Cuisinart 360° XL Griddle Outdoor Cooking Center, 30” Round Flat Top Grill with Stainless Steel Vented Lid, Folding Prep Tables, 45,000 BTU Burners, Grease Management, Gas Grill for BBQ, Cookouts

This griddle is so versatile and so much better than a grill! Assembly took a little under 2 hours (taking my time and being methodical). All the hardware and assembly points are very well made and instructions were easy to follow. The griddle has a small footprint but has a good sized griddle surface. I managed to easily fit 13 (4 oz) smash burgers on it with room to spare. The surface heats up very fast. I seasoned the surface 4 times before my initial use and I have had no issues with food sticking. The trick is to lightly season the surface lightly after every use. A problem I see people having with this griddle design is that there is nothing to keep the food (like veggies) from falling off the surface while you are tossing the food. The food just drops into the grease trough and is easily retrievable. UPDATE: The only other issue is the small size of the 2 flip out shelves. They are large enough to fit some of your cooking tools on them, but that is about it. I would suggest having a table adjacent to the griddle to hold all the food and tools you will need. All the surfaces (besides the griddle top) is enamel coated which makes the griddle easy to clean and looking good. So far, I have made smash burgers, cheese steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, chicken, pork shops, bacon, stir fry, omelettes, pineapple, and roasted potatoes. UPDATE: I made Chicken fajitas! Having all that griddle area to cook 2 lbs of chicken thigh pieces, a huge mound of various peppers and unions, PLUS 2 serving skillets all at once! I felt like a real chef bringing 2 SIZZLING skillets of fajitas to the dinner table! Griddling requires a lot of prep space anyway. So many of these things are impossible to make on a grill. If you decide to order this griddle, I would recommend ordering the Cuisinart griddle cover as well.

Every outdoor cooking appliance is a trade off between functionality and price. If money is not a concern, then the EVO griddle for $5,000 is the best for a 30" diameter round. If price is a concern, then get the Cuisinart 360 XL. Both provide over 705 sq. inches of cooking space. 1. High heat output of 50,000 BTU similar to the EVO, but the 360 XL has three separate burners running vertically. Left/Right single burners and center in a "U" shape. The EVO has two concentric round burners which makes heat control easier; however, the 360 XL can be managed knowing you will have some hot/cold spots. Wind shielding isn't the greatest, but isn't bad and you can rotate it if you have straight line winds. 2. The round steel griddle is heavy, but not very heavy. It could have been beefier, but that would require the rest of the frame to be sturdier. 3. Grease management is excellent with the all round drip tray that drains into the grease cup. If food falls into it, just pick it up and put back on the griddle. 4. Made in China and made cheaply. Don't leave it out in the rain, it will rust, and will rust if you don't keep it clean. The control knobs are made of plastic, which will break if you frequently turn them hard. Amazon shipping is also an issue, often times these grills will get beaten up in shipping. It may be worth paying $20 for inside delivery so you can inspect the package or refuse delivery. At the price point of $440 after tax, it is a better product than the standard Blackstone griddle. If the price was $500 or higher, then I would look into a better standard rectangular griddle between $500-$900 that could attain the similar heat per sq. inch. I expect to use this griddle for 3-4 years, then it will likely break down, but by then I'm sure other companies will have more price competitive round griddles.

I love this griddle. Its my first one. It is easy to put together by yourself--the directions are very clear and easy to follow. It did take a few hours, but I took my time. I love cooking on it. Heat distribution isn't even throughout, but this can actually be a plus. Its kind of nice knowing where the hot areas are and having some spaces that are less hot. Cooking breakfast on it is amazing. There is so much space--you feel like you are on a restaurant griddle. No, it isn't super-study, but it is plenty sturdy enough for its purpose. Yes, it burns a lot of propane, but so do other 3-4 burner grills. Yes, it will rust if you don't take care of it. But if you have any cast iron pans and know how to maintain them with a thin coating of oil (and keep them out of the rain and/or covered), then you can take care of this. I think this product is a bargain at $450. Many regular grills cost $500 or even $1000 (or more), and you can do so much more on this griddle. Plus, it looks really cool! Highly recommended.

I purchased this griddle because I did not want to deal with the usual drippings mess that accompanies traditional grills. It was a smart choice. This thing is easy to clean, and I do not have to worry about drippings gumming up the burners underneath. It has a huge surface area and seems to heat evenly. I use it every week and it is great. (When you use it with the large cover, things can heat up pretty fast. Don't lose track of time. I did that with some bacon, and it ruined all the strips.) The only hassle I had was putting it together, but that's because the muscular problems I have in my lower back would not allow me to sit or kneel comfortably. It will take some time to get it set-up, but one guy should be able to do it in about 45 minutes. (I took about 1:15, but I set up one of the facings incorrectly and had to re-do it. The instruction booklet does not have very good illustrations, but I figured it out...and I am NOT real handy.) All-in-all, I give a 5. It's very easy to use. I also purchased the cylindrical Cuisinart covering and a cleaning kit. They are all worth it. This was a great purchase for me, and I am looking forward to years of easy grilling (and cleaning) on it.

