Use indirect heat for fatty meats

Yes, it’s annoying, but the fix is simple: stop putting fatty meats directly over the flame the whole time.

The real problem with chicken thighs and pork chops isn’t the fat itself—it’s that dripping fat hits the coals or burner and ignites. That sends up a dirty, sooty flame that coats your meat in bitter black stuff and dries it out.

Two-zone grilling solves this. Pile your coals on one side of the grill (or turn one burner on high, the rest off). Sear the meat directly over the hot zone for a couple minutes per side to get color, then move it to the cooler side to cook through with the lid closed. The fat drips onto nothing hot, so no flare-ups.

Other tips that actually work: trim big chunks of loose fat, keep a spray bottle of water handy for small flare-ups (not big ones—those mean your heat is too high), and don’t crowd the grill. Crowding traps steam and causes more fat to render at once.

Best trick I learned: pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels before seasoning. Wet skin = more sputtering, more flare-ups.

That two-zone thing is the main move, though. Once you get used to it, you’ll wonder why you ever tried to cook fatty stuff directly over the fire the whole time.