Adding a 24" to 36" flat top griddle to my hot dog cart.

I am thinking of adding a 24" to 36" griddle to my hot dog cart and I need some help from someone who may have done it. Quickly the reason I want to add this is to allow me to enter events where the hot dog vendor slot has already been taken. A griddle will allow me to serve other products such as a philly cheese steak, or breakfast burritos etc which have not been spoken for at the event. I have looked online and most of the griddles electric or gas are either too tall to set on the cart, or too heavy. I even looked at free standing griddles but even these are heavy for a one man show. Anone have any thoughts.

I can't see any way of adding that large of a grill to your cart. I would look at free standing grills or  a counter top gas grill. If it's free standing you can get as large are you like..............I have found, I can always use more room on a grill, if I have 3', I want 4', if I have 4', I want 5'. I'm never happy.....They make a lot of counter top grills, the only problem is, if your  a one man band, how do you set up something heavy by yourself............pnwc

This may be something you can use, buy a free standing  gas BBQ grill then put this on to for your flat grill. You can then have both open flame cooking and flat grill.....................pnwc ...........I'll post a pic later

 
 

This was my first thought. I thought if I could pull out the steam pans and locate the griddle plate above the burners I could get enough heat to make it work. Unfortunately the burners are located so far down below the surface of the counter that it doesn't get hot enough to properly heat the griddle. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could make these burners more efficient to product more heat?

We have a few vendors in this area who are using portable gas barbeque grills in their setup but I personally think it looks so unprofessional. I try to do major events and I'm surrounded by the "pros" with all of their festival and fair equipment and somehow a backyard barbeque grille just doesn't seem to fit.

You're right about wanting a larger grille. The 24" was a compromise. I would really like to have a 48" grille. The weight is the killer. I talked to someone at Blackstone who told me that he is 25 years old and works out and he would have great difficulty in putting their 36" "portable" griddle into a van all by himself. At least he was honest. They advertise it as two separate units each weighing about 70 lbs. but apparently those numbers are not accurate.

I was talking about some thing like this, I agree with you, a back yard  BBQ grill approach isn't going to get you up with the big boys. You need to spread out, look bigger, and get some fire, and ice going. You could ask them if they could make it with 1/2 flat grill and 1/2 grates. This would open up your menu, and your ideas t to 100's of items if and when needed...
 

 

i was thinking more on the lines of something like this......
it can be as long as you need/want, and can be a combo griddle/grill as well

You didn't give any details about your cart & size.   For a large grill you need to work from the cart side and the length would be about 6 to 8 ft., similar to the Top Dog carts. I doubt you have room if you work from the rear end of the cart as most small carts do.
 
This portable griddle may do have you need.  The griddle is abt 45 lbs and the 2 burner & frame is light wt.  ... abt $300 ...
 

http://www.tejassmokers.com/hot_plates.htm

This appears to be just what I'm looking for. If I can't mount it somehow on a removable rack to fit on the side of the cart maybe they make a portable stand (higher than the 8 inch one it comes on) that I can simply use as a free standing unit. I am going to call them today and see if they have any better ideas. Thanks for the great lead. Hope I am able to help you out some day.

This would be great but I'm afraid it would be too heavy for my use. It would have to come apart somehow to fit into my van along with the rest of the gear I take.

Eds Grill idea would fit your needs and the price is right. The only thing I would check on is to see if its UL approved and what the Health dept thinks about it. These are real nice for large  private group camping, family reunions and so on. I don't know what they would think of using this in a Pro operation..............pnwc

I am fairly new at this but what I am slowly learning by attending the various events in my state is that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. What's the worse thing that can happen? They shut me down for the day and tell me what I need to do to   fix it according to their standards. I'm not convinced that there is a set of rules that "everyone" doing the inspection is following. I'm going to work on this grille with the manufacturer as I think this will do very nicely with some modification.

That me be one scenario, another one could be that you start a fire with your unapproved grill. They had to shut down the event because you didn't folow the rules. Another Scenario is, some one gets hurt because you didn't follow the rules.. Who's forgiveness are you going to ask for then ??????? There is the easy way and the right way...........We tell people how to do it the right way.............Get the hint............pnwc

Your point is well taken. I may have to rethink my position. I certainly wouldn't want to do anything that would cause harm to anyone or disturb other's right to do business. Sure wish there was less politics involved. Sometimes is seems like the deck is stacked against anyone trying to start a small business. By the time you get through the red tape most people give up. I agree that most of the rules are for public and private safety however some of the ways they are administered are cumbersome.
 
Oh well that's my complaint for today, I'll just have to work harder to do it the right way.
 
I bought the 42" griddle and cart from Tejas Smokers. It will do exactly what I want it to do. Total cost was about $600.00 but I hope to recoup that fairly quickly with the versatility is provides. The beauty of it is that it comes in three parts weighing a total of 97 lbs. Each part is about 35 lbs. The griddle itself being 42 inches of steel is the heaviest piece.
 
Once again thank for all the help and acvice provided. I will let you know how well it works upon first use.

dickcharron


This would be great but I'm afraid it would be too heavy for my use. It would have to come apart somehow to fit into my van along with the rest of the gear I take.

 
It comes apart. The grill sits on the doulbe burner camp stove like this.

The grill top weighs about 40lbs and the double burner stove is about 35 lbs.

hummm ... never mind  ... I now see you did buy the bigger grddle & stove.

Thanks, I actually ordered one today. I bought the 3 burner cart with the 42" griddle. Some of the measurements and weights shown on the website are wrong but I called and worked with a rep who was most helpful and we got it ordered exactly the way I wanted it. Total weight was only 92lbs. As you say it comes in three sections so the weight isn't even a factor. A bit pricey (about $600.00) but it appears to be a very substantial piece of equipment.
 
Thanks for your help.

For those of you kind enough to help with my deliberations just a follow up. My grill arrived last Monday and I was unhappy with the griddle top. The 14" depth just didn't cut it and  the return lip on the back and the two sides were only a half inch high. This isn't high enough to push something against (like steak or onions & peppers) and be able to pick it up with the spatula. The food would simply run over the edge. I called the manufacturer and they were willing to work with me to improve the product for vendor use. They rebuilt a new griddle for me at a depth of 18" and provided 3" raised sides and back for me. I believe I now have exactly what I need to be able to compete with the big guys and the various events I attend. Tejas Smokers is the name of the company. The entire process of ordering and receiving the product went as smoothly as could be expected. It is a high quality piece of equipment. I have not received the revamped griddle but hope to have it my the middle of next week. When I get it I will take a picture and post it.
Thanks again to all those who helped.