Griddle is awesome. Love the size, heat distribution, shape, ease of cleaning and pretty much everything about the reason for its existence: the cooking. 5/5 Why is no one talking about the lid? It's great for cooking. But there is nowhere else to put it except on the grease trap lip and it is basically always in the way. Trying to clean the grease trap? Lid has to go on the ground. Trying to come at the unit from a different side? Lid has to go on the ground. It's HUGE and pretty heavy, so just one-handing it while trying to do anything isn't optimal. Cuisinart really should have created a place for the lid to hang that ISN'T on the unit while cooking or cleaning. Maybe one of the side tables? 3/5 And now the side tables. They're functional and work fine. But what the h*** is with the accessory knobs instead of hooks? None - and I mean ZERO - of my existing griddle tools fit on that stupid knob. To use them I would need to create an extra material loop of some kind. Otherwise I'm SOL and they're just kinda there. I noticed they're also on the coveted prep table - lame. 4/5 I regret nothing about purchasing this griddle. I'm very happy with the cooking and the lid and the knobs aren't so bad that I'd return and consider something else... they're just minor inconveniences that should be fixed in an upgraded model, because lame.

I’ve had this griddle now for over a year and feel good about finally writing a review. The wife gave me an ultimatum between my grill and getting this griddle. If you are trying to decide between a grill and griddle, absolutely get a griddle. I don’t miss my grill one bit. The griddle can do everything a grill can plus more. The reason I went with this griddle and not a Blackstone is because of the reviews. Blackstone seemed to get damaged in transport easily which means it’s made of thin cheap steel. The XL is a solid unit and I’ll never have to worry about quality issues. As far as the usability of the XL, the flat top is big and distributes heat very well. Like all griddles, it takes time to learn the hot spots, but I picked it up pretty quick. I do not use the side tables and utensil holder because I do not have enough porch space. Which I’m perfectly fine with. I don’t have to worry about putting the side tables down each time I put the cover back on. As a bonus, the griddle cover hook fits nicely on one of the side tables (see picture). I recommend buying a prep table from Keter or something to store all of your utensils and food prep. You won’t regret it. My only gripe is clean up after cooking. Obviously you want to take care of your investment which means cleaning and seasoning after each cook. With the 360 drip catcher, it makes clean up a little bit of a pain. If you let the grease sit too long after a cook, it can really get nasty, so make sure you have plenty of paper towels handy.

Assembly was OK. The instructions are clear. The only issue I had were two of the threaded bushings were not threaded completely which prevented the bolt from tightening. Fortunately I have a tap-n-die set so I was able to fix them. The seasoning process worked perfectly. After each seasoning (I did three), I rotated the griddle 90 degrees to ensure the entire surface was seasoned. There are cool spots, especially near the control knobs where there is no flame. Cooking on it was perfect. It heats up quickly and was completely non-stick. Clean up was very easy. If you don't want to clean it right after cooking, just heat it back up again and it cleans easily. There are pros and cons to the circular griddle. On one hand there are no walls to trap the food as you are trying to scoop up the rice/hash browns/etc. But on the other hand, you have complete 360 degree access to your food which to me was more important. You can even have two people cook on it at the same time since there is complete access to the griddle. Would I buy it again? Most assuredly! It is the perfect and affordable option to the ridiculously expensive Evo griddle.

Due to my relatively crowded deck, I have a Weber Q 1200 grill. The cast iron griddle plate was alright, but its size and long reheat time doesn't work out when I have to make a lot of food. I looked into various griddles on the market and this one stuck out since it could be wheeled around and it looks like a "poor man's" version of an Evo. So far, I've used this griddle for making bánh bột chiên, fried eggs, sauteed vegetables, and smashed burgers. All of them worked out well. I especially like that I can get close to 600F if it's a fresh preheat on high. I recommend getting some quality cooking utensils such as the Mercer Hell's Handle line. Assembling the griddle was kinda a pain. What didn't help at all was the instructions showing the old mounting mechanism for the griddle plate. I was panicking a bit, but eventually I got it to work. A quick call to support confirmed that I assembled it properly. Maintenance is similar to cast iron cookware. Before the initial use, apply a thin layer of a high smoke point oil and let it smoke off before applying the next layer. I applied about six layers since it's pretty quick and easy to do so. After cooking, I use my scraper to push any food remains down to the surrounding grease catcher. I also spray some water and push the remains down. Finally, I take a wet towel to wipe down the plate, let the water evaporate a bit, then wipe on a thin layer of oil for protection.

I love the grill, but on the 5th time using it while cooking on it it made a pop sound and the surface warped. Called Amazon and they were right on it. Waiting to hear back from Cuisinart.

We had a blackstone adventure that we bought because of all the hype and reviews before and was unsatisfied with uneven heat distribution. We gave the cuisart a shot and wow, the space was overwhelming, the all around cooking amazing and the best part, even heat. Hands down with the cuisinart. Easy to assembly, preferably with 2 people.

Probably the best burgers ever with lots of room for the bacon also eggs, sausage, home fries all on one grill.

It’s very reliable I would definitely recommend this product to everybody it is all set up and when I use it I will do a video

This took awhile to ship, it was popular. It collects the grease well, cleans easy and great for a family of 2. I've tried cooking for 4 but it isn't roomy we enough. Doesn't heat over 400°F