First cook on the new griddle last night, figured ribeyes would be a good way to break it in, plus potatoes and spinach/garlic. Doctors orders as of today are no more red meat, beer, coffee and anything good for the next two weeks due to some GI issues I've been going through
I have the 22 and use it often. Wanted to get the 36 but I have too many grills and cooking devices as it is. The 22 is perfect for tabletop use, stores away easily and can still fit a good amount of food on it. Wally World has the stainless front 22 for $125 right now. Pretty good price considering I paid $110 for mine pre covid prices.
Small , go for the gold. I was so lucky a couple years ago when I was walking through the local Dicks sporting goods and they were putting a 36 inch out on clearance for $149 at the end of the summer season. It never even left the cart and got placed on the sales floor , It went straight to the checkout line . I couldn't pass it up. They are awesome but I just need to use it more than I do.
If you are using pink curing salt, you can cut the regular salt way back. With a dry cure I usually do 1% to 1.5% salt by weight. The common 3% plus recipes are WAY to salty for my taste. I have experimented with a variety of sweeteners, and now mostly use just plain sugar. There is so little maple flavor retained in the bacon, I think it is a waste of money to cure with it. Pour the maple syrup on the bacon after its fried and hits your plate! Usually 1% range on the sugar as well.