Best Built-In Flat Top Grills - Our Experts Weigh In

Flat top grills and griddles have only grown in popularity in recent years.  This versatile style of cooking is ideal for everything from a pancake and egg breakfast all the way to a steakhouse quality dinner.

There are a lot of options on the market when it comes to outdoor griddles generally, but the options get a little thinner when it comes to built-in flat top grills.

An ideal built-in griddle is made with high-quality materials and should last you decades.  Performance wise, you should be looking for a cooker that heats quickly, evenly, and consistently.

We've created this resource to share the best flat top grills on the market that can be built-in to your outdoor kitchen.

A Quick Look At Our Favorite Built-In Griddle Brands:

1. Le Griddle
2. Blaze
3. Lynx
4. Alfresco

Best Built In Flat Top Grills

1. Le Griddle 2-Burner 30-Inch Gas Griddle

Le Griddle is a premium brand known for designing some of the best and outdoor griddles on the market. As well as being easy to use, they’re very easy to maintain and have very long lifetimes. Provided that they’re cared for properly. 

The Le Griddle 2-Burner 30-Inch Gas Griddle was designed to be able to be used in all seasons, not just summer. So with this flat top cooking surface, you can be enjoying griddle cooking year round.

Le Griddle products are manufactured in France and utilize a unique dual plate heating system to produce incredibly consistent heat with no hot spots.

Essentially, the 9,000 BTU U shaped burners heat a cast iron subplate, which in turn disperses heat evenly to the 304 stainless steel cooking surface.

The cooking surface area on this particular griddle is 29.5"W x 15.75" deep - which adds up to 465 sq. in. of cooking surface area to work with.

Each of Le Griddle's gas powered cookers ship configured for propane fuel, however a conversion kit is included if you need to use natural gas.  The conversion kit takes about 15 minutes to install.

All of Le Griddle's products can be used in a built-in configuration, but they also work as tabletop or freestanding (with the purchase of a cart) flat tops as well.

Last but not least, their griddles are available in 3 different sizes, and with an electric heating element instead of gas:

• Le Griddle Wee 16-Inch Gas
• Le Griddle Wee 16-Inch Electric
• Le Griddle 30-Inch Gas
• Le Griddle 30-Inch Electric
• Le Griddle 41-Inch Gas

What Sets Le Griddle Apart

Le Griddle's dual plate system is a game changer.  Not only does the cast iron subplate ensure incredibly even and consistent heating across your cooktop, it makes clean up and maintaining your griddle a breeze.  You don't have to worry about discoloration or tapering performance over time with Le Griddle products.

Features We Love

• Consistent heating thanks to dual plate system
• Quality 304 stainless steel cooktop performs and is easy to maintain
• Available in 3 sizes and with gas or electric heating elements
• Can be used in tabletop, built-in, or freestanding configuration

Areas Of Improvement

• Le Griddle specializes in griddles and doesn't offer any outdoor kitchen built-ins - so you'll need to mix and match brands to complete the look of your outdoor kitchen

Shop Le Griddle →

2. Blaze Premium LTE 30-Inch Built-In Gas Griddle

Blaze Premium LTE built-in flat top grill is made from 304 stainless steel, which is excellent at conducting heat quickly, resulting in a fast preheating times, as well as the griddle surface being able to circulate the heat properly. 

This grill uses U shaped burners, and flame ignition so you can get up and running in no time. Each burner has its own illuminated control knob and provides 18,000 BTUs of power - which adds up to 36,000 BTU altogether.

The cooking surface features 495 sq. in. of total cooking surface area to work with.  On the cleaning side of things, a full width grease trough works in conjunction with a hole in the center to funnel grease to an easy-to-remove tray.

This griddle is available in either a propane or a natural gas configuration.

What Sets Blaze Apart

Blaze is one of the best known brands in the outdoor grilling & outdoor kitchen space. They offer a wide variety of quality outdoor kitchen products - so if you're looking to match brands your built-in flat top grill with undercounter cabinets, drawers, or even a traditional grill, you can find Blaze products to complete your project.

They also back their products with one of the best in industry warranties.

Features We Love

• Flame thrower ignition and powerful burners mean you can be grilling in no time
• Powerful burners are consistent and heat the entire cooking surface nicely
• Product matches other Blaze branded outdoor kitchen products
• Great price point

Areas Of Improvement

• The grease pan is shallow, which means you need to make sure you are checking and cleaning it out consistently

3. Lynx Asado 30-Inch Built-In Professional Flat Top Gas Grill

 

The Lynx Asado 30-Inch Built-In Professional Flat Top Gas Grill is the perfect built-in flat top grill for those who want a professional quality set up in their outdoor kitchen.

It weighs in at 208lbs, so it’s certainly not the lightest. But it's packed with only the best features, a hallmark of Lynx's Professional line of outdoor cooking products.  The 304 stainless steel finish of the Asado matches other Lynx products perfectly.

The Asado Flat Top doesn't just use any old burners. Lynx’s patented Trident Infrared burners. Trident infrared burners are a cut above normal burners - they utilize infrared grilling technology to heat the cooking surface with an unmatched level of precision.

It includes a Hot Surface ignition system that gets the burners going safely and quickly, making it very reliable.

With all the fuel options and flame power, you never have to worry about getting your grill going. Especially not when there are this many choices on how. 

