placesetter up or down for butts

Jason

Going to smoke butts over night to night, should I use placesetter legs up or down,
Jason
p.s. sorry about caps babyboom bq,, I learned all this stuff in college you think for that much money I would use it, no more caps, no more yelling

mad max beyond eggdome

Jason,
place plate setter in feet up, lay a drip pan on it (i simply make them out of aluminum foil), then put the grid on top of the plate setter with the butts on the grid. ...make sure you have a good full load of lump in the egg before you start (at least halfway up the fire ring... .

Unknown

mad max beyond eggdome,
What is the purpose of the drip pan? Is it so the fat doesn’t drip on hot ceramic? Or for easy clean up? Or something else?

mad max beyond eggdome

Whitetail,
easier cleanup mainly....all that fat dripping on you plate setter can be a pain, and as it drips over the edge can cause some big time flare ups when you open the egg. ..particularly if its been dripping onto a part of your lump that hasn't started burning yet, and when the fire gets there it can get pretty nasty. .. .

Trouble

Whitetail,
Yes to all. And fat drippings on hot things can make stinky smoke. That might not come into play much on a low-n-slow cook, but the next time you want to cook pizza and your plate setter hits 500 degrees, it can make some yukky smoke that affects the food. [p]I have an old cheapo pan that I put under pork butts, and I still line it with foil that I can just throw away after the cook.

EddieMac

Jason,
All of the above....put platesetter feet up.....make your aluminum foil drip pan.....place in on the platesetter....and that collects the fat renderings and keeps them from dripping down on the fire....causing flare ups....and temperature spikes.....[p]I would suggest that you load your lump all the way up to the top of your fire box.....that way there's little chance of running out of charcoal / fire........too much is way better than too little.....[p]250 - 275 dome / indirect and you're on your way![p]Ed
Ft. Pierce, FL

MasterMason

Whitetail,[p]Costco sells aluminum pans for like 30 for 7 bucks or so. I use those, do the cook, close it down, when I get ready for the next cook, I just scoop the ashes into the old pan and toss. Same pan at the grocery store are almost a buck a piece.

AZRP

Trouble,
I have two plate setters for that reason. One is all black and nasty looking, I use it for meat, the other is nice and white and I use it for pizza and breads. That save me the time of burning off the nasties before baking. -RP

HolySmokes

Whitetail,
AND,
the drip pan is a great place to start everything out by putting a 1/4" of apple cider in it...
adding to the overall smoke, moisture, and steam content of the upper part of the dome.
That's one additional reason for it.
HS

BabyBoomBBQ

Jason,[p]I was probably too short this am. I'm dealing with either food poisoning (sandwich at a pub) or a severe severe attack of acid reflux. Even water is a challenge to keep down and I had just sat down after a bout when I replied. I wouldn't wish this on anyone except a terrorist. [p]Fill the firebox all the way, legs up, drip pan (I don't use any liquid in it), grid and sometimes a roasting rack to hold the butt(s). I see you got a lot of good advice already, so you'll be fine.
[ul][li]Read Elder Wards 4 part Recipe, it helped me a bunch the first time.[/ul]