Non stick coating for drip pan ?

[RHEINLEIN]

Looking for a better option than foil.

Has there been any research on this concept?
I miss Teflon coatings…

 

[Greg Jones]

IMO foil is still your best option. There is so much heat under a drip pan on a grill that I doubt any non-stick coating would survive without gassing off stuff that you don’t want on your food. You might want to check with the Hexclad folks-they have mixed reviews on their pans, but might be an option for you.

 

[Lager1829]

Recteq does have a Teflon drip pan liner. https://www.recteq.com/products/teflon-drip-pan-line-large-700-1250#

 

[Hawkness]

Recteq does have a Teflon drip pan liner. https://www.recteq.com/products/teflon-drip-pan-line-large-700-1250#

I had one, but I must not have "taken proper care" of it. After 2-3 cleaning attempts, I started noticing it was delaminating. (or something similar) I cannot stress this enough... it may have been my fault! But I am back to foil, and I will continue to use it! YMMV.

 

[SmokeZilla]

I only use Reynold’s Heavy Duty. I have seen inferior brands “plasticize” at higher temps on my Bull and it was not pretty. It actually tries to fuse with the metal.

 

[Motodad1776]

I vote going all natural with the drip pan.........leave it be, it's a drip pan.

 

[Pacman]

I tried the Teflon pan liner as it seemed like an interesting idea. Worked well for the cooking part. Trying to clean it was worse than foil or a bare drip pan. I tossed mine about halfway into the second cleaning.

 

[sherpa]

I vote going all natural with the drip pan.........leave it be, it's a drip pan.

Exactly! It is so much easier to just scrape everything off of the drip pan than dealing with messy/sticky foil. Plus, I don't want any aluminum or teflon exposure.

 

[Pacman]

At one point I looked for and found that CRC makes a food grade silicone spray. I debated about trying, but lost interest (and I wasn't sure how much heat that could take without negative effects). I only use foil because it minimizes the burn off time required to cook off all of the residual junk out of my grill before doing pizzas. I will probably just go with a bare drop tray one of these days.

 

[Jim6820]

I really don’t find the foil to be a hassle. It takes me about two minutes to freshly foil the drip pan and it usually lasts me 2-3 cooks unless I’m doing something really messy.

Once you get a procedure established, foiling the drip pan becomes second nature; at least, it has been for me. And, I really like the fact that I can just wad up the dirty foil and toss it without getting my hands dirty. YMMV

 

[Wslayer]

@Jim6820, totally agree. . .

 

[SmokinBourbon]

@Jim6820 I agree with this as well. Foil is easy and I'm already in there cleaning it so swapping out the foil only adds a minute or two.

 

[TheRicker]

My apologies if I take this in the wrong direction…and you senior forum members are welcome to provide guidance on how I should’ve done this…but here goes…

I have used heavy duty foil on my drip tray for over 15 years…when I first bought an old Traeger BBQ075. I’ve continued that practice with my 3-year-old RT-700. But sometimes when I’m cleaning the beast and take off the old foil, there’s some grease and grime on the drip tray. My question to all is, if you try to clean the drip tray, how do you do it? What I’d like to do with the tray, and my grates, is to wash them. But I don’t have anything big enough to put them in sudsy water to soak and, subsequently, scrub them in. I thought too pressure wash them but I don’t have a real good place to do that…small yard…houses close together.

Any suggestions or shared experiences are appreciated.

 

[RHEINLEIN]

Try your local car wash (manual), lay them on the floor grates and spray clean. (if your local wash allows).

Worth $3

 

[JimB]

I had always used Reynolds heavy duty. Frequently seemed to get a small pinhole/tear at the bottom where the side flanges bend up and the lower edge angles down. Drippings always seemed to find that hole and were drawn up via capillary action between the foil and the pan, so the pan was never 100% clean anyway.
Earlier this spring, I bought a set of these grill mats so we could cook pizzas on the grates. Since it's a 5 pack, I had a few left over so I trimmed a couple down to line the drip tray with. So far (3-4 cooks), they've worked well. Extremely non-stick, so they slide right off after the grill is cooled down and the drippings gel/harden. Everything has slipped right off with a little dish soap & water. My RT-340 is exclusively used for smoking, so I never run it over 250F. At these relatively low temperatures, I don't expect these mats having a problem breaking apart of fraying.

