Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Drippings During Grilling

Smokin_Dave
Smokin_Dave Posts: 5
in Beef
I just bought a green egg and immediately my wife told me I absolutely need to catch all drippings, even when grilling a steak at high temps.  I was planning on using a drip pan for slow cooks and roasts where dripping is a bigger issue but for a 3-4 minute steak char?  Seems to me that this one scenario is perfectly fine to let a few steak drippings hit the red hot coals. But I want to hear some expert tips before I go from slow to high temps. 

Thank you

Dave
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,322
    Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.
    Are you familiar with why she would make that request because I have not heard of such concern before.  No expert here but if you can provide the reasoning I'm sure there are folks here who can debunk it.  FWIW-
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Killit_and_Grillit
    Killit_and_Grillit Posts: 4,326
    This sounds strangely like my grandmother demanding I save every chicken spine when I make spatchcock chicken....like one day I might open a chicken broth enterprise. 

    Wait...Pop Pop are you Smokin Dave?

    "Brought to you by bourbon, bacon, and a series of questionable life decisions."

    South of Nashville, TN

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • cookingdude555
    cookingdude555 Posts: 3,188
    Im all for saving drippings, I am not sure how that can be accomplished when doing high heat grilling.  Even indirect higher heat grilling will have burned drippings that vaporize in the drip pan.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,739
    one of the biggest fails in newbie cooks is not getting the lump to burn clean before adding the meat, that being said you have been setup to fail by the wife.  get a cast iron pan and sear in that til you get the clean burning lump right, that way you can blame it on something different than dripping fat.  ive done low and slow pork butts with no problem but that next cook you better have it burning clean before adding things like burgers or chicken, those meats eat bad smoke like a sponge.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • SonVolt
    SonVolt Posts: 3,314
    My brother-in-law puts foil down on his gas grill grates before he grills steams his food.  It's weird. It's odd. It's counter productive. Drippings hitting the coals and vaporizing back up on your food is part of what makes grilling so delicious.  Don't use a drip pan unless you're doing large cuts low 'n slow. 
    South of Nashville  -  BGE XL  -  Alfresco 42" ALXE  -  Alfresco Versa Burner  - Sunbeam Microwave 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • HogFather
    HogFather Posts: 259
    Sounds like you need a new wife
    Fighting off the trolls 1 by 1
    Large Egg

    Pig, KY 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Battleborn
    Battleborn Posts: 3,354
    Legume said:
    Smokin_Dave said:
    I just bought a green egg and immediately my wife told me...
    Slow down there a bit, looks like you made a few typos.
    Hahahahaha
    Las Vegas, NV


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    I think you have the right idea. There are two main types of cooking on the egg: direct and indirect. Direct cooking is basically "grilling" with the food directly over the flame. Indirect cooking you are using the plate setter between the food and the fire, and many people use a drip pan to catch the drippings and keep the plate setter clean. 

    FWIW I know many people that never use a drip pan even for indirect. They just let the plate setter get "seasoned" with the drippings. I think this works fine if you only do lower temp cooks, but if you start burning higher temps I think all the crud starts burning and producing bad smoke. 

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

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • td66snrf
    td66snrf Posts: 1,822
    IMHO the biggest advantage of the EGG is that when you're cooking fatty meats, like pork ribs, there is not enough oxygen to sustain a flame. So unlike a gasser as fat drips down, flames flare up. So you could put a pan under everything but it's not necessary. 
    XLBGE, LBGE, MBGE, SMALL, MINI, 2 Kubs, Fire Magic Gasser
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,654
    I'm surprised to find myself disagreeing with some folks, here, but in case it's useful, here is one more guy's thoughts:
    • Unlike many, here, I prefer steaks seared over a very hot direct fire , not cast iron.  I just feel like they taste better, to me.  Personal taste, maybe.
    • If they're an inch thick or less, I just grill them direct over a pretty hot fire (500°-550°) and flip them frequently (every couple of minutes, maybe) till they're the right internal temp for me (via Thermapen).  If thicker than an inch, I "reverse sear" by cooking them low-and-slow (250°-275°) till the internal temp is close to what I want it, and then take them out of the Egg, crank the temp up to 600°-650°, and sear them only 1 minute per side.
    • NO drip pan for steaks, because if properly trimmed, they don't drip enough fat to bother me, even with the lid down, which I do, for steaks.
    • For burgers, though, I like burgers with a reasonably high fat content (80%), but I really do NOT like the flavor of burned fat smoke, so I struggle a bit to reduce that.  Grilling with the dome open helps (burgers are the only time I do this), and I also find that Grill Grates seem to cut back at least a little on the dripping fat.  Unfortunately, they also leave more un-seared surface, but, overall, I like them for burgers.
    Bottom line: try it a few different ways and see what YOU like the best!  I definitely agree with everybody above that a drip pan is a bad idea for burgers.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • thetrim
    thetrim Posts: 11,357
    Are you the kinda guy who’s wife dictates that you like steaks cut 1/2” or less?
    =======================================
    XL 6/06, Mini 6/12, L 10/12, Mini #2 12/14 MiniMax 3/16 Large #2 11/20 Legacy from my FIL - RIP
    Tampa Bay, FL
    EIB 6 Oct 95
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • billt01
    billt01 Posts: 1,528
    thetrim said:
    Are you the kinda guy who’s wife dictates that you like steaks cut 1/2” or less?
    RIP 1/2 inch steak man
    Have:
     XLBGE / Stumps Baby XL / Couple of Stokers (Gen 1 and Gen 3) / Blackstone 36 / Maxey 3x5 water pan hog cooker
    Had:
    LBGE / Lang 60D / Cookshack SM150 / Stumps Stretch / Stumps Baby

    Fat Willies BBQ
    Ola, Ga

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • milesvdustin
    milesvdustin Posts: 2,882
    I wonder if he lurks here 

    2 LBGE, Blackstone 36, Jumbo Joe

    Egging in Southern Illinois (Marion)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories