The Yoder Smokers griddle is close to 24 pounds of cast iron, and is double sided. Flat on one side and raised on the other, with the Yoder Smokers logo cast into the surface. It is made to perfectly fit into the YS640 or the YS480. https://www.atbbq.com/yoder-smokers-cas ... iddle.html
Griddle in a YS640
The griddle should be used with the standard heat diffuser plate removed.
If you have the optional 2 piece diffuser plate with door, you may remove the 2 piece diffuser plate, or you may use the griddle with the 2 piece diffuser and door in the cooker, or you can remove the door in the 2 piece diffuser plate to allow direct flame access to the griddle.
IF THE GRIDDLE IS USED WITH THE 2 PIECE DIFFUSER LEFT IN THE COOKER, YOU MUST MAKE SURE THAT THE SURFACE OF THE 2 PIECE DIFFUSER PLATE IS CLEAN AND ALL GREASE AND COOKING RESIDUE ARE REMOVED FROM THE SURFACE.
I am using the griddle with the optional 2 piece diffuser plate and door in the cooker.
To get the griddle ready for the first use, I removed all the cooking grates from the YS640, placed the griddle in the cooker, and started the YS640 up at the default 350 degrees to do a burn off. This burn off was done for 1 hour to heat up the griddle completely for seasoning and to remove any manufacturing residue.
After running for one hour at 350 degrees I wiped off both surfaces of the griddle. The cooker is still running at 350 degrees and the griddle is very hot, so I used heavy duty leather cooking gloves to manipulate the griddle (https://www.atbbq.com/yoder-smokers-lon ... loves.html). The griddle is too big to just flip over inside the cooker, so to get both sides wiped down, you must lift the griddle out of the cooker, flip and place back in the cooker on the grate rails.
After wiping down both sides, I sprayed both sides with canola oil to further season the cast iron surfaces (remember the griddle is very hot so use gloves, and the griddle must be removed from the cooker to flip over). This additional seasoning is not a requirement, as you can just start to cook on the griddle, but I wanted the added oil layer on the cast iron.
After another hour of running at 350 degrees to allow the oil to season the griddle, I increased the temperature on the cooker from 350 degrees to 495 degrees** to start the first cook on the griddle.
After the temperature display stabilized at 495 degrees, I placed an onion on the griddle to start the cook, closed the lid and walked away for about 30 minutes to give the onion time to cook.
For the first cook on the griddle I cooked 1/2 pound home ground burgers (75% close trimmed prime brisket and 25% zero trimmed pork butt) and homemade brats.
The brats were cooked to an internal temperature of 150 degrees and the burgers were cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees.
After the cooker had cooled and shut off, I removed the griddle from the cooker and cleaned it by scraping the surface, and then wiping with paper towels. I then put just a very small amount of oil on the griddle surfaces to protect it till the next use.
The Yoder Smokers griddle is a beast, and because of it's very heavy metal mass, does an awesome job even with the multitude of door openings that are required when grilling. Even though the controller immediately registered the temperature changes from the lid openings, the griddle kept on cooking as if nothing happened.
**The reason for the 495 degree set temperature, is to allow the controller to actively manage the temperature in the cooker (heat up and cool down modes). As explained in the User's Manual, setting temperatures on the controller to 500 degrees and above, the controller will not manage the temperature (no heat up or cool down modes) but rather feed pellets at the specific feed rate for the temperature that is set (maintenance mode only).
Yoder_Herb wrote:After the cooker had cooled and shut off, I removed the griddle from the cooker and cleaned it by scraping the surface, and then wiping with paper towels...
I've started using coffee filters to wipe down my cast iron griddle pan. They're lint free and don't leave a bunch of tiny fibers like paper towels do.
Wondering if one could leave the Griddle in the smoker for ALL cooks...even when smoking low and slow using the top shelf? If so how would the griddle effect the top shelf temp?
Thanks Tom
macav933 wrote:Wondering if one could leave the Griddle in the smoker for ALL cooks...even when smoking low and slow using the top shelf? If so how would the griddle effect the top shelf temp?
