Drip Pans

[DivotMaker]

Roger, you may be on to something.  Placing the removable sensor away from the walls may solve this phenomena.  Those of us with fixed probes can't get away from the heat channeling up around the pan.  Dave's right about size - the 1 and 2 are definitely more effected by this than the #3, but I have seen it from #3 owners.  The key is not using a pan large enough to channel the heat close to the sides, which some did (really large drip pans).

Let us know how your experimentation goes! 

 

[Limey]

Right now I have a 5.5lb leg of lamb, trussed up so that it looks like a small butt, in the SI3 with a drip pan underneath. Sure hope it works....it's our Easter dinner!  Will post pics and results later but so far so good.

 

[paidin]

Why not wrap the back 6"of a rack with foil and stick that rack one slot above the water pan? That would channel the heat back away from the back wall and towards the middle of the smoker

 

[SuperDave]

My ham in a pan was phenomenal.

 

[Limey]

My leg of lamb turned out great and with the drip pan in place cleanup was a breeze. The total smoke time was about right (two hours at 225 to an IT of 125 including 30 minutes of ramp up)
but the conditions were windy and the Auber oscillated in the 210-215 region. I'll do an autotune with the drip pan in place and see if this alters things. Clearly more experimentation is in order-a good excuse for some more great Q!

 

[Barrel99]

Roger, that lamb looks perfect.

 

[DivotMaker]

Looks like you have it figured-out, Roger!   Great-lookin' lamb!

 

[Limey]

I did "ham in a pan" last night i.e. placing the ham cut side down in the drip pan and it turned out extremely well. Smoked at 225 to an IT of 140(about 3 hours) using 3 ounces of cherry chunks and a few cherry chips to get started. Poured a mixture of melted butter, maple syrup, brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon between the slices(this was a spiral sliced ham) and reserved some of the mixture for glazing at the end. Our guests said this was the best ham they had ever had. The pics are of all that was left of a 14 pounder after six hungry people had eaten their fill. Cleanup was a snap-just put the drip pan in the dishwasher.
Tonight I'm doing ribs, again with a drip pan. I'll post how they turn out.

 

[SuperDave]

Here's hoping that the success stories provide evidence that all drip pans are not evil.    Knowing how different my RV oven functions from my home oven taught me long ago that volume makes a huge difference in performance. 

 

[NDKoze]

I would think that if your Auber was placed above toward the top of the smoke like many do with permanent probes and if your drip pan is not much bigger than your meat, that you would not have a problem. I think a lot of the temp swing issues were that the drip pan was causing problems because it was frequently placed very close to the standard smoker probe.

I would love to catch some of the juices for an aus jus instead of them all dripping away.

Maybe this is a good reason to finally spring for an Auber. I will let you guys do some more testing to re-confirm that this works without issues.

Like others have said, I think in the #3 and especially in the #4 smokers the drip pans should not be much of an issue especially if you are using a pan not much bigger than the meat. Now if you are using a full steamer pan that basically covers 90%-100% of the rack, I think that could still present a problem. But, I do not think that is all that common.

 

[DivotMaker]

I would think that if your Auber was placed above toward the top of the smoke like many do with permanent probes and if your drip pan is not much bigger than your meat, that you would not have a problem. I think a lot of the temp swing issues were that the drip pan was causing problems because it was frequently placed very close to the standard smoker probe.

I would love to catch some of the juices for an aus jus instead of them all dripping away.

Maybe this is a good reason to finally spring for an Auber. I will let you guys do some more testing to re-confirm that this works without issues.

Like others have said, I think in the #3 and especially in the #4 smokers the drip pans should not be much of an issue especially if you are using a pan not much bigger than the meat. Now if you are using a full steamer pan that basically covers 90%-100% of the rack, I think that could still present a problem. But, I do not think that is all that common.

+1

 

[Limey]

Well, the ribs were a relative disaster. Two racks of St. Louis style ribs(total weight almost 8 pounds), brined, rubbed, placed on the topmost rack with the Auber box probe between them not touching the meat-about 2 inches away in fact. Water pan in place next to the smoker box, drip pan(half sheet pan) on the second rack. Auber set to 235 for 10 hours. Left to go fishing-no peekee but also no watchee.
Returned five hours later to find the ribs hanging out at 205 degrees, some 30 degrees below the set temperature and totally no where near done. Pulled the drip pan, which had a quarter inch of liquid in it, and watched the temperature rise to 235 within a few minutes. In the interest of a timely dinner I pulled the ribs and finished, foiled, in the oven at 350 degrees. They were actually quite good-sorry no pics, too busy rescuing dinner!
After dinner I spent the rest of the evening experimenting and have developed some hypotheses.
Need to do some more work but large drip pans, full of liquid, clearly reduce box temperatures quite dramatically.

 

[DivotMaker]

The large drip pans were what gave folks all the problems, early on.  That was what I was talking about in my first posts about this.  Glad you were able to confirm that, and also that you were able to salvage the ribs! ;D

 

[Limey]

There is clearly a lot more going on here than, certainly I, understand. Drip pan size is key but so also is the evaporative cooling area caused by the drip pan. The ham worked well-confirmed by Dave-in spite of a relatively large drip pan but a pan that was about the same size as the meat i.e. it did not greatly increase the cooling area. Likewise the lamb came out great, and I have never had a problem with chickens in relatively small round drip pans. Need to do some more experiments since I like both the easy cleanup and the pan juices. That having been said I am doing a butt tonight for company tomorrow dinner and am chickening out and not using a drip pan!

 

[DivotMaker]

I appreciate your experimentation, Roger, and I know - for a fact - that your "non-panned" butt will be the rave of your dinner guests! ;D