Ribs & Pork Butt On Kamado - How Do You Deal With Rendered Fat?
I’m picking up an Akorn + "heat shield" ceramic insert this weekend. Yes, I succumbed to MCS....
How do you cook ribs & pork butt? On my WSM the grease collects in the water pan for disposal. But I’ve been reading the posts on Kamados, and most say the cooker is so air-tight it does’t need a water pan.
So: let the fat drip onto the shield & burn off? Or put some kind of aluminum pan in there to catch the drippings?
Weber 22.5" Silver (since 2000)
Large BGE with BBQ Guru thermostatic blower (since 2006)
Hasty-Bake Legacy (July 2014)
Also owned COS and Weber Smokey Mountain for short time in early 2000's.
Thermapen instant thermometer.
William & Sonoma meat probe.
Taylor digital with remote display, meat probe but use for pit.
I use a shallow disposable pan in my large BGE, and I cover the top of the plate setter with foil. Grease dripping onto the deflector and into the cooker is a mess you don’t want. Might not be as big of a deal if you cook all the time, but grease-soaked ceramic is something to avoid. Enjoy your new cooker!
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
As others have stated, Use a water filled drip pan. Round is best for the Akorn. Get the pan as large as you can, and only leave an inch or so around the edge. This setup worked well in my Akorn(sadly deceased). If I used a square pan and didn't cover the cooking surface well with a drip area, I would have serious flare ups. When using a good round pan, and making sure all the meat had a place to drip, the results were fantastic with no drama.Less work too...lol
Just simple foil works great. If you've already cooked over a bare diffuser no big deal just get a HOT fire going and do a good burn off cleaning. All will be well.
I look at it this way, if I want to keep the dripping for something i use a pan of some sort but you have to create a small airgap somehow between the pan/container and the diffuser or it will all burn. If i do not want to keep what drips i just foil the diffuser like others and call it a day.
I use a shallow disposable 9x13 pan in Fred. Nice thing about the disposable ones is no real cleaning of it involved. Pull it out and throw it all away once it has cooled. Pop in another and hammer down.
Here is my new Akorn on its seasoning burn. I thought I’d get that done in between thunderstorms here in Florida. Thanks for all your advice! Weather permitting, this is cooking pulled pork over July 4th!
I have let the fat drip right on the platesetter, i have also used a water pan . either way works fine , could wrap platesetter in foil too . Its not a big deal . I find you get slightly crunchier bark without the water. so there it is.
No water pan is needed in a ceramic cooker! I do use a drip pan, on the heat shield ceramic, spaced above the ceramic with copper plumbing ells, 1/2 inch is fine, I use three. It helps to keep the drippings from burning.
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