Drip Pans

[Limey]

Has anyone with an Auber experimented with a drip pan in the box?
In pre-Auber days it seems that large internal drip pans seemed to be correlated with lower than dialled in box temperatures and with large temperature swings.
This has been variously attributed to;
1. The drip pan, possibly with water in it, acting as a heat sink and keeping the temperature lower than selected. This seems unlikely since the drip pan weighs less than a rack of ribs and should be irrelevant anyway once the equilibrium temperature has been reached.
2. The drip pan, placed above the level of the thermocouple, somehow "pools" heat below it and fools the thermocouple into shutting off too soon-a possibility.
3. The drip pan, placed below the level of the thermocouple, channels hot air around the sides of the box, disproportionately impacting on the thermocouple and again fooling the thermocouple into shutting off too soon-again a strong possibility. This seems to be the most popular explanation.
4. The drip pan somehow affects the air vortices produced by the air intake on the bottom and the vent hole on the top, thus somehow fooling the controller. I don't understand this explanation and I suspect that nobody else does either.

It seems to me that an Auber with a moveable probe placed adjacent but not too close to the meat should solve all these problems and permit the use of a drip tray. An Auber with a fixed probe may still have issues if the problem is caused by #3 above.
Am I missing something and does anyone have any experience in this area?

 

[SuperDave]

Roger,
There are a few things that I actually smoke sitting in a pan.  My twice smoked ham for our Easter dinner will be smoked in a foil pan.  If you were to peruse the poultry forum, you'd see that my turkeys have been smoked in a pan.  The Auber has no issues holding the temps. 

 

[Limey]

Dave,
Thanks. Is there any reason in your experience why one could not smoke a Boston Butt in a drip pan but elevated on a rack so that smoke gets all around it? Should make cleanup a lot easier (I get complaints from my wife!).

 

[SuperDave]

Not only do I not see a reason why it wouldn't work, it would also make removing the butt at the end easier for those that keep the butt in the smoker until the very end.  Your original question about the pan on a rack a couple of positions under the meat would definitely work. 

 

[gregbooras]

Dave,
Thanks. Is there any reason in your experience why one could not smoke a Boston Butt in a drip pan but elevated on a rack so that smoke gets all around it? Should make cleanup a lot easier (I get complaints from my wife!).

Roger,

I have not gotten around to doing a Boston Butt yet in my #2, but I did them all the time in my Green Egg. I always put the butt in a aluminum foil steam - Half Size. Maybe you missed a bit of bark on the bottom, but it keep the butt juicy.

Greg

 

[SuperDave]

Greg,
With a #2, the science may change your results.  Volume of the box has a greater impact than we might realize.  I say that just based on the reports from guys with a lot of experience with #1's & #2's versus what #3 and #4 owners know to be true. 

 

[gregbooras]

Greg,
With a #2, the science may change your results.  Volume of the box has a greater impact than we might realize.  I say that just based on the reports from guys with a lot of experience with #1's & #2's versus what #3 and #4 owners know to be true.

SuperDave,

Thanks on things that I have not smoked in the #2, I try to read everything posted in the forums before pulling the trigger. Next weekend I plan to do a butt, I plan to brine, add rub and smoke at 235 and then pull at 200 and let rest.

Let me know if I am missing anything here!

Thanks Greg

 

[Pork Belly]

I haven't used foil or pans on any of my smokes in my #3 but have used a pan in the past on a Weber Charcoal grill while smoking a turkey. I have had no issues with dry meat including butts. Clean up is also not been a real issue.

One thing I am amazed at is:

Should make cleanup a lot easier (I get complaints from my wife!).

How do you get your wife to clean the smoker?

 

[gregbooras]

I haven't used foil or pans on any of my smokes in my #3 but have used a pan in the past on a Weber Charcoal grill while smoking a turkey. I have had no issues with dry meat including butts. Clean up is also not been a real issue.

One thing I am amazed at is:

Should make cleanup a lot easier (I get complaints from my wife!).

She is willing to clean the racks, but that's about it

Greg

How do you get your wife to clean the smoker?

 

[paidin]

at sea level, it is impossible to get water to raise above 200 degrees F  (or 212, whatever it is).  In order to get higher than that, the water has to change state from liquid to gas, which takes a lot of energy (heat absorption).  The result of this is that the temps of the smoker will tend to stay around that 200ish degrees.  Of course, the heat rising around and over the water pan is higher than 200 degrees but the water pan helps to keep the temps of the smoker near that magic 225 degree level.  It will also help to control temperature swings.

When all of the water evaporates, thats when the temperature swings and spikes would occur.

 

[Limey]

Guys, it's called lots of TLC plus we do it together. We have been married for 47 years & she is a great wife-definitely a keeper.

 

[gregbooras]

Hey Roger,

I agree this is our 37th year, lots of helping each other out and being a team!

Also it works out great, when I am not traveling I am baking, cooking and smoking and my better half cleans up after me.

How great is that.

Happy Easter.

 

[SuperDave]

greg,
does your wife blame her weight on you like mine does?  If so, we have a lot in common.  LOL

 

[gregbooras]

greg,
does your wife blame her weight on you like mine does?  If so, we have a lot in common.  LOL

You are so right, every dinner, she says are you trying to make me fat......

Greg

 

[Limey]

+1 on all the above. Like Greg I also bake, mostly bread. I get complaints when I don't bake ("we have not had any decent bread recently") and when I do ("are you trying to get us all fat").

 

[DivotMaker]

Roger,

When we were just starting out with these smokers, a couple of years ago, we started seeing sever folks complaining about low box temps.  We looked at all the variables, and the culprit always came down to drip pans between the meat and smoke box.  When people stopped using them, their problems went away.  I believe your #3 explanation is the main reason for this.

Don't bother with pans under your meat.  If the meat is prepped right (like a brined Boston butt), you just don't need a crutch under the meat to retain moisture.  Save the pans for side dishes in the oven.

 

[SuperDave]

Tony,
A brined butt makes a huge mess in the smoker and that's what he is trying to address. 

 

[DivotMaker]

Tony,
A brined butt makes a huge mess in the smoker and that's what he is trying to address.

I know Dave.  I do them a lot, and know what they do.  Just like every other smoke, I empty/clean the drip pan, remove the foil from the bottom and smoke box lid, and wipe it out.  No different than ribs or any other meat.  Just part of the process, and I'd rather do that than have meat ruined by inaccurate temps in the box, which drip pans will do. 

 

[SuperDave]

Can do. Until you own something bigger than a 2, realize that all sizes don't perform equally an our advice should be caveats to what we own.

 

[Limey]

Tony,
I am not trying to retain moisture in the meat, nor am I trying to reinvent the wheel. Historically I have only used drip pans (small ones) underneath chickens and all my non-drip-pan butts have turned out extremely moist without exception. However brining and injecting does create a lot of cleanup and my question was whether this was "just part of the process" as you assert or whether, in a post-Auber world we had the option to use a drip pan. I accept that early on drip pans caused low box temperature problems in some instances. However with an Auber the temperature sensor can be placed where ever one wants. If the analysis of the cause of the low box temperature is correct then placing the sensor above the drip pan, away from the walls, and in reasonable proximity to the meat should theoretically permit the use of a drip pan. The purpose of my post was to ask if anyone had experience in this area and it appears that Dave has. I'll run a few experiments and let you all know how I make out.