Pan or not to Pan...?

[Cman60]

I just finished cleaning out my gear and it was a chore. Getting the grease and the creosote off the the smokers took a lot of time and effort. I used Easy Off for 30mins then a power wash at 2800psi. Even with that, I got perhaps 60% of the creosote off but all of the grease gone. So I'm wondering how much do I lose by using aluminum pans in my next smoke.

I'm doing a boneless Leg of Lamb for Easter and a whole Packer Brisket. I'm gonna put both meats in pans this time since there should be a good amount of grease coming out.

What do you guys think? Forego the pans and just get ready for another major cleanup OR use the pans and hope the meat gets a good amount of smoke...

[Dewesq55]

I wouldn't put the meat in a pan. The most I would do is put a pan on a lower rack.

[_John_]

plus 1 for a drip pan if you can.

[richinlbrg]

Drip pan below, but don't put the meats "in" a pan if you want a bark, would be my thinking.

[Cman60]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n77172[/ATTACH] Thanks for the responses. I went with the pan on the next lower tray under and it worked great. Especially for the lamb which is greasy as you know. I'll be using the pan under technique from now on in the smoker. Should make clean up a lot simpler.

Thanx again!


Here's the results of my Easter Smoke:

[Jerod Broussard]

Wow, that stuff got more bark than a Pitbull.

[Cman60]

Wow, that stuff got more bark than a Pitbull.

Yessir! I was surprised with the amount of bark. Kept it steady at 225F for 10hrs. I didn't wrap until the IT hit 185F then left it on the smoker until the IT hit 200F even. (2 more hrs). I think that made the difference in the amount of bark I got. I did just a light dusting with kosher salt too. Helped with the halo.

[David Parrish]

I dedicated my main rack in my Mak to drip pan duty and smoke on the top rack. That thing is a pain to clean so I do my best to just not get it dirty

[Cman60]

I dedicated my main rack in my Mak to drip pan duty and smoke on the top rack. That thing is a pain to clean so I do my best to just not get it dirty

I hear ya..I'm a firm believer in the drip pan now!