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To foil Platesetter or not

Folks,

I have a Platesetter from BGE that I plan on using for my indirect cooks. I have seen posts where people use aluminium foil to cover up the platesetter. Is this just to prevent the drippings from soiling the platesetter or does foiling add any other value? Just want to seek a general consensus whether to use foil on the platesetter or not.

Thanks!
LBGE & Mini
Orlando, FL

Comments

  • SkinnyV
    SkinnyV Posts: 3,404
    It will get ugly at some point. Foil or drip pan imo
    Seattle, WA
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    I just cleaned a horror show off my plate setter yesterday.  I should have foiled it.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,829
    IMO, aluminum foil on the platesetter, just keeps the platesetter looking good.  What you want is a pan with an air gap to catch the drippings.  The pan catches the drippings and contains them.  The air gap keeps them from scorching from not being in direct contact with the platesetter.

    I cooked five pork shoulders for a party and didn't use a drip pan.  The grease fire was amazing.  I will always use a drip pan on cooks from now on.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Line the drip pan with foil and you have easy clean-up.

    Damascus, VA.  Friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail.

    LBGE Aug 2012, SBGE Feb 2014

  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    I usually use foil or a drip pan to catch the drippings as well.  As others mentioned, the platesetter can get gunky and then it takes longer before you are ready to cook the next time cause you have to burn the funk off.  Much easier to just throw the foil away or foil pan away. 


    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

  • vidalia1
    vidalia1 Posts: 7,092
    If you ever want to bake desserts, breads or pizza foil your platesetter. If you don't, the gunk will go through the porous material and your baked goods will always smell like bad smoke...yuck..
  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
    If I dont use a drip pan, I typically lay down foil just to attempt to be a little cleaner. I am usually drunk and forget though so nevermind. :ar!
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    I never have. Even if you plate setter looks like an autopsy table, the time it takes to burn the nasties off you lump and wood will render all of it tasteless and odorless.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • mdozier
    mdozier Posts: 90
    I almost never use a drip pan.  My plate setter has had drippings on it for years. It's nice and seasoned and when the temps are high it sears the drippings and adds more smoke.  I wipe/scrape it before a cook and every now and then I'll leave the egg on for an hour or so after I'm through to let it "oven clean".  After this my plate setter looks almost like new (except it's completely black) but there's no gunk build up or deposits on the indirect side.  You can still clearly see the bge graphics in relief.

    Now the side down to the fire takes a bit more to get clean and I can not use it to bake on due to the scale but that's what the stones are for.

    I like the drippings-added-smoking offered for some cooks by letting the plate setter do it's thing "au natural" 

    I use a drip pan with apple cider vinegar or other concoction to add flavor and avoid grease fires when needed.



    jmho

    Matt

    Nashville TN 2 LBGE's and counting
  • Jscott
    Jscott Posts: 174
    Waste of foil in my opinion. I've got scars to prove it
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    I agree with @YEMTrey (the Phish guy) on this. Not a neat freak but a drip pan when using the setter is always a good idea. Usually it is full of veggies and the drips are chicken juice dropping onto the veggies. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    I form a REAL ROUGH pan out of thin aluminum foil -- soon as the platesetter goes into the egg, a piece of foil is placed across the egg and i just turn the sides up slightly -- only to prevent the grease from running into my lump.  The thin foil is in direct contact with the platesetter, so it stays "red hot"!  Any drippings flash to smoke due to this high heat.  And i don't think this produces "bad" smoke.  Grease dripped directly into the lump produces a black smoke that i believe negativily effects the taste of the food.  Cost per cook figures out to be 4.8 cents per cook.  At the end of the cook, i just "ball up" the foil using the tongs and place it in the garbage.  For a year i used a drip pan, and i found it to be a PITA to clean and maintain, and more liquid would be collected since the pan didn't get as hot as the foil.  This method works for me.imageimageimage
  • ChokeOnSmoke
    ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
    Drip pan is the easiest way to keep the platesetter decent.
    Packerland, Wisconsin

  • Definitely foil, it makes clean-up SO much easier.
    "If you have the means, I highly recommend it." - Ferris Bueller
  • hondabbq
    hondabbq Posts: 1,980

    I like a clean kitchen in my commercial kitchen and this just transfers to my egg. I have foil under my  racks in my ovens and gas burners at work for easy clean up.

    I guess take it the extra step in my egg. I foil the platesetter AND foil my drip pan. My platesetter is as white as a ghost except for the legs which are totally blacked out.

  • Hoppy & Hoppette
    Hoppy & Hoppette Posts: 38
    edited June 2013

    I have used foil on the plate setter for the past 6 years of smoking on the BGE.

    It makes the clean up so much easier for me. Just toss away the foil after it's use.

     

  • thailandjohn
    thailandjohn Posts: 952
    I use a pizza pan that fits the plate setter and cover it with foil....when done, throw away the foil.....been doing this for years...I have an XL but piszza pans come in all sizes and they are cheap at my Business Costco
  • bodski
    bodski Posts: 463
    I use a pizza pan that fits the plate setter and cover it with foil....when done, throw away the foil.....been doing this for years...I have an XL but piszza pans come in all sizes and they are cheap at my Business Costco
    I've been doing the same thing on my large. Works great. Plus I can put spacers under the pan to keep the drippings from scorching.

    Cincinnati

    LBGE, Weber Kettle

  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200
    Foil or use a drip pan. Not sure if the plate setter is the same material, but my ceramic stone with my AR absorbed a ton of grease from an unfoiled brisket cook followed by ribs. Monday night when I tried to make pizza, the heat forced the grease out and it caught on fire. No bueno, had to use the oven instead.

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings