Reddit reviews Blackstone Table Top Grill - 17 Inch Portable Gas Griddle - Propane Fueled - For Outdoor Cooking While Camping, Tailgating or Picnicking

TL;DR warning

Are you willing to invest in some tools? Do you like Five Guys? (skinny burgers) The fastest burger procedure that I know of is Kenji's Ultra-Smash technique, which makes a pair of thin patties in no time. Takes about a minute per burger (two patties with cheese). Details here:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/03/the-food-lab-maximize-flavor-by-ultra-smashin.html

You can also do a regular smash burger, which is thicker (McDonalds-thin), but takes longer (~1.5 minutes per side, about 3 minutes total per burger):

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/09/the-burger-lab-smashed-burgers-vs-smashing-burgers.html

The advantage of the ultra-smash is that it's super quick & you can toss a piece of cheese to melt between two patties, so you can pump out a ton of burgers in no time. You will need a few tools, namely:

1. A metal cooking surface
   
2. A hi-temp heat source
   
3. A smashing tool
   
4. A high-quality spatula
   
5. A scraper (if doing ultra-smash)
   
6. A cheap IR temp gun
   
7. A cheap digital kitchen scale
   
   It's not rocket science, but getting a proper setup will let you have a workflow that makes cooking for a crowd a breeze. I have a big extended family, so I cook in bulk a lot, but I also use this for just my immediate family because it's so fast to get setup. There is an up-front investment required, but everything you'll buy will pretty much last forever, so it's worth it if you like to eat burgers!
   
   So the first two things you need are a metal cooking surface & a heat source that can pump out a lot of heat. I don't recommend a regular grill because they simply don't get hot enough; you need 600 to 700F to do this. You can either do a compact setup (a 2-burger surface with a single burner) or invest in a quality flat-top setup (more expensive, but lets you do more burgers at once). The ideal surface to do this on is a Baking Steel, which is very expensive. There are knockoffs for cheaper, but I like BS because they have a Griddle version with grooves to catch the grease:
   
   http://www.bakingsteel.com/
   
   You can also do it with cast iron. Lodge has a griddle for $25:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-LDP3-Double-Reversible-Griddle/dp/B002CMLTXG
   
   If I'm just doing a single regular smash burger at a time, I use a 12" cast-iron pan. $28:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Cast-Iron-Skillet-L10SK3ASHH41B-12-Inch/dp/B00G2XGC88/
   
   If you do get into cast-iron, read up on this seasoning procedure (i.e. the way to keep it smooth & slippery without Teflon). It's a bit of a pain, but it's worth learning because anything you buy in cast-iron can be handed down to your kids because it lasts forever:
   
   http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/
   
   You will want a heavy smashing tool as well. I have this massive 2.5-pound cast-iron press. It fits inside the 12" pan above (but not the 10"). $13:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Update-International-Heavy-Weight-Hamburger-Commercial/dp/B002LDDKZ6
   
   If you plan on doing ultra-smash burgers, you'll need a scraper. This is the one Kenji recommends, but you can probably find something locally: (Home Depot or Lowes)
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Plextool-Wall-Paper-Stripper/dp/B00AU6GQLQ/
   
   Anyway, getting back to the cooking part: you'll need a hi-temp burner. I like Bayou Burners, they sell them on Amazon. I have an SP10: ($50)
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-SP10-High-Pressure-Outdoor/dp/B000291GBQ
   
   I use that with my 12" cast-iron pan for when I'm just doing a few burgers for the family. 15 minutes = 5 burgers. You can also slap a flat surface like a cast-iron griddle or Baking Steel on that puppy. Also comes in a square version (not sure how the BTU's compare). I also have some KAB4 burners that I use with my Baking Steel, among other things. More expensive, but larger shell & burner: (more even heat over the cooking surface)
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-KAB4-Pressure-Cooker/dp/B0009JXYQY/
   
   For cooking more at a time, you can get a cooktop. Blackstone has a 36" cooktop available, but it doesn't get very hot (don't get me wrong, it's an awesome tool, but I've had trouble breaking 500F on mine, which means you're not cooking 1-minute burgers on it, plus the heating is kind of uneven, so you have to work in the hot spots for faster cook times). Also comes in a slightly smaller 28" version (but it's only like $50 less, so it makes more sense to get the full-sized version because you get so much more cooking area). The nice thing with this setup is that for $299 (or a bit less if you shop around at places like Cabela's), you can cook like 20 burgers at a time, it's absolutely insane! I make epic breakfasts on it. Plus it folds up for transport, which is really handy. We use it for all of our family events & holidays:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYN0438
   
   A better version is from Tejas Smokers. They make camping stove carts that have burners built-in & have griddles available separately. They get super hot, downside is the cost: you can easily spend $700 on a nice setup.
   
