I just got a Blackstone On The Go 22" today and am looking forward to my first cook

You are going to need a bigger deck! What a dilemma you now have. What flat top to cook on today? Thanks for the channel and FB page. Have used my new camp chef several times. You keep giving me new ideas. Keep them coming.

Thank you for the video just got my first flat top blackstone like the one you have. Just used this video to season it. Really appreciate the videos. Gonna make the cheese steaks you make next 😁

Thanks for mentioning sanding down the rough spots. I hate rough spots on a cooking surface, but everyone acts like they're normal. I've been watching a bunch of your videos, as I cook breakfast on a griddle twice a week, so I just took a sudden Jonesing to get an outdoor griddle and I'm researching which one to get, but they all seem to have something or other I don't like about them. I like the Pit Boss's grease drain location the most, but I don't like the ceramic surface. I don't like the rear grease drain on the Blackstone, though I suppose I could learn to live with it. Blackstone may be in the lead, sadly. I don't like that the Camp Chef only has two wheels, and I'm not crazy about the front trough / lack of a wall. I saw a great mod done to it where they welded on a front wall and cut a section out of the left wall, so they could just rake huge swathes of gunk off the side into a drip pan and clean the spatula off on the ramp, that would be pretty nice. I also don't like that it's pre-seasoned as I'm sure it will have a rough surface like all non-artisan cast iron that comes pre-seasoned does, and I don't trust myself to use a power sander to get rid of that without taking off too much. I'd also suspect a cast iron cooktop is really heavy, and the thing just looks big and hard to store. The Loco has "smart" burners and a likewise good grease drain the same way the Pit Boss does, but I don't like that it has to be plugged in to function. Seems like there are just barely any other ones, and even if you decide to go with a Blackstone they've got so many models it's hard to choose.

Great video. Thank you for what you do.

I live in a very windy at times area. Could you add to your ever-growing list of ideas for comparisons what grill will keep burning with a crosswind? Thanks, keep up the great work. Both of you lol.

When I seasoned my new griddle I put 2 coats of crisco and then finished it off with grapeseed oil

Wish I would have seen this before I seasoned my BS, I followed the direction from BS, your grill looks much better than mine. But mine is cooking Ok so I’m guessing all is good. When it come time to reseason mine I think I’ll smooth it a bit.

Great video! I always appreciate informational videos and I'm sure I will be doing this down the road. After cooking on the smaller griddle my son got me which is awesome but I need a bigger one, hard to cook an entire meal on the small one.

Like the video. Just a quick question once you're heating your grill is there a certain temperature you look for and try to maintain the whole time you're doing your seasoning or you just turn it to high let it heat up and leave it there?

Was that a metal dog food bowl that you used for the water? I use them too. There great for bringing your food out to the griddle and then you can use it as a cover to steam your food. They're cheap and they work great and you can get them at your grocery store!!! Plus, you once asked if anyone bought their thermal gun before they had gotten a griddle top, I did! I used it to see what temperature my cast iron skillets were. Thanks for all you do your videos are great and thank you for your service to our country!!!!

Great job. Really appreciate the help.

A Little professional metal work tip, get a block of wood and wrap your sandpaper around it then sand the top. It really helps to knock all the high points down evenly, and don't press too hard! Otherwise, great information, thank you!! I personally would only use the soap on the initial cleaning to remove the oil from the factory, then water only. Now, a little unrelated information, Costco is a ANTI 2nd Amendment Company, just some FYI stuff for ya. So is Levis jeans and Burger King. I know, it really hurt me too!! As a Patriot, I feel I need to let other patriots know this info. God Bless!

Hi. Does it hurt to coat the griddle surface before turning on the heat? What’s the reasoning behind having the surface hot first rather than applying the oil first?

Thank you for this video your griddle is basically the same as mine but I got a Sam's club knock off of yours and now that'll help me get it prepared for when I am ready to use it!!! Again thank you for your help have a great day!!!

Yeah, sanding and then not having a thermal gun.. 4:40 is the end of this video for me lmao

Great video!! I love the Blackstone

Great video. My question is after initial seasoning, I will cook until a few days later do I add a coat of oil or just as is?

So, u start on low heat to begin with, then go to high heat? Do u turn it off for the 5 seasonings then or leave it on high? Thanks!

Good video King, very much how I cleaned and seasoned mine when I got it last September. I got the Blackstone seasoning conditioner (probably Crisco in their packaging), but I also use avocado oil, it's heathier than some oils and has a high heat point. So, after you get playing with this new tool (lol - it's a toy, admit it!) love to see a video on cooking with the air fryers! Just a though.

I was wondering how long you were going to let that sit in the background of your other videos. 😂 Good process.

Really great and informative video Neal! You’re gonna need a bigger patio..lol. Congratulations on hitting that 18K subscribers! Cheers brother!

Can you cook immediately after this?

I recently bought a used 36" Blackstone. The previous owner had already seasoned and cooked with it. So far, it's been working fine. I do worry a little about animal fat being used which Blackstone says can lead to chipping. Should I scrub it down anyways and start back over from fresh? I really enjoy your videos they have helped out so much already!