Cooking Burgers on a Blackstone Grill

Before you start reading and start your burger cooking, I just wanted to let you know that I will interchangeably use the terms Blackstone, griddle, grill, and flattop.

Whenever I’m not out eating road food, I’m busy attempting to master burgers on my Blackstone Griddle. So I’m usually an old-school chargrill guy.

It’s been a neverending battle to simplify the process, but I’ve found that the more prepared I am, the easier it is to cook. 99% of the time, I smash burgers on the flat top.

If you follow me on Instagram, it should be no surprise that smash burgers are my jam. And sometimes, if you get me on a good day, I might butter and toast my hamburger buns.

I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times before, but you need a burger blend with good fat content, and 80-20 will do.

Originally published on October 24, 2018. Updated May 2026.

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, Burger Beast may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Things You Will NEED

This features a few things I use when smashing burgers on my Blackstone Griddle.

A Blackstone Griddle. Currently there are 4 different ones available: 17 inch, 22 inch, 28 inch and 36 inch. This is where your needs, space capability and budget come into play. I own the Omnivore 36 inch. Check Price on Amazon

A Burger Smasher will be necessary. I use the Sasquash (about $30) 6-inch heavy-duty burger smasher. The handle is perfect for getting a good grip when you’re in smashing burger mode. Check Price on Amazon

A heavy-duty burger spatula to flip those smashed beauties, the Sasquash wide burger turner (about $30) is a great one. Or the “Scrape-Ula” for a scraper-spatula hybrid. Check Price on Amazon

Let’s keep it in the family one last time, as I suggest the Sasquash 9-inch steaming dome (about $18). If you want to get fancy with your cheese-melting, you can use a steaming dome apparatus. There’s also a press + dome combo. Check Price on Amazon

Can you tell I’m a fan of Sasquash? Well, their seasoning dredge (about $20) brings two to a pack. You’re good to go for salt and pepper, or you can do it directly from the store-bought shakers. I like to keep my outdoor grilling and inside cooking stuff separate especially if you live with others. Check Price on Amazon

If cooking at night, something like the Yukon Grill Light. Try cooking at night without light; it’s a nightmare. Check Price on Amazon

You don’t need these Rear Grease Cup Liners, but they make cleaning up at the end of your cooking adventure ten times easier. Check Price on Amazon

Get an Infrared Thermometer Gun if you want to go next level. MESTEK has a great one for right around $40. Check Price on Amazon

Get This Meat Party Started Right

If you’re going for a smaller slider style, you should be looking at two ounces. My preferred burgers are double, with each patty weighing around 3 ounces.

You’ll want to make balls from the ground beef, but don’t mess around with it; roll them, and be done. I set my Blackstone on high.

The grill must be super hot. Once that baby is going, place a few beef balls on the grill.

If you cook at night, as I prefer, and don’t have great lighting, you should use a grill light unless you like having your friends and family hover over you with their cell phones or flashlights.

Smash that MEAT

It would be best if you used a heavy-duty meat press to smash your balls or pucks of beef. If you don’t have one, use the smashing power of two weaker spatulas, like in the picture above.

That burger smasher is ideal for, you guessed it, smashing that ball into the hot flattop. It will make your life easier if you add a piece of parchment paper in between both first.

You don’t want to deal with that dreaded sticking situation that can happen with beef and shiny items.

Season and Melt Cheese on those Blackstone Burgers

You will need to season those flattened meat spheres. A mix of salt and pepper is excellent, and seasoned salt is another good option.

I’ve always got whatever I use ready in a dredge to shake with some style. Steak seasoning also works well if you’ve never tried it before.

Once those burgers are almost ready, you will grab that spatula and flip them, babies, over. Give them about a minute, and place slices of cheese on them.

American cheese is the best choice for burgers because of its unique melty qualities, but you can also try Manchego if you want to get fancy.

If you’ve got a steaming or cheese-melting dome, now is the time to break it out. Cover the smash burgers and maybe even drop some water around the perimeter to kick up steam and speed up the process.

All that’s left now is to assemble your sandwich. Don’t cut corners at the end; always use great bread.

For example, I use Martin’s Potato Rolls. Unfortunately, they’re unavailable everywhere, but you can grab some from Amazon or Walmart rather easily.

Let’s Finish These Burgers on a Blackstone!

Don’t get lazy and forget to clean up after yourself. There’s no time like the present before everything hardens on the grill.

I like to use a scraper to remove all the tasty residue from my Blackstone Griddle. It’s not the first scraper I’ve purchased, but I prefer the grip on this one.

Oh, one last thing: while I’m all for chargrilling, air fryers are not the best method to cook burgers.