Can't We All Just Get Along

Sure... any of those will work, I do however think the plate-setter is convenient (IMHO), and I think the thermal mass helps moderate a low and slow. I've always been a bit aprehensive about doing ribs, or other low and slow, direct... mainly because of the drippings falling into the hot lump (correct me if I'm wrong on the direct setup). I've read varying concerns about reactions of fats at high temperature (i.e. dripping into burning lump).

no offense, but i wouldn't necessarily agree with any of your three 'dos and dont's'. . .

1. i own three eggs, oldest is 9 years old now ..haven't "broken in" any of them, i do lots of high temp (over 900 degrees) cooking, and only melted one gasket (and thats when i left one at 800 degrees for over 2 hours one time). . .i have been to many eggfests where i've taken a brand new egg and cranked it up to over 700 degrees to sear a steak or something like that with no problem whatsoever ....there was a time when BGE had a batch of bad gaskets ...i think you could 'break' those eggs in for months, and it wouldn't have mattered, crank em up to high heat and the gaskets were going to release, not melt ....melting gaskets come from the domes not being set properly and hot gasses escaping between the dome and base ...if you have the dome set properly so that hot gasses can't escape, then the gaskets won't melt. ...

2. you don't need to burp the egg to avoid flashback. ...when you want to open an egg that has been shut down after being at high temps, simply open both the bottom vent and the top vent for a few seconds .. .when you see the draft running good through the top vent, that means the air flow is running good again and its safe to open the dome (carefully) without the explosive air build-up. ...burping is not necessary that way

3. i don't get your drip pan thing at all . ..i use 'dry' drip pans all the time directly on my plate setter to catch grease. ...cooks that catch a lot of grease are typically low and slos like brisket and/or pork butts or ribs ...therefore they are at pretty low temps and thus the drippings in the pan aren't going to burn and scorch and cause nasty tastes to reach the food....foods that cook cook at high temps where i'm using a plate setter, either don't drip at all, or drip very little, like lean meats i'm roasting indirect, and in those cases, any drippings hitting a dry drip pan are actually adding to the flavor, not detracting from it....so i'm really not sure where you are coming from with this argument. ..the only time i care if my drip pan is elevated is if i want my drippings for gravy . ..or if i'm roasting food, like taters or vegies in the drippings...then i fully agree they should be elevated

for some reason if you keep the temps down at 225 or less the fat smoke from the drippings doesnt seem to affect the cook, i dont know why but even a 5 hour low and slow duck doesnt pick up that terrible flavor. you will want to reduce the lump you use as you wont need as much and raise the grid and cook at lower than normal temps. look at this cook and you will see a lump saving compared to your typical cook with a platesetter. you do want lower temps because with a direct cook temps are lower at grill level verse what happens with an inderect cook

http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=507801&catid=1

typical old timer beatin up on a newbie

It is not the platesetter that is supposed to be elevated, it is the drip pan that is setting on the platesetter that is supposed to be elevated.

Let me admit up front that I have not read all posts related to this topic. I did go looking for a couple by Little Chef because of Tweeve's stuff. I cannot find anything so offensive as to warrant a slam. LC is at the top of the credibility scale on this site and I find her to be gracious and helpful at all times. Most of you have the good sense to stay out of this kind of stuff, but sometimes I don't. (Wish I did) Sometimes we go looking for trouble where it isn't really there.

I see that this horse is nearly dead but I'll beat on it anyway. I've had my egg for a little over a year and I've been on this site for the same amount of time. Compared to a few other sites that I frequent, I find this forum to be easily the most friendly and least controversial or confrontational. I rarely see people getting ripped on.

That being said, the most common thing I see (which is still quite rare) is people being criticized for not using the search feature before asking some of the more common questions (ie gasket replacement). This site has been around for a long time and there are few questions that get raised that haven't been asked several times before. Sometimes it is hard to choose the right key words and it can be time consuming to search through pages and pages of posts to find an answer to your specific question. Sometimes it is simply easier (and faster) to ask the question again in your own words than it is to search the history.

I have been very amazed at how quickly most questions get answered. If you don't think that a question should be asked again because it has been asked before, then don't respond and move on to the next post. I see no point in being critical of a poster for not searching. Otherwise, why have a live on-going forum? The site may as well be shut down and reformatted as a wiki rather than a public exchange of dialogue and ideas.

Isolated01,

I don't understand. I generally see people being answered quickly on the questions they ask. Most often politely. It can get irritating when the same question is asked on the same page three times but I think most here just roll with it. What does concern most, I think, is when a question is answered by someone that doesn't have the experience and puts up informatiion that isn't correct. There have been several examples today...see Max's post to Philly Smoker. Max is abbsolutely right. Someone could have taken the latter's advice and ended up with a burnt midriff or in my case, face. We are all very easygoing and friendly here, some may not see it that way but as you quoted It's a dead horse.

Steve

Happy eggin Jason. Tim

No need to apologize for your post..it's the fact the "Tweev" has managed to disrupt the family feeling of this long established forum in such a short time that tempers and opinions are pretty gun shy lately..and it reflects in replies all the time lately..."hopefully" it will get back to normal when the disruptions are gone...or it would seem many more of the assets may be lost before it clears...wasn't that long ago your concerns would have never even been cosidered..but..it is what it is...today..