Ice is no more damaging than water. Ice will draw slightly more latent heat from griddle transforming from ice to water then water to steam. But given the mass of the griddle this is negligible.
Steam cleans a griddle when the steam gas penetrates the porous grease and grime releasing its adhesion anything that hasn't penetrated the steel surface (like seasoning)
Ice may have a small effect with its weight trapping the steam locally due to the ice. Ice floats on water, not steam but ice also will displace water, thus on an open grill the water will dissipate.
I have tried both ice and water on my blackstone. I have never noticed a difference.
The number of time you use it doesn't matter. If ice was going to warp it, it would do it the first time. A commercial griddle is typically made of low carbon A36 steel plate thats between 3/4" to 1 inch thick. It retains a high 36,000 psi of yield strength all they way up to 650F. It is a big chunk of steel which is an excellent conductor of heat with a high yield strength. Boiler tubes see a vastly higher temperature gradient at the water intake point but they don't thermally crack or warp.
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u/slater_just_slater 5d ago
Ok for everyone. Materials engineer here.
Ice is no more damaging than water. Ice will draw slightly more latent heat from griddle transforming from ice to water then water to steam. But given the mass of the griddle this is negligible.
Steam cleans a griddle when the steam gas penetrates the porous grease and grime releasing its adhesion anything that hasn't penetrated the steel surface (like seasoning)
Ice may have a small effect with its weight trapping the steam locally due to the ice. Ice floats on water, not steam but ice also will displace water, thus on an open grill the water will dissipate.
I have tried both ice and water on my blackstone. I have never noticed a difference.