I remember the time that I started grilling. I soon found out that the bottom of the grill can get very dirty and had to find a way to keep the bottom of my BBQ clean.
I even had times when the grease on the bottom caught on fire and I had to use water to distinguish it. To make sure I am talking about Charcoal grills here. Gas grills are a different subject.
Aluminum Foil – The Best Solution
This is the option I choose all the time. Even while using a drip pan. The reason is that it also collects charcoal ashes that fall off while it burns.
Throughout the years I have tested many things and this works the best for my situation.
One thing I found out is to use restaurant-quality Aluminum foil. The cheaper version from your local supermarket will tear up pretty fast and makes it even harder by doing that.
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I used this quality in my restaurant and although high in price it is worth every penny you pay for it.
I also use it to wrap my meat.
Drip Pan
One of the easiest ways to prevent all the grease from piling up on the bottom of the grill is to use a drip pan under your meat to catch the drippings.
This will work mainly when you use indirect grilling. That means fire on one side and meat on the other side. (Read more here about indirect grilling)
Another advantage of a drip pan is that you can sometimes use the drippings to add to your sauce or to baste your meat and add extra flavor.
Make sure that the pan is large enough for the size of the meat you are cooking and buying in bulk saves you money.
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Lava Rock
On one of the first gas grills I had, I used Lava Rock on the bottom of the grill. After cooking, I turned the gas up as high as possible, which was supposed to burn off the grease. However, I don’t use lave rocks anymore and you can read here why.
It worked but not as well as I wished it would do. The lava rocks even caught on fire and the heat burned the paint of my grill lid.
Charcoal Ashes
I read one tip about leaving the charcoal ashes at the bottom of the grill and let this absorb the grease. I tried it with chicken thighs and the whole bottom caught on fire. I never did it again.
Cleaning The Bottom Of A Grill – My Opinion
I have tried several things to make cleaning the bottom of my grill as easy as possible. The best thing is the Aluminum Foil I recommend as the first option. It is expensive but it is my experience that it lasts for a long time and is very strong.
You still need to clean your BBQ top to bottom at a certain time and you can read my how to clean a BBQ the easy way article for that.
Eddie van Aken
Eddie van Aken has years of experience in running his full-service restaurant and with this came working with using and dealing with all types of kitchen equipment. With his experience, he can find all the pros and cons of grills and add them to the grill reviews he is doing. You can read more on the about page for Eddie van Aken
