Grease build up Rectec

[BurntWeenie]

So I am a few weeks into owning a rectec 590. I've done a few smokes and decided to vacuum and clean. After I took the grease tray out under it I found grease/ash sludge. Is this normal?

 

[Winterrider]

Was it ( grease tray) set up on the ledge (left hand side ) properly. I have made that error in the past.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I set mine up wrong the first time and had grease dripping out of smoker. Can you take picture of how you have it installed?

 

[DougE]

I'm not a rectec owner so I can't speak to the specifics of your grill, but after seeing that some of the grease finds its way to the bottom of my Camp Chef, even with everything installed properly, I've started keeping a foil pan under whatever I'm cooking to catch the grease. My grill stays cleaner, and I don't have to worry about the firepot setting off a grease fire in the bottom of my grill.

 

[Fueling Around]

I have a different brand of pooper, but it appears to use a similar drip pan as the Rec Teq
I foil line my drip pan for cleanup. One time didn't get the foil correct and it flowed grease in the belly of the cook chamber.
Maybe similar to positioning issue?

 

[BurntWeenie]

I'm not a rectec owner so I can't speak to the specifics of your grill, but after seeing that some of the grease finds its way to the bottom of my Camp Chef, even with everything installed properly, I've started keeping a foil pan under whatever I'm cooking to catch the grease. My grill stays cleaner, and I don't have to worry about the firepot setting off a grease fire in the bottom of my grill.

So you place the pan on the drip tray?

 

[DougE]

Normally I don't have a full smoker, so I put the meat on the top rack and the pan on the bottom rack.
Quite a few, including TulsaJeff , use a pan with a rack like this one in their pellet grills.

Amazon.com: Checkered Chef Baking Sheet with Wire Rack Set 13" x 18" - Single Set w/ Half Sheet Pan & Stainless Steel Oven Rack for Cooking: Home & Kitchen

 

[BurntWeenie]

So the issue was that I used a fiberglass teflon mat that was larger than the drip tray. Grease wicked to the edges and that is how it got all over the bottom

 

[DougE]

Glad you figured it out. It still doesn't hurt anything to have a pan to catch the grease directly below the meat. It helps keep everything cleaner, and think about defatted drippings to add back into your pulled pork or hunk of beef from the pan, that otherwise would have ended up in the grease bucket.

 

[sandyut]

I use foil to cover the drip pan and toss it when I do a cleaning. I have also erroneously placed meat over the space between the drip tray and the smoker side - makes amess - avoid that too.

 

[BurntWeenie]

I use foil to cover the drip pan and toss it when I do a cleaning. I have also erroneously placed meat over the space between the drip tray and the smoker side - makes amess - avoid that too.

What happened was I used fiberglass/teflon mats and the grease wicked to the edges. I now use pans with grids, foil etc. Lessons learned

 

[sandyut]

What happened was I used fiberglass/teflon mats and the grease wicked to the edges. I now use pans with grids, foil etc. Lessons learned

yup, there is much to learn, so long as there was no permanent damage or catastrophes, keep the smoke rollin. We all have stories of mishaps and what not.