Drip pan for Weber Kamado

[Rod]

So I got my 18" SS round drip pan from The Ceramic Grill Store today. Here's some pics for any one interested. Not sure which one is which, but one of them is with 1/2" ceramic spacers and the other is with the spacers doubled for a total of 1" each 3 places. These pics are of my E6, not the Summit which has a different deflector plate.

fzxdoc You mentioned in another thread you thought it would be hard to get gloved hands in there to comfortable lift it out. Those pics are just for you and you only! I don't think it will be a problem. You also mentioned you were concerned with how shallow and angled the lip is. I don't think that will be a problem either. It's only about 1/8" shorter than the DnG and I've never had an issue with those overflowing or spilling. Plus there is a lot more surface to this drip pan than the DnG. Will probably still use a disposable pan on top of it for butts and brisket type cooks. Thanks again!

[Andrrr]

I figure the idea behind this is so you can save the drippings rather than burn them off and to have something that is reusable, but for a disposable option I’ve been using the BGE disposable foil pan. It’s 19” which covers a good bit of area, I just wish I could find something closer to 20-21”

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/outdoor-living/grills-and-smokers/grill-replacement-parts-and-accessories/8025184

[Rod]

Andrrr I'm not one that usually saves the drippings. Being a Kamado newbie, I did a brisket and put a disposable pan right on top of the deflector plate. The pan didn't catch all the
drippings and created a lot of sizzling and smoke. Plus what did get in the pan was boiling. Basically made a bigger mess/clean up than I prefer. I think that caused my temps to runaway a bit as well. Those disposable ones are $30 for 5. I can imagine they are pretty flimsy as well, but good thought.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks so much, Rod for the great info and photos. I passed on that drip pan style when I looked at it last year. I may give it a second look now that I know you're pleased with your purchase. This is such a great community, enabling my MCS on even the small things.

Kathryn

[Jessterr]

I second Kathryn’s thanks, Ron. You sold me, I just ordered one, although the 1” spacers are currently out of stock so I’ll have to come up with something else or just wait until they come back in. The 1/2” ones wouldn’t have worked for me, as my deflector plate is the original design and they wouldn’t provide sufficient clearance of the hinge assemblies. Anyway, thanks again for the info!

[Rod]

Jessterr I believe fzxdoc has the same deflector plate as you do and she stacks the 1/2" ones. So it should work for you. She also said they have been out of the 1" for some time. Who knows how long before they will be back in stock.

[Rod]

This is the drip pan in action. This was from one STL rack. I'll admit you do have to be careful if lifting it out while the grease is still real warm. I normally don't remove any drip pan until after the grill is cool. Then it pretty much solidifies.

[nickmv]

How are you liking the pan so far? I was gonna get one but my immediate concern is the fact that the heat diffuser plate has a holed design which lets heat through it. Do you have any issues on low/slow cooks by blocking those? Were you already wrapping the diffuser too and keeping the holes blocked?

I'd been considering a 14" as that's the max it can hold before you block those holes, but if they don't really impact anything.......hmmm.

[Rod]

nickmv I'm loving it so far. I've only done a handful of cooks so far and nothing super fatty like a pork butt. And even when I do a butt, I'll also put a half pan on top of this drip pan. I haven't notice any issues with "blocking" the holes. The drip pan sits on ceramic spacers. So it's almost a full inch off the diffuser plate. Combine that with the angle of the lip and there is plenty of room for the heat to escape. I originally wrapped the diffuser and decided it was too much of a PITA.

[Rod]

nickmv That's why I was in search of something like this. With this drip pan I don't have to wrap the diffuser plate and fuss with keeping the holes unblocked with foil. The foil would tear around the handles which then allowed grease to get on the diffuser anyway.

[Attjack]

A pizza pan is another option.

[surfdog]

That’s what I have. Picked up a cheap deep dish pan.

[nickmv]

Thanks for the info Rod, what size ceramic spacers do you recommend? I see they sell 3 different sizes. Gonna give this a shot on my new-ish E6.

[Rod]

nickmv Since they are and have been out of stock of the 1" spacers, I got two sets of 1/2" spacers and stack them to 1". They come in sets of 3.

[fzxdoc]

Glad to hear that the drip pan is still working out well for you, Rod . I sure wish the sides were higher though. But like you say, we shouldn't have much need to move that plate until it's cool.

I'm liking the spacers as well. The Ceramic Grill Store is still out of the 1 inch spacers, doggone it, which would be ideal. Two sets of the half inch spacers are doing the job for my WSCGC, though. Can't complain.

nickmv , I recommended foiling the diffuser plate (to keep it clean) with my style of WSCGC, the original design. The diffuser plate on the original Summit Charcoal WSCGC style is 2 layers of metal with an air gap in between and hinged sides for adding more fuel. If I had the plate design with holes that the E6 has, I wouldn't mess with foiling it either.

Kathryn

[nickmv]

FYI I called The Ceramic Store this morning and they do have 1" spacers in stock now. The person on the phone needed a few mins to add them back to the site, but I just grabbed the 18" pan and a set of 1" spacers. Plan is to try it out on a brisket for Memorial Day.

[Rod]

So here is the aftermath of 5.5lbs of pork belly burnt ends.

[LA Pork Butt]

I’ve been using their drip pan with and without spacers for years. Their Woo with handles is a great addition to the Kamado, because it makes it easy to lift out both the diffuser and the drip pan together.

[SmokeyGator]

I used to put foil on my heat deflector plates in my Primo XL. But then I got lazy. Or I realized it was not necessary. What was I trying to keep clean? The plates exposed to direct heat?

So now what I do is flip the plates (Primo XL has two, so I can have a direct/indirect zone if I want) after a cook. Last thing I did was two pieces of brisket flat, and there was a lot of liquid fat on the plates. After the flip the fire kicked up to inferno mode. I left it that way for a few minutes, it did not take long for the lid thermometer to read 600+. The plates are not exactly "clean", but I don't plan to eat off them anyway. They are less greasy though. Fire took care of that.

[MT_Cinnabear]

I’ve seen several solutions to this and just wanted to add my own.

I bought the same pizza pan others have used (17”) that has the 1” lip. After I get the Weber going for smoke, I put the heat deflector on, then put the Weber baskets on top of that (they actually fit well). Then I put the pizza pan/drip pan in top of them. It sits about 1” below the grill and isn’t resting on the heat deflector. In hind sight I would have gotten an 18” because sometimes just a little juice misses the drip pan…but it has no problem holding the drippings from a 14# brisket (post trim).

[fzxdoc]

Take a peek at this topic, 19"x1" Aluminum Drip Pan, that Smoked Transistors started a few weeks ago. It's a true good fit for the WSCG without the sloped sides of the 18" one that I'm currently using and have liked and used for just over a year.

I've been on a smoking hiatus for the past 6 months, but am eager to get back into it and give this new pan a try. It's what I have been looking for all along, ever since I first bought my WSCGC. I still plan on using the ceramic spacers on the diffuser to sit it on.

The pan was just delivered yesterday and I think I saw my WSCGC, Mr. Fancypants, smile when I opened its lid and set the pan inside just under the top grate. Perfect fit.

Kathryn