Heat Deflector / Drip Pan Options

[egmiii]

I have a 21" coming in the next few weeks and was debating if I should order the single or double bottom drip pan. Could anyone who has one comment on their experience with it?

 

For low and slow, do most of you use the included refractory deflector? I've heard that wrapping the lower grate in foil is a great alternative.

 

Is the included drip pan your go to item for collecting drippings, or do most people end up using a disposable aluminum catering pan?

[bosco]

great question....

 

I was thinking about this last night and was going to post this same question.

 

 

Looking forward to the responses

 

Thank you

[tinyfish]

I dont have the new drip pan yet but I have the single bottom drip pan on order. For me, I have never collected the drippings but if I did I would go with the double bottom drip pan.

I use the regular heat deflector with the round drip pan right now. Many ways to deflect the heat you have to use what works best for you.

[Poochie]

I use a disposable aluminum pan. I usually set it on the heat deflector.

[egmiii]

Could you guys give a little color as to why you chose that method? I don't believe there is a generally accepted right way to do it. It's all personal preference. I'm more curious as to nuances involved, like "The aluminum pan makes for an easier cleanup, yet doesn't burn the drippings", or "The round pan covers more area, and keeps my grill looking new". I'm sure it all depends what type of stuff you are cooking as well.

[MacKenzie]

egmiii, I have the 21 inch and have done ribs, smoked bacon and sausages low and slow. For the ribs I used the round drip pan that comes with the grill (It is so nice it looks like a serving tray. and that was all. I have yet to use the heat deflector that comes with the grill. I ordered the double bottom drip pan but have not used it yet but I'm sure I will.  For my bacon smoking used the upper grill in the high position to create distance from the meat and the fire. I have yet to do a pork butt.

[GoFrogs91]

I have a 23" and most often cover the lower grate with foil and put a foil pan on top of it to catch the drippings. Just the easiest to set up and clean up. The drippings will generally burn if you don't use the deflector.

However, if I wanted to save the drippings, I would use the deflector plate and still sit the foil pan on the lower grate. Same reason. Easy setup and easy cleanup.

Dennis's grill shaped drip pans look great, I just don't want to clean one.

[Poochie]

On the 21", if you don't want burnt drippings, you could place the heat deflector on the bottom grate, then make a few baseball size balls out of aluminum foil and set them on the heat deflector. Then put the aluminum pan on top of the foil baseballs. It would work with the included nice round drip pan too

[CeramicChef]

I'm too cheap and lazy to wrap a grate in foil. Further, I feel it disrupts the airflow through TheBeast.

I generally use the rectangular deflectors on all low-n-slow cooks in the belly of TheBeast. On top of the deflector, I'll lay a long rectangular steam table aluminum pan that is basically a throwaway pan. Above that is the main grate and on that is my cook. The original drip pan that came with TheBeast has never been used in any BBQ cook. I use it as a serving platter it looks so nice.

I don't really care about saving drippings, so for me the double walled drip pan is a nonstarter. I know a lot of folks like drippings, but I've never been a fan of that method. If I need added moisture, I'll add some of the liquid I injected to the final product and go with that. I'm not a big fan of adding rendered fat back to the cook.

This past weekend I cooked some spares. The basic throwaway aluminum pan worked just fine resting on the deflectors. Yeah, the drippings were mostly charred, but no big deal. If I really wanted to save drippings, I'd use 4 balls of aluminum foil under the drip pa.

Let me also say I always use a drip pan for every low-n-slow cook. I simply can't stand a dirty kamado. I don't like the rancid smell some kamados develop over time. I also believe that a clean kamado is a safe kamado. I've never once ever had a flare up because grease has been left in the kamado from a previous low-n-slow and the current cook temps is above 350° or so and a flash fire because of the increased atomized grease above its flashpoint just waiting for some oxygen to ignite. A clean KK is a happy and safe KK!

[egmiii]

I appreciate the feedback. From this limited survey it seems like the refractory deflector with a disposable aluminum tray is a common setup. It clearly makes cleanup easier.

 

If you had the grill shaped drip pan, do you think you would use it? Any pros or cons come to mind? Obviously it's harder to clean if you let them burn, but would it catch more grease or provide more consistent temps and airflow (let's say you had 4 pork butts on the main grate). I can't see myself using the drippings, other than for making gravy when roasting a turkey. 

 

CC, you make some great points about a clean grill. 

[Poochie]

CC had a good point. The problem with SOME dripping from BBQ is that they're too smokey. For some reason those dripping really absorb the smoke and tend to be bitter. That's why sacrificing a disposable aluminum pan is a good idea. Let it char, burn, get crusty and dump the whole thing. Easy clean up. For ME, a grill shaped drip pan would be useful if it was made out of disposable aluminum. But noooooo, Dennis has to make them tough enough for the Army to wear them as helmets.   

