Somebody posted a metal, tri-fold contraption a few weeks ago, maybe she will peek in here. Im not the neatest person in the kitchen, i make a lot of sauces and ive never had a problem cleaning the backsplash with a sealed grout. Youre going to have to clean whatever you use, with the added bonus of finding a place to store it. I would just find a good all purpose cleaner and stay on top of things. Good luck with whichever way you go.

You just need the right tile and right grout. Not some halfass shield.

Chris, I used (light gray) Fusion Pro grout that never needs sealing. It has been easy to wipe behind my range. Nothing has left a stain.

We need to see your kitchen and I agree the grout you choose will be the right answer for cleaning the tile and honestly if you are that messy then you should have gone stainless I guess.I have ahuge stone wall behind my range 3x a year I pullout my range and clean the stone it takes about 1/2 hr and no big deal. I run a catering biz from my home so my range gets a lot more use than any normal kitchen still not a big issue.

You could use a SS fireplace reflector: https://www.frigodesign.com/product/fireplace-reflectors/

^ that would certainly do it, lol

I don't care which great grout and tile you have behind the cooktop, the grout will eventually get stained - if you cook frequently. It's living in a fantasy world @User if you think it won't after a couple years. And @Patricia Colwell Consulting you never miss an opportunity to jab with every post ("if you're that messy") - the reality is that any kind of cooking will splatter. I challenge you to comment on this forum without jabbing at people - I bet you aren't able to.

@Chris - one solution would be not to tile behind the cooktop area. Instead you could use a stainless steel panel - installed permanently - behind the cooktop. Or, if you are installing stone counters, you could use part of the slab for just behind the cooktop, and tile the backsplash everywhere else.

Thanks, i agree with you re the ineffectiveness of dealing mortar.

I wish I would have used solid sheet of marble or stainless, but that ship has sailed. Being of the “there must be a way” mindset, I’m trying to find some way to put a temporary shield against the tile for my messy cooking, like blackening, searing and “red gravy” as we call it in New Orleans. Doesn’t need to be perfect, but should look better than a sheet of tin! Thanks for your advice, and I’ll keep hunting.

Even with a stainless back guard there are times we use foil if it's something we know will cause lots of splatter and just don't want to deal with a big cleanup. It's not often but on occasion.

That’ll work!

Cookie sheet.

Google ”stove splatter guard.” Lots of options available.

There are plenty of grouts now a days that are much more stain resistant without having to be sealed. If you do very messy cooking ( frying bacon, making sauce ,etc ) then the best thing is a spatter shield! You can get the kind that just goes onto a frying pan ( this helps protect the whole stove too ) or one for surrounding the cooking area to protect the backsplash and side counters

Simple solution!

I prop up my wood cutting boards agasint the tile when I fry anything. those are easily wiped clean, And they look great just sitting there behind the stove.

or, just a SS piece and bring it out everytime you cook. store it like you would your cookie sheets.

In fact, you could use a frameless cookie sheet to prop up while you cook. double duty!

Similar to Beth's suggestion, what about a nice tray? Either ceramic or stainless.

There is also grout paint out there that I've used on the white grout in my DD's bathroom when it got greyish/dirty. This works if your grout is a standard colour like white, but if your grout is a colour, it might not work.

Why not get a sheet of stainless steel?

You could have it easily installed over your tile.

If you don't like the look of a plain sheet, you could get it quilted or brushed.

The brushed look is interesting, but looks like the inside of an elevator to me.

I like the quilted look, like a 50's diner.

You can select the type of stainless sheet that appeals to you.

It is easy to install and keep clean.

You could also purchase stainless steel tiles that you stick on over your tile, but then you have the seams.

One solid sheet is better.

There is nothing wrong with being a serious cook that has sputters and spatters.

Many high-end stoves come with a stainless backsplash that extends to an upper shelf, and you will have that look, and if you want, you can also have a stainless shelf installed as well.

Having to put up a shield every time you cook is a hassle, it is unstable and can get knocked over, and looks the low-end jerry-rigged solution it is. You can do better than that.

