It was a typical rainy season afternoon here at the Blackstone Diner in St. Pete when we got hit by a whopper. The streets were flooded, but more importantly our house was without power.
Fortunately, we have our Blackstone Adventure Ready 28-Inch Griddle.
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and I never really saw the possibilities for Blackstone Power until this storm came along. It’s not a generator and it’s not going to light your house or keep the fridge cool while you wait for a restoration. But as long as you don’t have to evacuate, it’s just the ally you need in a time like this.
1. A Perfect Meal For Imperfect Times
A blackout is stressful. You start thinking about all the things that can go wrong. Will the refrigerator food spoil? How will you stay comfortable whether it’s hot or cold? How will you charge this phone or that laptop? Is the water OK?
Some comforts emerge. With candles you see the world a little differently and more traditionally. With no TV and electronics, you talk to each other and creatively cope. You talk to your neighbor. And you remember there’s this awesome standup griddle just outside.
If you have a gas stove, then as long as you know it’s safe you are still OK to use it during a power outage. We have electric, so that doesn’t apply to us. Here are 10 ways a Blackstone can help if this emergency situation happens to you:
2. Keep A Full Propane Backup Supply
Propane tanks are their own fuel source and valuable resources during an outage. Whatever your storm season — Kansas tornados, Northeast blizzards, Florida hurricanes — it’s important to always be prepared with at least one full propane backup.
I find that these tanks have longer lives with my Blackstone than with my CharBroil gas grill. It will be ready for you in this time of need, and easy to start and heat up fast.
3. Salmon And Green Beans
During this particular storm, I was fresh out of a hospital stay and on a special low-fiber diet for a week. I had stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a cooked Atlantic Salmon filet, so I planned to just warm it when I got home and make some veggies on the side.
I walked in and my wife said we had no power. There was still some daylight, so I fired up the Blackstone Diner and squirted cooking oil on the surface, then spread it around the griddle. I had a bowl of leftover green beans from the day before, so on one side of the griddle top I placed the salmon, and on the other side I spread the green beans.
In no more than 5-8 minutes I had one of the most delicious meals I have eaten in a while. No matter what your meal plan, you can always prepare a fast and amazing entrée for you and the family during an outage.
4. The Only Way To Boil Water When You Need It
Emergency situations call for resourceful thinking. Need a way to warm up your baby’s formula? Worried about your potable water quality? You just need one or more containers that are safe for boiling and put it on top of your Blackstone. It’s not conventional thinking but again this amazing black-and-orange grilling unit is there to help you in a crisis.
5. Turn Leftovers Into A Special Occasion
You open the fridge during an outage and then take a big gulp because you realize that’s a lot of food that could potentially be wasted. Turn it into a positive by taking different food groups and putting them onto a platter and heading out to the Blackstone Diner.
In fact, you can almost literally close your eyes and just start grabbing things and there will be a way to make them into tonight’s unexpected dinner. You just want to get through this without spending forever on food prep and cooking, and you want to keep your nutrition up during the unknown challenge. Some leftover chicken breast, some Yum Yum or soy sauce, a few eggs . . . the combinations are almost endless.
All you need is a hot Blackstone and a bunch of leftovers and a pair of spatulas. Then turn a negative into a positive. It’s all done quickly, so you can wolf it down and get back to concentrating on handling the outage, checking on neighbors, etc.
6. Have A Flashlight On Hand For The Blackstone, Too
Everyone knows to be prepared for storms with a good flashlight and extra batteries. Well, it’s also a good idea to always have one available for your Blackstone Diner, too. The Blackstone Griddle Light is 30 bucks on the brand’s website, and there are plenty of others with good magnetic capability and flexibility available if you look around on Amazon.
7. Hatch Peppers And Hot Sauce Beat Any Outage
It’s best to use up the food in the fridge while you’re going through an outage, to decrease the possibility of spoilage loss. If you have a can of hatch peppers from New Mexico or a variety of your favorite hot sauce on hand, then you’re in business because that heat will elevate any food and make it more interesting.
8. Might As Well Make It A Full Barbecue
Always be prepared with outstanding BBQ sauce any time of year, and especially during a storm power outage. If there’s ground beef and cheese in the fridge, now’s the time to get it cooking. Make some storm burgers! Nothing changes about your technique. Smash the patties with your burger press, take some frozen tater tots or any other sides and throw them onto the griddle. Slather on the Rib Rack BBQ Sauce liberally, and you’ll remember this outage for the good more than the bad. Eat as a family outside even if you have to wipe down the furniture.
9. Store-To-Griddle Works Just Fine
You can also hit a grocery store like I did if the roads are passable, and find foods that can go on the Blackstone while the restoration is all up in the air. A container of pulled pork will work just fine with that BBQ sauce, and you can also just get some prepare mac and cheese and plunk it onto the griddle to warm up.
10. Beans Go With Just About Everything On The Blackstone
Reach into your pantry and get rid of those cans of various beans you have been stockpiling for some reason. They’ll go with most everything on your Blackstone griddle when you’re in a bind. Add some yellow rice. Add some leftover pork chops. Add some more of those hatch peppers.
Now’s The Time To Make Those Hot Dogs
That extra unopened pack of wieners may still be in the meat drawer of your fridge since that recent BBQ outing. A blackout is an ideal time to use them or lose them. Honestly, almost anything in your fridge looks good when you’ve just had an outage and it’s time to eat.
Honestly you can make do in a pinch with any kind of outdoor grilling device, whether it’s a Big Green Egg ceramic cooker, a Weber gas grill, a Traeger pellet grill, a Pit Boss smoker, a small charcoal grill and more. But the Blackstone advantage is really its speed and responsiveness. Now is not the time to just hang out and savor a long BBQ process, waiting for hot coals, feeding a fire. It’s certainly not the time for low and slow.
Whatever might cause your power outage, you’ll want to use the same common sense to ensure safety outside your darkened home. Make sure the weather has cleared outside. We are the lightning capital of the world and I had to make reasonably sure there were no bolts lately.
The bottom line during a power outage is to stay calm and be resourceful in doing without for a while, until our favorite utility crews are able to power us back up. The Blackstone grill won’t solve all of your issues during this time but it will fix one of the most important ones, which is using up food in the fridge while letting you and your family enjoy meals and nutrition together.
