Flare up strategies?

bitslammer

Just did 4 fairly large spatchcock chickens on my XL last night and ran into 1 slight issue.

Even though I trimmed them up pretty good there was. as is always the case, a good deal of fat from 4 birds. I have the flip ring & hanger setup from Eggcessories and I used the flip ring in down mode raising my grate to the felt line and put a shallow drip pan on the lower grate. Becasue the pan was too small I lined the edges with aluminum foil and formed s sort of "bowl" to channel drippings into the pan.

Went pretty well but as I expected the pan with all that fat flared a few times as I opened up to turn/adjust the birds. I would have just gone direct but as stated there's a lot of fat from 4 birds and I was worried about that burnt fat taste from all of it hitting the coals.

Any suggestions/thoughts about the next run? I thinking flip ring UP with drip pan higher.


I'd also like to say that 4 birds layed out can really fill an XL up.

Beanie-Bean

I've only ever seen the flames come back after the dome was opened. After it is shut, the flare ups should not be a problem.

With the greasy foods, and foods that drip a lot, I've been careful to put a large enough drip pan (usually fashioned out of HD foil) to catch everything before it hits the lump--like you, I'm not a big fan of the burnt grease flavor.

Essex County

In addition to the drip pan, I've found that you can reduce grease smoke by increasing the distance between the lump and the meat. If you can raise the grid and use less lump, it helps.
Paul

Big'un

I always put hot water into my drip pan. No flares, no burning. HTH.