 

 The good thing about the double drip pan is that the drippings wouldn't burn and it would be an easy clean up. As much as I cook on Bolo, I could have paid for the double drip pan with all the aluminum pans I've bought!

[wilburpan]

Collecting drippings to use as a sauce is a time-honored technique when roasting a piece of meat or poultry in an oven. The keys in making this successful are: (1) make sure that the roasting pan is thick enough so that the drippings don’t scorch, and ( pour off any accumulated fat. When you’re done with the roasting process, you can take the meat out of the pan, pour off the fat, put the roasting pan on the stove over medium heat, sauté some minced onions/garlic/leeks/shallots in the pan using the residual fat or with some butter, and deglaze the pan with whatever you would like (wine, stock, water). That will make a nice sauce.

 

If you collect the drippings from a low and slow cook, you could do the same thing, if there was a way to keep the drippings from scorching. There are a few things that have steered me away from doing this. First, with the types of meat that I’ve been cooking, managing the amount of fat that collects in the drip pan is problematic. Second, I’ve found that the low and slows that I’ve done result in meat that is so flavorful and moist that I don’t need much help in the way of sauce. Third, controlling the scorching has been an issue for me. Every time I’ve tried using the drip pan that came with Smaug, there’s been some scorching, and cleaning that stuff off has been a bear. Finally, I make a BBQ sauce that works well on its own. I think that if I added drippings to the sauce, that could add some flavor, but it’s not worth the effort.

 

Overall, I just use the deflector plate and no drip pan. Before CC has a coronary , I do keep Smaug pretty clean despite this method. Gunk does collect on the deflector plate over the course of a cook, but after I’m done, I’ll typically take the main grate and deflector out, open up all the vents to let the fire get ripping hot to clean out the inside a bit, put the grate back on to burn off the gunk, and finally put the deflector plate upside down to scorch the gunk. Then I’ll scrape off the carbonized residue from the deflector with a paint scraper, and use Grillfloss on the grate.

 

I had mentioned before that I haven’t really tried adding smoking woods to low and slow cooks yet, relying on whatever the charcoal provided. It occurs to me that some smoke flavor could be coming from drippings burning on the deflector plate as the cook goes on.

[CeramicChef]

Wilbur - the important thing is that you clean Smaug! A clean Smaug is a happy Smaug and a happy Smaug is a safe Smaug.

[tomahawk66]

I love drippings, especially from rotisserie birds. I use a fat separator to... er... well... separate the fat! The jus then goes to make a gravy and the fat is saved for frying eggs etc later (with duck and goose all fat is reserved for roasting potatoes)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Syzygies]

I wrap a 16" terra cotta plant saucer (from Home Depot) in two layers of heavy duty foil. It acts as both a heat deflector and an easily cleaned drip pan.

 

I believe in reclaiming juices, but I gave up on this for ceramic cooking. Usually too much smoke, and too much salt.

[tony b]

If you search the old threads, we had a very active discussion with Dennis about the grate-shaped drip pans, especially the double-bottomed one. Being the great customer service guy that he is, Dennis made the double-bottomed pan in response to direct feedback from us on the Forum. Still on my "wish list." 

[bosco]

I have added two to my purchase. I have toyed with not getting them but I think I can justify the expense with messy cooks it will be great. And turkey gravy will be lights out this year!!

[tony b]

You hit the nail on the head, Bosco. My sole reason for wanting one is turkey gravy on Thanksgiving!

[egmiii]

Thanks to all who replied. I decided to go with the single bottom drip pan. I figured if I want to protect drippings from burning, then some crumpled foil underneath would do the job. I've learned over the years cleaning my copper frying pans that lighter is better. I have to imagine the double bottom is nearly double the weight.

 

I'm not sure if anyone has tried this, but could the single bottom perform as a large skillet? 

[wilburpan]

I’m not sure how well the single bottom pan would perform as a skillet. It’s essentially a solid sheet of stainless steel, which is not an ideal surface for cooking because it transfers heat relatively slowly. That’s why skillets are usually made of aluminum or copper — both of those metals conduct heat quickly, meaning that they are quick to heat up and quick to cool down.

 

There’s also the issue of potential hot spots, depending on how thick or thin the pan is. A sheet of metal thick enough to function as a drip pan may not be thick enough for a cooking surface.

 

Many high end pans have stainless steel as a cooking surface, but that’s for ease of cleaning and durability, not for cooking performance. In fact, you might say that the really good pans like All-Clad or copper cookware perform well despite having a stainless steel interior.

 

On the other hand, if the metal was thick enough and the surface was even enough, it may serve well as a griddle, once it got up to temperature.