   https://tejassmokers.com/Camp-Stove-Carts/23
   
   Oh yeah, Blackstone did just come out with a compact outdoor griddle which can run off those little one-pound green tanks if you want. They go for around $99 ($79 if you have an Ace Hardware near you). I have not tried this, but it gets good reviews. I'd be curious to see what kind of temperatures it can achieve:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Blackstone-Portable-Griddle-Outdoors-Camping/dp/B0195MZHBK
   
   So that's a basic introduction to the cooktops: you need some kind of decently-sized metal surface, a hi-temp burner, a smashing tool, and optionally (but recommended) a scraper. You will also want to get a strong, high-quality spatula. A good one is $32:
   
   http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/07/equipment-the-due-buoi-wide-spatula-my-new-fa.html
   
   Available here:
   
   http://www.duebuoi.it/x/uk_usd/catalog/p/spatulas~805-16x10.html
   
   If you opt for cast-iron, get an infrared temperature gun (doesn't work too well on shiny metal surfaces like steel tho). $17:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lasergrip-1080-Non-contact-Thermometer/dp/B00DMI632G/
   
   A cheap digital kitchen scale is useful too, for measuring out the proper amount of meat. $14:
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Ozeri-Digital-Kitchen-Capacity-Stylish/dp/B003E7AZQA/
   
   This collection of tools ensures that you have the proper workflow: a metal surface to cook on, the ability to bring the surface to a high temperature (and know what that temperature is for precise control), the ability to weigh your meat so you can pre-measure out what you need, the ability to smash the burger down, and also to properly scrape it off. Again, it's not rocket science, but if you have a wussy grill or a crappy surface or weak smashing/scraping tools, you're gonna have a bad time. You just need the right setup to pump burgers out fast!
   
   So on to prep. For ultra-smash, you do a pair of 2-ounce ground beef balls. In the tutorial above, they use a mix of meat for 25% fat. I just grab some regular 80/20 ground plus some salt & pepper. For regular smash burgers, do a single 4-ounce ball (optionally 5 ounces...useful if you have a big cooktop for a bunch of burgers at one time & are only doing a single patty per burger). The nice thing is, there's no special prep required for the meat, so you can make all of your burger balls ahead of time. If you have 10 people & are doing ultra-smash, let's say half of them get 2 burgers, so 15 burgers total, or thirty 2oz balls. If you have 20 people & are doing regular smash, again with half getting an extra burger, that's 30 burgers total or thirty 4 or 5oz balls. So that takes care of prep...adjust as needed. If you're feeding mostly dudes, you'll want to add more seconds (and thirds) to the equation.
   
   There are a variety of buns you can get. Crap buns will make for a crap burger. See if you can find potato buns or brioche buns. Those are pretty soft. Buns aren't overly hard to make, but I have yet to find a decent recipe that takes under 40 minutes, so I usually only doing fancy home-baked buns for my family rather than a crowd. Buying 5 or 10 pounds of ground beef & making smash balls out of them will take you all of ten minutes, but making buns can take forever. Here's a good recipe if you want to try it out tho:
   
   http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/07/light-brioche-burger-buns/
   
   Or this, if you wanna get crazy:
   
   http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/05/fresh-cemita-rolls-mexican-sandwich-burger-bun-bread-food-lab-recipe.html
   
   Or this one, nom nom nom:
   
   http://amazingribs.com/recipes/breads/brioche_hamburger_buns.html
   
   But eh, just hit up Sam's/Coscto/BJ's and buy some hamburger buns in bulk, problem solved. Or find a local bakery that has good rolls. There's a good shootout of buns here:
   
   http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2011/04/the-burger-lab-whats-the-best-bun-for-my-burger-taste-test.html
   
   (continued)

Recently got a Blackstone 17" flat top griddle in addition to my little double burner stove. My grilled cheese and quessadilla game is next level now.

No, I have a gas griddle and kettle. Here is a link to the griddle, I am very happy with it. Plugging in small items into the power strip should be fine, but they do not recommend plugging in energy-heavy items like blow dryers and electric kettles since it could trip the breaker. That being said I think some people got away with it last year without tripping the breakers since it was colder than usual and the A/C wasn't working very hard.

I recently got a brand new Coleman stove but I just found this griddle and I want it soooo bad. If you're cooking for 10+ it might come in handy

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0195MZHBK/ref=asc_df_B0195MZHBK5372281/

Edit: had to replace my old stove after my last attempt to "go camping"

Get one of these badboys and eat like a king out on their patio area (if they have one). If they don't go to a nearby park.

https://www.amazon.com/Blackstone-Table-Top-Grill-Tailgating/dp/B0195MZHBK/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=portable+griddle&qid=1566998646&s=gateway&sr=8-3

You could also get an electric griddle to put in your room but most hotels do not want you cooking in your room - a fire hazard.