An outdoor griddle lid that traps heat, melts cheese, and blocks wind
The Griddle Hood is an accessory for 36 inch outdoor griddles. Although designed with the popular Blackstone griddle in mind, The Griddle Hood will work with similar outdoor griddles on the market. On 36 inch griddles, the hood will cover about half the griddle surface and will not interfere with rear grease management systems.
The Griddle Hood was shipped directly to me from the manufacturer, Yukon Glory. Although it ships in an odd-shaped box that looks surprisingly similar to the Tesla Cybertruck, it was packaged well and arrived free of damage.
The Griddle Hood comes packaged with the handle stowed away inside of the hood and needs to be installed on the outside of the unit. Assembly is a simple matter of thumbing together two nuts and bolts with locking washers and tightening them with a wrench.
Installing The Griddle Hood on your outdoor griddle is equally simple. A pair of hinged forks sits at the rear of the hood. Slide the forks onto the rear vertical wall of your griddle and basic installation is complete. Once installed, you can make micro adjustments with bolts that affix The Griddle Hood more securely to the griddle. You can also change the angle of The Griddle Hood when it’s in the open position, so it rests up a bit more ergonomically. The hood hinge works well and The Griddle Hood feels rigid and sturdy.
One of the most obvious benefits of this accessory is that it helps speed cooking by trapping heat from the griddle. It’s great for melting cheese on burgers and other dishes like nachos and pizza. It also helps block wind gusts that can affect your cooking.
Besides the lid itself, The Griddle Hood also features a built-in warming rack, a welcome addition for those who cook a variety of foods on their griddle grills. For instance, when making a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and potatoes, the ingredients go on the griddle at different times so they finish together. The warming rack keeps foods like bacon warm while other items are still cooking. It also allows fats and juices to drip down onto the griddle instead of letting food sit in a pool of grease. And, of course, it gives you a little more surface area for food if you run out of room on the griddle itself.
A simple adjustable airvent is included on the back of the Griddle Hood to help regulate heat and airflow.
Griddles are typically constructed of rolled steel, and I often only cook over two of the four available burners on my 36 inch. Cooking on two burners allows me to have both a hot cooking area, and a warm holding area. To monitor approximate temperatures, I appreciate that The Griddle Hood has a built-in bi-metal dial thermometer. Although these thermometers are not terribly accurate, at least it gives an idea of how hot things are getting under the hood.
Outdoor griddle grilling is different from other types of outdoor grilling in many ways. For details, read about Why You Need to Start Griddle Grilling or check out my cookbook The Flippin’ Awesome Backyard Griddle Cookbook.
That said, there is one similarity. You never seem to have enough work surface at the griddle, including space for ingredients, water, oil, and key utensils like a metal bowl or pan for inverting over burgers to help melt cheese. The Griddle Hood helps solve that problem with a warming rack and a lid that’s always there, ready to perform when needed, or otherwise be out of the way.
We thank Yukon Glory for providing The Griddle Hood for testing.
