Personally, we use ours all of the time. They do get a bit dirty if you don't stay on top of it, and ideally, whatever range you are looking at comes with a cover that can be put in place when not using it to ensure you aren't looking at the griddle that will get seasoned where it is a S.S. one. We cook pancakes, bacon, meat for tacos, chicken, grilled cheese, warming tortillas......essentially, just about anything. When they are allowed to heat up, they hold more heat than a traditional frying pan, so when you are searing, don't have as much temperature drop when placing the meat on it. You can tell, at our house with 4 kids, we are fans of the griddle!

I use my griddle all the time as well. French toast and quesalillas etc. My stainless griddle looks sad but cooks great...I keep a wooden cutting board on it while not in use. It also serves as a great spot for utencils, herbs etc while I'm using just the other burners. I used a carbon steel griddle with my old gas range, it worked well also.

Which range are you looking at? There are a lot if different ones with various heat sources and metal used in the griddle. Straight stainless steel is not the best because it does not conduct heat well and does not season. Some have aluminum under the stainless which helps with the heat transfer.

@Bspoke Homes, @lucky998877, and @wekick Thanks for the responses. As far at the last question, I am looking at the Monogram ZGP364NDRSS with the griddle. Believe it has been discontinued but available new at open box store near me at a decent discount. The griddle I believe is stainless steel but the instructions do mention seasoning. And there is an aluminum core.

I bought & restored an antique cast iron griddle for my cooktop. What I like is: small raised lip around the edge contains grease or batter; relatively thin casting so it's not very heavy; small raised handles for easy grasping; can be used in the oven too; easy to take to the sink for a spray clean; easy to store when not needed.

@JR R

Yes the Monogram is the one I was thinking of with the aluminum core. I don‘t know about how well it seasons. There are discussions here about cleaning it and seasoning. If you have stainless pans like All-Clad, you have an idea of what the surface is like.

With a 36” range especially I would consider an add on griddle. What is the other range without the griddle?

One of the main advantages is that you can choose different metals. I have a heavy aluminum add on griddle because the aluminum trasfers heat quickly. If you turn the heat up, it responds quickly. It seasons eventually as you use it. You can also get it in nonstick. They also make these in rolled steel. They are relatively inexpensive so you can have all three types of metal. The aluminum is great for sandwhiches because it heats evenly across the surface. The steel gets nonstick with seasoning but because the heat is slower to transfer, it has more of a zoned heat. You can cook on part if it and keep warm on part of it.

Another advantage of the add on is you can take it off and have your six burners back. I aldo have lifted the whole griddle and fit it in the oven. You can also take it off to wash.

The cooking surface of the add on over 2 burners can be 50% more than the built in griddle. The built in has to fit in the burner allotted space and has a channel for grease and a vent so smaller cooking area. The 15x23 is bigger than the burner grates. You can measure the cooking area of both to compare. We use ours for everything -traditional griddled food, a really big pan that you can use to cook or hold in the oven or just to hold pans on the burners to keep warm.

You can get a lot more heat from the burners with an add on. With the Monogram if you use an add on you can 36K BTUs for the griddle over two burners. The griddle burner is 18K. You can also use lower heat on one end of the griddle with the add on.

The main advantage of the built in is that you have a thermostat that you can set to a specific temperature and you will get the same temperature as you had the last time you used it.

The add on requires you to set the heat like you would a pan.

You might have a learning curve to set it where you want to but I think it is pretty easy.

These are the Chef King steel griddles.

https://www.dvorsons.com/ChefKing/Griddles.htm

These are Royal Industries. measure your range if you order these.

http://royalindustriesinc.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4_22_48

Another add on griddle advantage: buy 2 of them, & you can crank out lots of pancakes fast.

I like to caramelize onions on mine -- works great for that.

Some griddle info: https://bamasotan.us/griddle-faq/