Drip Pan

[ZAL]

I am cooking a prime rib and would like to catch the drippings for gravy. Do you think it would be ok to remove the regular drip tray and put my gravy in a large aluminum pan directly on the heat shield to catch everything? Or do i need to find a way to put the catch pan on the drip tray? There's just not a lot of room between the cooking grates and the drip tray.

[Uncle Bob]

Just guessing here since you weren't very specific, but your description sounds like you've got a pellet grill. If you put the drip pan on the burn pot deflector shield you'll likely fry the drippings to a crispy lump of some sort and not have much left for gravy. Look for a wider/shallower drip fan to fit, or put the drip pan on top of the grate and put another grate in the drip pan to elevate the meat so it benefits from the convective air flow.

[ZAL]

Yes, its a pellet smoker. I haven't been able to find a good fit for on the the tray and under the grate. I like your second idea. Think ill give that a try. Thank you.

[RonB]

Great advice, and I second it. ZAL - just get a grate that will fit on top of the aluminum tray. That will help insure max exposure of the meat to the smoke. If the meat sits inside of the tray it will still get some smoke, but not as much.