Aluminum pans are fine, but are a pain to clean. I use large size heavy duty aluminum foil in the pan and sometimes without the pan. I brush the cook grate off after cooking over the foil and dump the cold ashes in and wrap the whole mess up for disposal. Lot easier to clean if you don't mix ashes and grease. I use a little cheap paintbrush on the ashes to help the sweeps most time. Squirt bottle with SOS pad for a really dirty kettle.