Why not see if your grout gets dirty first? You'd be surprised at how many of us have tile and grout behind out cooktops.

I think if this is an everyday issue then you need a more permanent solution and BTW I was not being nasty just honest if this is a big deal to you and all the time then you need a better solution than grout and tile . I think if the storage of a sheet of stainless can be handy that might be the simple answer.

For things that splatter I use a foldable stainless steel splatter guard from Brand: BLUE HOME. It goes in the dishwasher to clean and folds up flat on the drawer under the stove-top.

Folks, not to harp here, BUT grout products have evolved! Yes they have. While there are various brands, depending on the tile, we have become big fans of Laticrete Spectralock 1. It's a professional product not found at big box stores and yes, it is much more stain resistant. Like anything you have behind a cooktop, you do need to wipe it off if there are splashes (been that way since the beginning of time). Wipe down the backsplash or wash the temporary shield. Pick your poison. That being said, since it's already grouted, prop a large cookie sheet up as needed. No need to store something that has no other functional use.

I find Patricia Colwell Consulting's comments very informative, helpful and interesting.

I am a messy cook, and I'll say it right out loud, here, there, and everywhere.

What's the big deal about saying messy cook?

Snowflakes really shouldn't be on social internet sites.

If one is going to get regularly, significantly upset about what a stranger in the ether(net) types at them, they have some serious issues.

If one is going to regularly snap at the same few people on a social internet site, they have some serious issues.

Time to get a real life and not use Houzz to cathect.

Its not about being a snowflake, she habitually adds unneeded comments. Its great that you appreciate people like that. I avoid being an a$$ to people who ask for help.

I feel like this is kind of like keeping furniture covered with throws to preserve the upholstery. On the one hand, I would not do it every day. On the other hand if I came in from outside and was covered with sunblock I would probably put a towel down if I wanted to sit on certain chairs. So if you want to keep the grout in a slightly cleaner condition during those times when you are doing something messy by putting something to shield it a bit, why not?

M Riz-

Maybe I am just older, actually, I am older, so the carapace is thicker, I suppose.

Life is too short and too valuable to take umbrage about adjectives or phrases you yourself may not have chosen, figures of speech that might seem too familiar or too rough for your sensibilities, or what you perceive to be unkind sarcasm.

It is difficult to impossible to discern tone on the internet.

One man's humor and wit is another's nasty sarcasm.

One region's vernacular is another's rudeness.

No one here is trying to insult anyone, and everyone here is trying to be helpful.

I have noticed that lately a few people on Houzz have been the targets of others' ire, and I previously remarked on it the day after Christmas.

The targets (and I won't mention the names here) are all long-standing contributors on Houzz and make well-informed, helpful, and interesting comments.

We know so little about each other and our life experiences and situations, even if we do happen to know if they are pros in a decorating or home maintenance field.

Can we cut each other some slack?

Isn't it easier to just let the chaff fall through the sieve and keep the very valuable wheat than to walk around looking for possible insult in every word?

We are all works in progress in this.

Idk, if i dont have something even mildly constructive to say, i dont add anything i move on.

She said we need to see your kitchen- good point

She said the grout you choose will be the right answer for cleaning the tile- good point

Both were very constructive points.

Look, nobody appointed me the gladiatrix of Houzz.

But it does seem that some people here are being targeted unfairly, and we can all take a deep breath and look at the big picture.

loobab,,,i'm dying here. carapace! classic. mine is rather thick too.

I don't know why some people get their panties in a wad. There wasn't anything offensive in what Patricia wrote, in my opinion. I didn't feel she was taking a jab at the OP. She gives a lot of advice to people on here and can sometimes be rather direct. As am I. And Jan, and loobab, and dozens of other 'regulars'.

loobab hit the nail on the head.

Perhaps some people take Patricia's comments in a way that wasn't intended. intonation, inflection, etc are hard to convey in comment. I took her comment to mean, "well, if you're that messy, perhaps you should have used something else behind the stove. You still can if you get a solid piece of stainles steel" ,,,, or something to that effect.

