Any issues with using a foil pan in the smoker?

[kevin james]

So my new Pit Boss Pro Series 1100 will be assembled and delivered this Saturday and I plan on smoking a Tri Tip, and a Bottom Round Roast for the maiden voyage. Both cuts on the smaller side, somewhere between 2.5 - 3.0 LB's.

I was thinking about putting the Tri Tip and Bottom Round on one of my old MES 30 racks sitting on top of a foil pan to catch the drippings, and put some beef broth in to add moisture. I'm thinkin this setup will elevate the meat so it's doesn't sit in the liquid so it should get good smoke coverage all over. Just something I want to try but I'm thinking this should allow the meat to form a nice bark while also making a nice au jus and keeping the clean up super simple.

Am I thinking incorrectly on this? Any thoughts or advice are appreciated!

 

[Jonok]

It will probably be ok, but there isn’t a lot of lateral convection in most smokers, so you might not get as thorough a smoke on the meat as you would otherwise just sitting on a rack.

 

[johnmeyer]

I think a very large number of people in this forum do it exactly as you are planning. I know that I've done it that way. I wouldn't be too worried about the smoke reaching the food because, well, like air itself, it is pretty much everywhere inside the smoker.

 

[smokerjim]

I think a very large number of people in this forum do it exactly as you are planning. I know that I've done it that way. I wouldn't be too worried about the smoke reaching the food because, well, like air itself, it is pretty much everywhere inside the smoker.

I agree with johnmeyer, I think you'll get enough smoke

 

[texomakid]

I use them all the time with no issues other than they will work as a heat shield in some cases if your stacking meat above them on another shelf. I buy foil pans by the bulk I use them for a lot of stuff including in the smoker at times.

 

[Bearcarver]

I put meat in foil pans most of the time, but I put a wire cooling rack under the meat, in the foil pan, so smoke can get under the meat, and I don't like my meat laying on the bottom of a pan in meat juices either.

Just make sure you don't block the air flow with too many or too large pans.

Bear


Like This.
The Smoke can get under the Wire Cooling Rack, instead of the Prime Rib laying in it's own juices:

 

[Inscrutable]

FWIW, agree with pan/moisture/ elevation. Expect you will get adequate smoke all around it.
But experiment/playing with variations next couple times part of the fun.
And congrats on the buy.

 

[kevin james]

FWIW, agree with pan/moisture/ elevation. Expect you will get adequate smoke all around it.
But experiment/playing with variations next couple times part of the fun.
And congrats on the buy.

Thanks, I'm super excited to get up and running. Yes, as I've seen several people mention lately I too plan on a lot of experimenting with different cuts of meat and different cook techniques etc. Learning the new grill is going to be a fun process!

 

[johnmeyer]

I forgot to mention that a couple of years ago when I was fixing a friend's MES, his unit had a window. After I got it working, I cleaned the window and watched the smoke inside. There are most definitely NOT any areas that are devoid of smoke, and I don't remember any places where the smoke seemed thicker than in other places.

 

[Jonok]

All 3 of my current MESs have windows, and, while there’s a lot of smoke visible, it is notable that, especially in the one that still has a stock chiploader, there is little in the way of visible “roiling”, mostly the rising smoke seems pretty laminar.
I have no doubt that there’s gonna be plenty of smoke on meat right over a drip pan, but I also suspect that, head to head, there will be noticibly less than a similar piece of meat on an unobstructed grate.

Life is a trade off...

 

[texomakid]

I put meat in foil pans most of the time, but I put a wire cooling rack under the meat, in the foil pan, so smoke can get under the meat, and I don't like my meat laying on the bottom of a pan in meat juices either.

Just make sure you don't block the air flow with too many or too large pans.

Bear


Like This.
The Smoke can get under the Wire Cooling Rack, instead of the Prime Rib laying in it's own juices:
View attachment 395621

I'm gonna do this (with the wire rack) - thanks Bear
rt

 

[sigmo]

Sam's Club always has full size and half size disposable steam table pans (foil) for dirt cheap. I use them a LOT when smoking all kinds of things, but especially when I do pork butts for pulled pork.

I usually turn the butts over about halfway through, and the smoke is nice.

But I like Bearcarver 's suggestion to use a rack inside of the foil pan to get some elevation and allow the smoke to get under the meat. Excellent!

I have four of those half-size pans that I tediously poked full of holes with a philips screwdriver one night while watching a movie on TV. I use them for smoking pecans. And I smoke a LOT of pecans.

Did I mention that I love smoked pecans?

For the pecans, I often season them with a mixture of spices and butter. I do a lot all at once, using four of the half-size steam table pans. As I'm smoking them, I open the smoker four times, and each time, I remove each pan, stir the pecans, and rotate the positions of the pans in the smoker so they all get the same amount of time at each of the four possible locations in the smoker to keep things uniform.

Mmmmmm!