Do you use aluminum foil on your grill?

smlewis00

smlewis00

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When using your grill, do you place your meat, vegetables, or whatever it is you are cooking directly on the grill, or do you use aluminum foil in between the food and the grill?
I have heard that there are health risks involved if pieces of aluminm foil end up in your food and you consume it. You can read about some health risks here: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/06/grilling-aluminum-foil-health-risks.html
What do you think is best? To line the grill with aluminum foil, or to place the food directly on the grill? Do you worry about health risks?
My husband and I sometimes line the grill and sometimes we do not. It really depends on what we are cooking. Sometimes we line the grill with aluminum foil to avoid a mess and having to scrub the grill, and other times we place our food directly on the grill. When we are grilling hamburgers in paticular, we almost never line the grill first.
Do you think it matters? Does it make a difference?
What do you think?
Let's discuss....
 
It doesn't matter what I am grilling, be it meat, fish or vegetables I always cook directly on the grill. I never line a grill with aluminium foil and it is not because of any health risks. Aluminium foil isn't cheap and lining the grill with foil increases the costs unnecessarily, and I can't see the point of that.

If you line the grill with foil all the fat that comes out of meat can't drain away which means you will effectively be shallow frying the meat, which isn't healthy. I also find that frying meat takes away some of the flavor too, which is not something I want to do. When I am grilling burgers I like the fat to drain out and drip on to the coals as it creates the "flame grilled" taste, which I really like.

My mom used to line her grill with foil to make the clean up operation easier wen grilling vegetables. Sure, the foil did stop the grill from getting messed up but it also used to stick to the vegetables and peeling hot foil off a corn on the cob before you can eat it is annoying. Sure, mom used to brush oil over the vegetables whilst grilling them to stop the foil from sticking but it never worked properly and there would always be some foil stuck to the food.

So, when I am grilling foil is a big no no from me.
 
When we are grilling fish and vegetables we use Aluminum foil but when we are grilling meats like pork, beef and chicken we just grill it directly on it so as to absorbed the flavor naturally while grilling. And because we worry about our health and we know that charcoal is bad most of the times we used always an electric grill whether it is inside the house or for outdoor grilling.
 
I only use tinfoil when making garlic breads or potatoes on the grill, everything else goes straight on the grill over the fire.
 
Most items go straight onto the grill. Some things, such as potatoes and mushrooms with filling inside them, go in the tin foil.

And yes, consuming large amounts of tin foil can have health consequences, WHO KNEW!? That's why most of the time I take off the tin foil instead of eating it... I've also come to the conclusion that it's not particularly tasty. :p
 
crimsonghost747 said:
Most items go straight onto the grill. Some things, such as potatoes and mushrooms with filling inside them, go in the tin foil.

And yes, consuming large amounts of tin foil can have health consequences, WHO KNEW!? That's why most of the time I take off the tin foil instead of eating it... I've also come to the conclusion that it's not particularly tasty. :p
Click to expand...
LOL! yes I can imagine it must have some health concerns what a shocker! The taste is a bit too metallic for me:p: I'd rather consume what is IN the tinfoil!
 
I agree that lining when cooking some meats doesn't allow the fat to drip out. I wouldn't line my grill when cooking meat. The only time I use foil on the grill is if I am making a packet meal. I put some veggies in a packet and steam them on the grill. I sometimes put shrimp, onions, butter and garlic in a packet of foil and get great tasty shrimp in 15 minutes.
 
I have always felt that using foil on the grill turns it into an oven. If I am using the grill, I am usually doing the meat portion directly on the grill and, depending on what else is being cooked, I will wrap up bread or veggies in foil and use the grill because I am not going to turn on the oven too.
The health concerns over aluminum stem from old aluminum pots. If you boil water in them, some of the aluminum will tend to leech into the water. If you were making soup from a carcass or something the fluid would be in the pot for a long time. There will always be some aluminum leeching, but if you aren't cooking anything moist (a baked potato should be safe) and aren't cooking it for a super long time, I wouldn't be overly concerned.
 
I use aluminum foil every time I cook hamburgers on the grill. That is my absolute favorite. I love how they taste on the grill. It is just not the same on the stove or on anything else. I actually use two layers of aluminum foil. The first layer I put the hamburgers on. The second layer, I put the charcoal on, which is on the bottom. My parents actually taught me that. I am glad you brought that up, about how unhealthy and dangerous it could be. I had no idea before. I am definitely going to be more careful and cautious from now on, to make sure no aluminum foil gets into the burgers.
 
I try to grill directly as much as possible, first off, because I am worried about the health risks of using foil, and second, I think it defeats the purpose of grilling when the food is not in contact with the grill itself and charcoal heat directly. If I were to use foil for grilling, then I would just rather use a frying pan instead, to be honest.
 
It really depends on what I'm cooking for me to decide if I'm using foil or not. Most of the time, meats go directly on the shelf because they have a better taste when done. I use the top rack for grilling buns and or making side dishes.
 
The only time I use aluminum foil on my grill is when I'm cooking vegetables. I like to use them around ears of corn or when I do potatoes or another vegetable on the grill. Otherwise, I never use aluminum foil when it comes to grilling out meat.
 
Definitely for fish. Most other things don't need it and it just makes more mess. Vegetables work fine on skewers ;)

But I don't grill in such vast quantities to worry about health risks anyway ;)
 
When I was grilling, foil was used to line the bottom. I have no problem scrubbing the rack though my ex thought it was a waste of time and money. When it came to veggies, I used heavy duty foil, shiny side out.
Does it make a difference which side comes in contact with food on the grill?
 
We cook directly on the grill. I'm not sure why, but it's a fun experience cleaning everything right afterwards - because we get to spend a lot of time with each other. This means not only are the meals, but even the cleaning that becomes the bonding experience.

Although I've got to ask, is there a difference if the food makes contact with the foil instead of the grill itself, or are we looking on the cleanliness side of things?
 
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