Those of you hammering her for her comment need to thicken your hides, or find another hobby. She's neither an a-hole, nor does she give unneeded advice. On the contrary, she gives professional advice that is free to hundreds of people who write in for help w/their dilemmas. For the price she's charging, I believe she does rather well.

With the risk of even further turning this into a meta-discussion about online behavior, I think everyone is an adult here and can chose to either ignore negative comments about their posts or defend themselves if they feel it necessary. I don't see the point in complaining on the behalf of another adult, defending anyone else but themselves, or explaining someone else's behavior for them. We are all aware how certain posters are going to respond whether the response is good information couched in negativity, terrible advice given with generosity or a downright hostile non-productive response--those things are not going to change.

@palimpsest-

On a social website that has management oversight, if a member is complained about, they can get kicked off the site.

People have been kicked off of Houzz, and they had been complained about by other Houzzers. We don't know the ins and outs of that ouster decision, the management did not choose to inform us.

It would be more than unfortunate, and unjust for that to happen again if the decision was made because of unfounded comments by other Houzzers.

While I don't know a soul on this website in real life, they are all spirits floating in the ethernet to me, defending people unfairly accused seems like the right thing to do for me.

Actually, that is rather an American ideal I thought.

One doesn't keep their nose clean that way, but to each their own.

Some people get involved, and some people look the other way.

OK, no one is getting beat up in the street here, and I would hope you would intervene in that situation.

But to me, it is a leaf from the same book.

Standing up for others or not.

Furthermore, as a pro, PCC is using her real name.

(Interesting how the snowflakes taking umbrage at this and that don't use their real names but throw darts at those who do.)

Trashing PCC (and others) unjustly is messing with her career which is doubly unconscionable.

Yes, palimpsest, the odds are, most people will not change.

Some people do.

We are not dead yet, even if some of us are a bit crusty on the edges.

Sometimes with feedback we can change for the better, all of us.

@BethH just saw a show on I forget which channel showing how to make the best Maine lobster roll, and a Home Town episode with a couple that fishes for crabs. So I'm thinking crustacean-ish

I will agree to differ, because I don't see a great deal of similarity between intervening if someone is in physical danger or coming to someone's aid online when they are unable to do it oneself (which is something that I used to see when people got into endless verbal altercations on social medial like FB --I no longer have an account) --I don't see a great deal of similarity in that vs. pointing out who said what about whom and how you think it is unfair when the party in question is choosing to ignore it themselves. I don't feel that I am turning my back on someone in need of help in that case, I feel like I am avoiding fanning the flames of yet further conflict between yet another subset of people. Particularly when the individual (whoever it may be) almost Always responds in that fashion and almost always ignores any comments in reply.

So please, do not come to my defense if I say something someone does not like and claps back at me. First, I am probably fully aware of what I said and how I said it. And if I chose to ignore the response please take that as I am choosing to ignore the response and that is how I wish it to remain, not that I am someone in need of your help (or interference, whichever it may be).

Understood.

I’m the original poster, and never thought twice about Patricia’s comment. And yes, I’m a messy cook! But try cooking my seafood and andouille gumbo with lump crab meat (kudos Chef Paul Prudhomme) and you’ll agree it’s worth the mess! Try cooking a pot of turtle soup, as you simmer a combo of ground turtle meat, flower and tomato sauce, resembling a pool of molten lava, spewing “red gravy”, as we call it in NOLA, 3 feet in the air, without creating a mess! Or blackening some redfish or steaks!

Thanks to all for their thoughts and recommendations!

Chris- Oh, gumbo!!

I would love to get some empty, clean sizable turtle shells. (I collect all sorts of objects from nature.) Perhaps you live in an area where turtles live and breed and people are allowed to catch them? Do you have any ideas where I can get any?

Try Kliebert’s (Klee bear) Turtle Farm in Ponchatoula, LA. https://kliebertgatortours.com/
They may have some or less you in the right direction.