Grate & Grill
Guide

How to Season a Griddle

A new griddle is bare steel — it will rust and food will stick until you season it. Seasoning bakes thin layers of oil onto the surface until it turns black, slick and rust-resistant. Here's how to do it right the first time, and how to keep it that way.

By Stephen V.Last updated Our methodology

Quick answer

Wash a new griddle once with soapy water, dry it, and heat it until the steel darkens. Then wipe on a very thin layer of high-smoke-point oil, let it heat until it stops smoking and turns brown-black, and repeat 3–5 times. The key is thin coats — too much oil goes sticky and blotchy. After each cook, scrape it clean and wipe on a light coat of oil to build the seasoning and keep rust away.

Why seasoning matters

A flat-top griddle ships as bare cold-rolled steel, and bare steel does two things you don’t want: it rusts when it meets moisture, and it makes food stick. Seasoning solves both at once. When you heat a thin layer of oil past its smoke point on the steel, it doesn’t just burn off — it polymerizes, bonding into a hard, slick, plastic-like layer fused to the metal. Build several of those layers and you get a black, naturally nonstick, rust-resistant surface, the same way a cast-iron skillet develops its patina. It’s not a coating you buy; it’s a surface you create, and it only gets better the more you cook.

The one rule: thin coats

If you remember nothing else, remember this: use far less oil than feels right. The single most common seasoning mistake is applying too much oil, which doesn’t bond properly — instead it pools, goes gummy and sticky, and dries into a blotchy, tacky mess that you then have to scrub off and redo. The goal each pass is the thinnest possible film: pour a little on, spread it everywhere, then wipe most of it back off so the surface looks almost dry. Thin, and patient, wins. Several whisper-thin layers beat one thick one every time.

Which oil to use

Use a high-smoke-point oilso it polymerizes cleanly rather than just burning. Avocado, canola, grapeseed and vegetable oils all work well and are cheap; flaxseed oil creates a very hard layer but can be finicky and flake if applied too thickly; and Blackstone and others sell dedicated griddle seasoning oils/conditioners that are simply blended for the job. Avoid low-smoke-point oils like extra-virgin olive oil and butter for seasoning — they burn before they bond. Any decent high-smoke-point oil, applied thin, gives you a great surface.

Keeping the seasoning (and fixing rust)

Seasoning is a living surface: it builds every time you cook fatty food and oil the griddle afterward, and it degrades if you neglect it, use soap, or cook a lot of acidic food on fresh seasoning. The maintenance routine is simple — scrape clean while warm, wipe, oil, cover — and if you do it, the surface deepens to a beautiful slick black over a season of use. If rust does appear (usually from being left wet or uncovered), it’s not fatal: scrub the rust off with a griddle stone or steel wool, then re-season those spots exactly as above. A griddle is nearly impossible to ruin — you can always strip it back and start the seasoning over.

The gear that helps

A few cheap tools make seasoning and upkeep easy: a stiff metal scraper or bench scraper, a stack of paper towels and tongs (or a seasoning applicator) to spread oil without burning your hand, a bottle of high-smoke-point oil, and a fitted cover to keep weather off between cooks. Add those to any griddle in our flat-top griddles roundupand you’ll keep the surface in great shape for years. Once it’s seasoned, the first thing to cook is a batch of smash burgers— the fat builds the seasoning while you eat — and from there, what to cook on a griddle has the rest.

Frequently asked questions

How do you season a new griddle?

Wash it once with soapy water and dry it. Heat it on high until the steel darkens, then wipe on a very thin layer of high-smoke-point oil, wipe most of it back off, and let it smoke until it stops and turns brown-black. Repeat that thin-coat process three to five times until the whole surface is an even dark black. Finish by cooking something fatty like bacon or burgers. The key is thin coats — too much oil goes sticky.

What oil is best for seasoning a griddle?

A high-smoke-point oil: avocado, canola, grapeseed or vegetable oil all work well and are inexpensive, and there are dedicated griddle seasoning oils blended for the job. Flaxseed oil makes a very hard layer but can flake if applied too thickly. Avoid extra-virgin olive oil and butter for seasoning — their low smoke points mean they burn before they polymerize and bond to the steel.

How many coats of seasoning does a griddle need?

Three to five thin layers to start. Each coat is applied whisper-thin, heated until it stops smoking and darkens, then followed by the next. By the end the surface should be an even, semi-glossy black. From there, the seasoning keeps building every time you cook fatty food and oil the griddle afterward, so it deepens and improves over the first season of use rather than being a one-time job.

Why is my griddle seasoning sticky?

Almost always because you used too much oil. Excess oil doesn't polymerize into a hard layer — it pools, goes gummy, and dries tacky and blotchy. The fix is to scrape or scrub off the sticky patches, heat the griddle, and re-season with much thinner coats, wiping most of the oil back off each time so the surface looks nearly dry before it heats. Thin coats are the whole secret.

How do you keep a griddle from rusting?

Season it well, then maintain it: after each cook, scrape the surface clean while warm, wipe it down, and rub on a light coat of high-smoke-point oil, and always store it covered and out of the weather. The oil layer and the seasoning both block moisture from reaching the bare steel. If rust does appear, scrub it off with a griddle stone or steel wool and re-season those spots — a griddle is nearly impossible to permanently ruin.

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