 

[dosmas2xs]

My apologies if I take this in the wrong direction…and you senior forum members are welcome to provide guidance on how I should’ve done this…but here goes…

I have used heavy duty foil on my drip tray for over 15 years…when I first bought an old Traeger BBQ075. I’ve continued that practice with my 3-year-old RT-700. But sometimes when I’m cleaning the beast and take off the old foil, there’s some grease and grime on the drip tray. My question to all is, if you try to clean the drip tray, how do you do it? What I’d like to do with the tray, and my grates, is to wash them. But I don’t have anything big enough to put them in sudsy water to soak and, subsequently, scrub them in. I thought too pressure wash them but I don’t have a real good place to do that…small yard…houses close together.

Any suggestions or shared experiences are appreciated.

Metal scraper, done

 

[Jim6820]

…sometimes when I’m cleaning the beast and take off the old foil, there’s some grease and grime on the drip tray.

Two things I have found to help eliminate grease getting under the foil. First, check the foil you are using for pinholes. On occasion, I have found recurring pinholes that appear to have occurred during the manufacturing process. When I find this situation, I use two layers of foil, making sure that the pinholes are significantly separated from one another.

Second, I fold the edges of the foil about 1/4” over the lip of the drip tray edge so that any grease that happens to drop there will not run down the exposed edge and under the foil. I have seen cautions about running the foil over the edge of the drip tray, but the slight 1/4” overlap doesn’t seem to cause any issues.

As for washing the drip tray, the one for my 340 is small enough th fit in the sink, standing on end. It will also fit in the dishwasher. If I had one that wouldn’t fit in the sink, I think I would consider getting a large-size “hotel pan” that the drip tray would fit in, standing up, and that I could set on the counter. A bit of care would be needed to avoid a mess, but I think it would work. YMMV

 

[Threadcutter]

My apologies if I take this in the wrong direction…and you senior forum members are welcome to provide guidance on how I should’ve done this…but here goes…

I have used heavy duty foil on my drip tray for over 15 years…when I first bought an old Traeger BBQ075. I’ve continued that practice with my 3-year-old RT-700. But sometimes when I’m cleaning the beast and take off the old foil, there’s some grease and grime on the drip tray. My question to all is, if you try to clean the drip tray, how do you do it? What I’d like to do with the tray, and my grates, is to wash them. But I don’t have anything big enough to put them in sudsy water to soak and, subsequently, scrub them in. I thought too pressure wash them but I don’t have a real good place to do that…small yard…houses close together.

Any suggestions or shared experiences are appreciated.

https://www.amazon.com/Flame-King-Y...cphy=9033400&hvtargid=pla-1599443882341&psc=1

Kinda kidding, but not really. Should be applied judiciously so as to not excessively heat and warp the tray. Same thing holds true for cleaning the grates.

 

[Motodad1776]

Metal scraper, done

Or plastic scraper.......done. To each their own and no offense meant, but I see serious OCD tendencies from some members here........it's a grill y'all!!!!!

 

[SmokeZilla]

Two things I have found to help eliminate grease getting under the foil. First, check the foil you are using for pinholes. On occasion, I have found recurring pinholes that appear to have occurred during the manufacturing process. When I find this situation, I use two layers of foil, making sure that the pinholes are significantly separated from one another.

Second, I fold the edges of the foil about 1/4” over the lip of the drip tray edge so that any grease that happens to drop there will not run down the exposed edge and under the foil. I have seen cautions about running the foil over the edge of the drip tray, but the slight 1/4” overlap doesn’t seem to cause any issues.

As for washing the drip tray, the one for my 340 is small enough th fit in the sink, standing on end. It will also fit in the dishwasher. If I had one that wouldn’t fit in the sink, I think I would consider getting a large-size “hotel pan” that the drip tray would fit in, standing up, and that I could set on the counter. A bit of care would be needed to avoid a mess, but I think it would work. YMMV

Jim,

You nailed my process almost completely. The only difference is that I also run the edges lengthwise with an extra ~4 inches. On the drip end I make sure to completely cover the cutout so I can completely encase the semi circle. Also, on the opposite end, make sure you wrap it tight enough to prevent the foil from falling down and changing the way the smoke circulates in the chamber. If you are using the RR wide foil, you can lay down an initial strip in the center of the drip tray (which fits almost perfectly). Then, take 2 pieces of foil, place them back to back, fold over the edges lengthwise at about 1/2“ and fold again (as this will create a great seal against any leaks or drips). After that, pretend you are wrapping a package being cautious to work from inside to outside on the tray and being especially careful with any corners or edges to prevent tearing, and away you go!!! If it takes anyone more that 4 minutes for the process, your are doing it wrong.