The Common Issue Buyers Run Into With New Blackstone Griddles

Flat-top grills have taken over our backyards and our social media feeds. If you love hosting a backyard party, their enormous steel surfaces promise to deliver more than enough space for everything you want to cook. Brands like Blackstone sell their most popular models for around $500, which is significantly cheaper than similar large-capacity options from other brands like Weber. Although Blackstone griddles are highly rated by thousands of satisfied customers, plenty of buyers report that declining quality, flaking paint, and serious rust issues are all too common problems that are frustrating to resolve thanks to poor customer service.

Blackstone griddles were first released in 2008, but they exploded on the grilling scene during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. When the company announced its intention to take on a new partner and become publicly traded at the end of 2021, it claimed to own 80% of the outdoor grill market in the United States. A year later, the IPO deal was scuttled, reportedly as a result of plummeting grill sales industry-wide. Weber faced the same macroeconomic challenges, and the two companies merged to form Weber Blackstone in 2025. According to Cookout News analysts, the partnership comes with many supply chain benefits for Blackstone, which is still majority-owned and manufactured by Xiamen Cowell, a major Chinese manufacturer.

While these corporate plays may have been necessary to secure Blackstone's longevity as a business, during the same five-year period, everyday buyers have been flooding online with complaints about quality control issues. "Honestly after owning my four burner Blackstone I'd buy anything else," wrote one person who said theirs was headed for the scrap yard.

A customer could spend hours scrolling through the results for "quality issues" in online forums specific to the griddles. Complaints about manufacturing errors run the gamut; from missing screws, to dings and dents, to warping, pitting, and rust on brand new cooktops. Blackstone griddles come with a one-year warranty, and the company has an extensive help section on its website, including the option to submit a ticket for help resolving concerns. Yet, some customers report never receiving a response, and others say they waited weeks to receive replacements for missing or defective parts. One person said they paid extra to have their Blackstone griddle assembled in store to avoid these issues, writing, "Worth every penny. Heard too many of these stories to even risk it."

Rust is another one of the biggest disadvantages of a Blackstone griddle. Hundreds of customers seek advice online how to deal with it both inside and outside their grills. When one buyer complained about receiving a brand new grill that had already rusted, a person responded that rust is just a feature of Blackstone grills. To be fair, no grill is immune to rusting when constantly exposed to the elements, and there are plenty of grill cleaning tips and tricks out there. However, the issue is so widespread that Blackstone sells a griddle top restoration kit designed to remove surface rust. Multiple reviewers say it doesn't work.

You'll find lots of positive feedback about Blackstone griddles through reviews, online forum threads, and tasty-looking viral videos. But that doesn't mean you're guaranteed to avoid these common issues. Responding to a buyer who dealt with missing screws and faulty knobs, one person summed it up by writing, "They don't build them like they used to! I think things changed when they went mainstream and got so popular."