The grill is 30 inches wide and has a nice cooking surface area of 495 sq. in.  The burner knobs are back lit with blue LED lights.

What Sets Lynx Apart

When it comes to luxury outdoor kitchen brands, Lynx is one of the names at the top.  The level of craftsmanship and quality in their designs is just simply hard to top.

The Trident Infrared Burners are what sets this built-in griddle from the rest.  Infrared heating ensures consistent, precise temperatures throughout the entire cooking surface of your griddle.

Features We Love

• Trident Infrared Burners are powerful, precise, and consistent
• Made from durable and sturdy 304 stainless steel
• Hot surface ignition system to light the burners safely and fast
• Available in propane or natural gas

Areas Of Improvement

• Price point is high - we think the value is there, but this is no question the most expensive flat top grill on our list

Shop Lynx Asado →

4. Alfresco Versa Power Teppanyaki

 

Ending our list with a very unique choice, we have the Alfresco VersaPower cooking system. What makes this cooker a unique choice is that it's not purely a flat top grill by design.

It's really a power burner - a very high quality one at that, which can be kitted with a premium grade griddle top that is also made by Alfresco.

The two circular burners can put out up to 65,000 BTU's of heat.  The burners are able to boil a 100 quart pot - so you can use the VersaPower system for a seafood boil, amongst other things. You can also use just one of the burners at a time to dial in your temperature, if needed.

The outer burner is also excellent at reheating, slow cooking, or just keeping food warm. Coupled with the brass center burner which really helps lock in heat and flavor, this grill is incredibly versatile.

While this obviously isn't a bespoke built-in flat top grill, it functions quite well as one and adds a level of versatility that might be just what you are looking for.

What Sets Alfresco Apart

Here the unique feature is the power burner configuration.  While it's not a pure griddle, the power burner style set up will afford you with options that the other units on this list of the best built-in flat top grills simply won't.

Features We Love

• Dual ring burners can put out up to 65,000 BTU's of output
• Each ring has it's own burner control
• Griddle top is made of quality 304 stainless steel
• VersaPower has many other accessories to utilize
• Alfresco has a wide offering of complimentary grills and outdoor kitchen products

Areas For Improvement

• We'd love to see Alfresco design a pure griddle that brings out the nuances we love about flat top cooking

Shop Alfresco Grills →

Choosing The Best Built-In Flat Top Grill For You

There you have it! 5 of the best built-in flat-top grills on the market. Any of these would work well, but would they work well for you? And how would you know?

We’ve included this guide to help you figure out which grill would be the best based on all the things you don’t know about them yet. Read on to find out just what that is!

Different Types Of Built-In Flat-Top Grills

There are a few different nuances and variations to the different types of flat top grills on the market.  They may or may not make a difference to you, but either way we wanted to touch on these considerations.

Flat Top Grill vs Griddle

Nowadays, the terms flat top grill and griddle are used somewhat interchangeably - even by manufacturers themselves!

Technically speaking, a griddle is a unit that heats with straight line or U shaped burners underneath the cooking surface, whereas a flat top grill utilizes circular shaped burners to heat the surface.

In practice, the only thing that matters is consistent and even heat - and both burner configurations are capable of achieving just that.

Heating Elements: Traditional Gas, Infrared, or Electric

The other big flat top grill consideration is your heating element.  Most common is a traditional gas burner that's fueled by either propane or natural gas.  These burners create flames, which heat the air underneath your griddle, which in turn heat the cook top.

Infrared heating elements have become popular in grills in recent years.  Infrared burners utilize natural gas or propane to emit infrared waves that directly heat your griddle surface. They're a consistent and precise option for griddle cooking.

Finally, electric heating elements can be used to heat a griddle surface.  These set ups are ideal for indoor use and produce excellent results.  You'll need a dedicated circuit to properly power your built-in electric griddle. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Figuring out what kind of grill is best for you can leave you with lots of questions. Here in the FAQs, we’ve answered some of the most common questions about this topic.

What Is BTU?

BTU is a unit of measurement for heat. It stands for British Thermal Unit. The higher the BTU number of a grill, then the hotter it gets.

Typically the higher the better, but that's not necessarily the case.  What really matters at the end of the day is how thoroughly your heating element heats your cooking surface.

Case in point, Le Griddle's burners only put out 9,000 BTUs of heat power each, but the heat is efficiently distributed thanks to their dual supblate technology.

What Accessories Do I Need For A Flat Top Grill?

Flat-top grills are great for cooking, but you need more than just the griddle to be able to have the best cooking experience possible. That’s where the accessories come in.

Some flat-top grills will come with these included while others won’t so it’s important to check the list of included accessories before purchasing. 

The important accessories that you should look out for are:

• Griddle scraper
• Oil bottle
• Spatula
• Thermometers
• Covers/lids

These are key for optimal day to day cooking and cleaning on your griddle.

How Expensive Are Flat Top Grills?

It depends on a variety of factors, but flat top grills can run anywhere from $500 to $5,000+ in price.

For the most part, outdoor kitchen grade products will run in the middle to high end of that price spectrum, and portable freestanding units will be on the lower end.

If you want to look at a cheaper brand and a high-end griddle brand side by side, check out our comparison of Blackstone and Le Griddle next.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to finding the best built-in flat-top grills, any of the ones on our list would do nicely.

Just be sure to pick the one that would suit your needs best. Questions about which built-in griddle is right for you?  Get in touch with us!