To foil or not to foil

[dennisl]

Recently purchased my first pellet grill, a Pit Boss. Used it for the first time the other day and smoked two chicken halves which turned out great. Had some temp swings but next time I will adjust the "P" settings and see what happens. My question today concerns whether or not to cover the deflector plate with foil to speed up the cleaning process. I have read where others have used it, but the owners manual that came with my grill says NOT to use it, so I am reluctant to do so. Just wanted to get some opinions from you folks as to why it might or might not be a good idea. Today I just scraped it off, but a Boston butt or ribs would certainly create a much bigger mess than chicken. Any info appreciated.

[Jerod Broussard]

I wouldn't dare run my Grid Iron without foil. There is a little flare up of the foil on the sides, no ill effects.

[Donw]

Can’t speak for the Pit Boss but I always foil my plate on the Yoder. It has never been a problem and cleanup is so much easier.

[bten]

I foil my camp chef. One thing to watch, fold foil tightly along all edges, and do not leave big flaps of foil hanging on the edges, that might affect air flow. I seasoned my deflector plate with some spray oil to minimize the rusting.

[Bumby]

I don't foil my Rec-Tec Bull. If I need to clean the plate off, I simply crank the heat to, say, 450-500 degrees. Then it scrapes right off...

[Skip]

I don't have a Pit Boss but I have always foiled my Memphis deflector plate.

[klflowers]

No pit boss, but I foil my Traeger. My instructions suggest it. I like the way those pit bosses look; if my wife ever lets me get another large piece of meat cooking equipment, I am going to look into those.

[Texas Larry]

I have just started with my Yoder, but I foiled mine. Yoder recommends it, with cautions, in their manual to reduce the mess. I would echo bten on making sure there are no hanging flaps too. Will see how to goes.

TX L

[Fire Art]

Well I have A Pit Boss and i always foil set your p setting to three is what they told me but after s couple of cooks and Getting familiar with my cooker I have not had to adjust it. But for low and slow I would put it back at P setting 3 making jerky I set it at 7 and keep a eye on it for loss of flame I have had my cooker since January and burned 200 pounds pellets no problems 🤓

[Bogy]

I've got a Grilla, not a Pit Boss, but I don't foil mine. I'm OK with it looking like it's been used to cook, not eat off of. Like Bumby , after a low and slow cook or two, I crank it up. I like to make pizza once a week, and for that I crank it up to about 540 for an hour, with the pizza stone. That works like the "clean" setting on your oven indoors, everything is pretty well ash, and I just scrape it off with a paint scraper and vacuum it up with the rest of the ash in the bottom of the cooker.

[Troutman]

I, by now, must own stock in Reynolds aluminum company. I foil the heck out of everything. Gasser, kettles, WSMs, pellet pooper and vertical. I hate grease and don't have the ability to hit the "clean setting" on all my cookers. Foil it if you got it !!!

[Polarbear777]

I agree, I may use more foil than charcoal by volume, judging by my ash bucket.

I get the super wide rolls so I can encapsulate a half sheet pan with no seams on top.

[dennisl]

Thanks for all the responses. I guess my main concern would be whether the foil has any effect on the temps or otherwise cause any problems. I think I will give it a try next time and see how it goes. Very pleased with the first cook. Pleasantly surprised that it did not use as many pellets as I expected. I will experiment with the "p" settings and see how that goes. Any more tips or suggestions much appreciated.

[treesmacker]

I just line the drip drain tray with foil. I was wondering how the foil works at very high temps. I noticed the foil actually somewhat disintegrates and produces a white residue on the smoker at full temp on my Rec Tec RT-340. Maybe 550-600 degrees F is too hot for foil.

[JGo37]

I buy almost all my cookers from CL, make some mods but never foil them because if I cleaned the cooker gunk out they would fall apart.

So I guess if I had anything new and valuable, I'd foil.

[JTpellets]

I have a pitboss and do not foil. I scrape and have a dedicated shop vac for grills. So I just clean occasionally. And i never use the temp setting on my pitboss it fluctuates way too much. I just put it on smoke and use the appropriate p setting for the weather.

[Fire Art]

This is a chicken cook on my pit boss grill set at 350 two probs in Chicken thighs one prob at great one prob on top rack p setting 4 sure it goes up or down 20 deg. I see no effects on my cooks

[Bogy]

Swing good! That's when I see the most smoke!

[JTpellets]

Wow. Mine will fluctuate over 50 degrees regularly but i normally use it at lower temps. Fire Art Do you get that same fluctuation at 225?

[Fire Art]

JTpellets yes but if I set the P Setting to 3 it levels it out a bunch P setting R your friends