Thanks Tom
It will definitely affect the cooking dynamics inside the cooker. I have not tested your scenario, but from the testing that I have done, just like the optional grill grates, the griddle will influence the performance of the cooker if you so not remove them when doing any other type of cooking, other than direct grilling.
Did a reverse sear Porter Roads ribeye and also smash burgers on griddle on my YS640. First I removed all Yoder grates and two piece diffuser door. Placed griddle over fire box, and 3 GrillGrates turned upside down on the chimney end of the grill. Added steak to GrillGrate side when grill stabilized at 225º F. Cooked until it reached 125º F. Removed steak and turned grill up to 495º F. The side of the steak that was on the GrillGrates already had a light sear. After about 10 minutes the griddle temp was around 650º on my infrared thermometer, so I started to sear steak on griddle, flipping steak about every 15 seconds. The sear was occurring very quickly, so I had to make sure and not leave it very long without flipping. Steak was still at 125º F internal so moved to GrillGrate side of and gave it a minute or two to get up to 130º F. The sear continued on the GrillGrate side, so I almost took the sear too far, but fortunately I looked at it before it got too black and pulled it. Internal temp was at 134º, so pulled and let rest while I did smash burgers.
I started by toasting some buttered buns on griddle. Put them on griddle and gave them a slight smash to make full contact with griddle for better overall toasting. Pulled them off after just a few seconds. If I'd have left the on any longer they would have burned. Next, I dropped 8 two ounce burger balls on griddle and smashed them with spatula. Started flipping the burgers as soon as I got them all smashed. The sear was great, but there was so much smoke that it was difficult to see the burgers to flip them. The burgers directly over the fire pot were just a bit darker than the ones around the perimeter of the fire pot flame, but definitely still tasty! I added a slice of cheese to each patty as soon as I finished flipping all of them. Let them cook for a few seconds and then placed on buns. The heat from the griddle was too hot to leave hands and arms over griddle for very long. Next time I'll wear some oven mitts that protect my arms and hands.
I seasoned steak with fresh ground pepper, a bit of garlic powder and some Murray River finishing salt. I sliced up steak into slices and everybody had a couple slices. Everybody topped burgers with their favorite condiments.
Only got one pic, but I'm not savvy enough to get pic size reduced so that it's accepted on site. The family was very happy with both the burgers and the steak and so was I. My burger had a bit more char than I preferred, but it didn't stop me from woofing it down. 
Hi Herb,
Just cooked on the cast iron griddle this AM.
Followed this post. Worked real good.
Did have a little issue with a grease fire, but I addressed that in another post.
My question is about temperature.
I had the temperature set at 495º for cooking as instructed, but it seemed way too hot?
Is that the recommended temperature to use the griddle at no matter what is being cooked?
Also what are the pros and cons to cooking with the door in and out on the 2 piece heat defuser using the griddle? What about just cooking with the heat defuser removed?
Thank you sir
The set temperature is entirely your choice, as is the cooker/diffuser setup. Try things out and find what works best for you. There isn't a hard fast rule, just trial and error till you find your desired method and setup.
On kind of related note to the griddle, which gloves are you using when handling the griddle and doing other grill related tasks?
I have some leather gloves, but they are due to be replaced.
Are you using the Yoder leather gloves from ATBBQ you referenced above?
Thanks for answer all my questions. I really appreciate it.
Yoder_Herb,
Just wanted to clarify as I’m a bit confused. I am going to season my griddle this weekend and want to make sure I’m doing it correctly. I’m going to remove my standard diffuser and run it @350. My confusion is if you have a two piece diffuser you can use the griddle with door still in? What’s the difference with two piece diffuser with door in and standard diffuser?
I did my first cook on the griddle today, Fajitas. Question, how do I keep the temp from running away. Fajitas requires some stirring of the veggies and it seems having the lid open just keeps the pellets flowing in and the fire under the griddle to spike up. Any recommendations?
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