Double bottom drip pan for KK 38 or 42?

[Pultzar]

Hello!

Is there a double bottom drip pan for the KK 38 or 42 models, like there is for the 32?

How do people perform indirect cooking on their 38/42?  I'm coming from a Primo XL where I was using heat deflector plates and trying to piece together how the 38/42 will function.

Can't wait to get one!

 

[Tucker]

Heavy foil is always a good stop gap. I use it often on my 19.5 and 23

[DennisLinkletter]

 I don't think we have made up the double drip for the 38 and 42 because of concerns about their weight, especially when full of oil..
Let me try to track down my notes.
 

Heat Deflectors
          While I made them, I haven't personally used a heat deflector in my grills for more than 15 years because they increase airflow. In the world of glazed ceramic pots, big green egg, Kamado Joe, etc., having a plate with thermal mass inside your grill will give additional stability during ambient temperature changes. Because my grill is so well insulated, capturing this heat is unnecessary.

     I preheat the grill empty and then put a piece of aluminum foil on the lower grate for the area I want indirect, put my drip pan on top of that and use them to create indirect airflow. This will give you better performance/less airflow.

From Sygies on my forum:
Being one of "those people," I'd like to explain that there's science behind it. All you are trying to accomplish is to block the direct infrared radiation from the hot glowing coals - hence, indirect cooking. A "tissue-thin" foil accomplishes that easily, not because of its mass, but because it's shiny. Just like a mirror reflects visible light, the foil is reflecting the infrared radiation back down and not absorbing it. So, it's not consuming much energy itself (this is where the low mass comes into play), and significantly impacting the overall heat up of the grill. The side benefit is that it also prevents drips from entering the fire.

Most of the cooking in the KK is due to convective heat transfer from the hot air flow around the meat. There is some secondary cooking from the radiative heat transfer from the walls/dome, which a heavy slab of similar material underneath the cooking grate will contribute to. But, radiative heat transfer drops off dramatically with distance. (Hence, it is most effective on the upper grate where the food is close to the dome surface.) So, placing the deflector on top of the charcoal basket handles, while allowing the deflector to be closer to the heat source for faster heat up, isn't contributing much if you're cooking on the main grate. Placing the deflector on the lower grate will result in a closer proximity to the food and some increase in effectiveness, but being further away from the heat source, will take longer to heat up - about the same rate as the walls/dome. The small incremental mass of the deflector stone is stealing BTUs of energy from the rest of the grill during heat-up, with little payback in overall cooking efficiency. Unlike the walls/dome, which are contributing to holding the heat inside the KK once at thermal equilibrium, the deflector, being wholly inside the grill isn't helping with that.

So, the bottom line is: What does the heavy deflector bring to the table that makes it better than the "tissue-thin" piece of AL foil?     

https://komodokamadoforum.com/topic/10026-heat-deflectors-in-the-kk/?tab=comments#comment-121321