5 BBQ Grill Mat Benefits You Need to Know for Better Grilling
Grill mats are essential for safe, clean, and flavorful grilling. They prevent flare-ups, reduce cleaning time, enable grilling delicate foods, maintain sear marks, and keep meats juicy while offering convenience and versatility.
A BBQ grill mat is an excellent accessory for your barbecue grill, and it provides several benefits despite its simplicity. A barbecue grill mat is a fiberglass, copper, or silicone mat that manufacturers cover with a heat-resistant coating.
Using the mat requires nothing more than draping it over the cooking surface. They’re appropriate for use with gas, charcoal, or electric grills, and they’re also easy to use.
Let’s explore some of the reasons BBQ grill mats are necessary for the best grilling experience.
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1. BBQ Grill Mats Help You Avoid Flare-Ups from Fallen Food
Using a barbecue grill isn’t complicated, but dangers exist with anything that reaches 400 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
Veteran cooks know the hazards of grease flare-ups, but it’s tough to keep grease from falling into the grill under normal circumstances.
A flare-up on a barbecue grill is just like a grease fire that you might see in a kitchen when oil or grease reaches the flame during cooking.
One way to reduce flare-ups is to trim the fat from meat before cooking it, but doing so can eliminate some of the flavors from the finished meal. A grill mat can help you keep the fat intact.
A grill mat that prevents grease and food from falling helps create a safer environment, too. A grill that’s safe from flare-ups is easier to use in the backyard with the kids nearby, and it makes it easier for young grillers to learn the ropes and help.
2. Spend Less Time Cleaning Your BBQ Grill with a Grill Mat
Part of the process of barbecuing is cleaning the BBQ after you use it, but who wants to scrub down the barbecue when there’s food waiting on the table? Even if you take pride in your grill and clean it regularly, the process can become cumbersome.
If you grill every weekend or every few days, your grill can experience a significant buildup of grease and fallen food particles. A BBQ grill mat is an excellent way to reduce the time you spend cleaning your grill.
Also, one of the bonuses of using a BBQ grill mat is that they’re dishwasher safe. Not only do they help you reduce the time you spend scrubbing the grill, but you can toss them in the dishwasher for easy cleanup after you finish grilling.
They’re also quick to clean using the sink because they’re covered in non-stick material.
3. BBQ Grill Mats Allow You to Grill Small & Delicate Foods
Everything tastes better when it’s cooked on a grill, and that includes foods that you might not even realize can be cooked on a grill. However, some foods aren’t conducive to cooking on the thin bars of a grill. Cooking an egg on a grill, for example, is impossible unless you use a griddle-top barbeque.
Rather than investing in a griddle, you can stick with your current barbecue setup and add a BBQ grill mat to the experience. A mat will help you grill virtually anything you want, whether it’s a solid piece of sausage or an egg sunny side up. If you can cook it, you can grill it with a BBQ grill mat.
You can also add spices and flavors when cooking, which would otherwise fall through the bars without a BBQ mat. As any experienced chef knows, seasoning food during the cooking process helps to bring out more vibrant flavors and an excellent finished product.
4. Sear Marks Still Come Through on a BBQ Grill Mat
If you’re a fan of barbecued food, you know how delicious a piece of meat or vegetables looks when they have those classic grill lines.
When you cook food on a flat surface like a pan or a griddle, you don’t get those grill lines and the classic look of barbecued food. Do grill mats leave grill marks?
A barbecue grill mat does allow the grill lines to come through, so the hamburgers you make for your family can retain all the juices while also getting those mouth-watering grill marks.
Even though the food might taste the same, those grill marks do make an impact on the visual appeal of your food.
A BBQ grill mat allows your food to get the grill marks you know your guests and family want to see without getting the bars on the grill coated in food that you must clean after grilling. It’s a win-win situation for improving food appearance and making it easier to care for your barbecue grill.
5. Keep Meat Juicy with a BBQ Grill Mat
The best way to avoid flare-ups is to reduce the amount of oil and grease that reaches the coals or flames of your grill. Unfortunately, cutting out all the fat and eliminating the oil isn’t the best way to create a juicy, delicious meal from your barbecue.
Just remember that grilling your meat at extraordinarily high temperatures means that you should cut at least some of the fat off the exterior of your pieces. Even if you’re using a grill mat, trimming at least some of the fat off can help you retain the juicy flavor.
The wisdom here is that fat cooks faster than meat, so removing some of the fat means it won’t get overcooked and lead to flavor loss as you grill the meat all the way through. You might need to experiment with your BBQ grill mat to determine how much fat to leave on your meat to create tenderness without losing the flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do BBQ Grill mats work?
BBQ grill mats work well in keeping your grill clean and safe. Barbecue purists might balk at using anything that separates their food from the flame.
Still, the mats certainly do their job as advertised. They’re safe and effective for keeping your grill clean and allowing you to cook nontraditional foods on your grill.
Do you need a mat under your BBQ?
A BBQ grill mat is a helpful ally in pursuing a clean and efficient grilling experience. However, they’re not 100 percent necessary.
A grilling mat is simply a convenient tool you can use during the grilling process. If you’re unconvinced whether you need a BBQ grill mat, there’s no harm in trying one out!
Can you use silicone mats on BBQ?
BBQ mats are made of different materials like copper, Teflon, or silicone, and they’re coated with a chemical compound called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which is the coating commonly used on non-stick cookware. Silicone is a safe and standard material for BBQ grill mats, but you’ll find them manufactured with a variety of materials.
