New to me indirect

MasterC

I use conveggtors for indirect cooking  with the minimax and larges but decided to try something different with the xl. 
I went with the conveggtor basket and two half-moon stones 



The stones are beveled which match up perfectly together creating a solid stone. I also like the ability to use just one for allowing both direct and indirect cooking simultaneously. 



Needed to baptize the lx yesterday so did a low burn at 320° which it held steady for my three and a half hour break in. The real-estate on this is awesome and I can't wait to utilize it.




I have the best wife in my life.

4TheGrillOfIt

Have the same set up for the XL.  I love how it fits snuggly in the XL with almost no play, unlike the Woos in my other Eggs.  Also great for adding a half moon plancha or veggie basket.

MasterC

4TheGrillOfIt said:

Have the same set up for the XL.  I love how it fits snuggly in the XL with almost no play, unlike the Woos in my other Eggs.  Also great for adding a half moon plancha or veggie basket.

When you are cooking multiple pork butts, do you use a drip pan or just your stones?

lousubcap

@MasterC - No XL here but a pork butt cook is a pork butt cook.  I have always used an air-gaped foil lined drip pan for any butt, brisket or other fat rendering cook.  Keeps the renderings from scorching and the stones clean.  FWIW-

FreeNHim

From a home built smoker point, the same would apply to the egg. I would have a substantial drip pan to keep the drippings from getting to the heat. The pan should have an air gap…. Just adding to Lousubcap comments. I thoroughly enjoy the posts from you both. 

4TheGrillOfIt

I use drip pans for nearly every indirect cook.  

MediumRarely

MasterC said:

I use conveggtors for indirect cooking  with the minimax and larges but decided to try something different with the xl. 
I went with the conveggtor basket and two half-moon stones 



The stones are beveled which match up perfectly together creating a solid stone. I also like the ability to use just one for allowing both direct and indirect cooking simultaneously. 



Needed to baptize the lx yesterday so did a low burn at 320° which it held steady for my three and a half hour break in. The real-estate on this is awesome and I can't wait to utilize it.




I have the best wife in my life.

BIG plus one on  the wife and I like the dual split disc stone approach. I probably would have gone down your path had I had your foresight, but...

Since I almost never throw anything away, I have repurposed the original stone that "split" into pieces. Does the job, but not pretty unless one prefers jagged edges over smooth.

MasterC

What  do you use for your drip pan. I would like to cook four butts at once. Do you use 1large pan or multiple little ones

EzraBrooks

MasterC said:

What  do you use for your drip pan. I would like to cook four butts at once. Do you use 1large pan or multiple little ones

I love the drip pans from CGS, they are relatively inexpensive for the quality and size that you get. 

https://ceramicgrillstore.com/collections/xl-big-green-egg-accessories/products/18-round-stainless-drip-pan-xl

I wrap mine in foil for each cook to increase the longevity of the pan. Just replaced one that lasted me about 10 years.

1voyager

I use 1 large foil-lined pizza pan with air gap between it and the platesetter. 

MasterC

I ordered a 20 inch stainless steel pan thats 1 inch deep, should be here tomorrow.

Money_Hillbilly

@MasterC  I use an air gapped stainless pan from CGS wrapped in foil.  When doing pork butts I add a disposable foil pan under each one to keep the mess contained.

4TheGrillOfIt

When I do really high fat messy cooks like butts I like to use the BGE disposable drip pans so I can just throw them away,  but for everything else I use CGS drip pans.  Though I recently got a Smokeware pan for my large and it is really nice and heavy duty stainless.  

MasterC

Money_Hillbilly said:

@MasterC  I use an air gapped stainless pan from CGS wrapped in foil.  When doing pork butts I add a disposable foil pan under each one to keep the mess contained.

Those look killer

I ordered a 20 inch diameter pan that I hope is large enough for 4 butts.
What I'm not sure of is will there be enough capacity to hold the rendered fat or would I need to empty during cook.

Money_Hillbilly

@MasterC  Tough call on how much fat will render from 4 butts.  I always trim off the fat cap completely. It doesn’t add anything, prevents bark from forming and renders lots of drippings.  I would go vertical and put a bigger/deeper pan.

danhoo

EzraBrooks said:

MasterC said:

What  do you use for your drip pan. I would like to cook four butts at once. Do you use 1large pan or multiple little ones

I love the drip pans from CGS, they are relatively inexpensive for the quality and size that you get. 

https://ceramicgrillstore.com/collections/xl-big-green-egg-accessories/products/18-round-stainless-drip-pan-xl

I wrap mine in foil for each cook to increase the longevity of the pan. Just replaced one that lasted me about 10 years.

Same. 

I have a 14 inch and 16 inch on my large and I foil wrap with HD foil. 

16 inch for low and slow when using more of the grate. 

14 for smaller cooks. 

CGS drip pans are great. 

danhoo

MasterC said:

Money_Hillbilly said:

@MasterC  I use an air gapped stainless pan from CGS wrapped in foil.  When doing pork butts I add a disposable foil pan under each one to keep the mess contained.

Those look killer

I ordered a 20 inch diameter pan that I hope is large enough for 4 butts.
What I'm not sure of is will there be enough capacity to hold the rendered fat or would I need to empty during cook.

I've started to use the smaller steamer inserts to finish the cook. One per butt is a good size. 

I trim the butts so the fat isn't too much. I don't have an XL, but maybe two larger steamer inserts would work, two butts each.

Edit. 2 Full steamers will probably not fit in an XL. 

Hansm

Loving the drip pans, a crusty ConvEGGtor is a turn off?

MasterC

For fun I cooked up a 7lbs boneless butt to see how much fat rendered out



After 7.5 hours just under one half cup of grease was collected. I think my new drip pan will handle the grease from 4 butts. It's slightly smaller than the stone and is 1 inch deep. I put 5 cups of water in it and the depth was under a quarter inch 

2 cups of water barely cover the bottom 


5 cups of water and still less than a quarter inch 


Perfect fit



And I got to eat tacos after all this