Komodo 32 stainless drip pan

[sizzling.tofu]

I bought a Komodo 32 and I'm still figuring things out. I'm considering buying the stainless drip pan to serve as both a drip catcher and a heat deflector for low and slow cooks. I haven't used the ceramic deflectors yet. Does the drip pan hold up well for that kind of setup, or is it better to just stick with the ceramics? TIA.

 

[difficult.emblem]

I bought a Komodo 32 and I'm still figuring things out. I'm considering buying the stainless drip pan to serve as both a drip catcher and a heat deflector for low and slow cooks. I haven't used the ceramic deflectors yet. Does the drip pan hold up well for that kind of setup, or is it better to just stick with the ceramics? TIA.

Getting the indirect heat setup dialed in is the key to unlocking that cooker's potential. I went through the same learning process with my own kamado and found that while the stainless pan works in a pinch, the heavy ceramic stones provide far more stable and even heat for a true low and slow cook. You can get the best of both worlds by placing the drip pan on top of the ceramic deflectors.

 

[faithie999]

i have a large Big Green Egg. i have no idea of the geometry of the Komodo 32 vs the large BGE, but here's what i did when i was getting started with Egging.

i bought a pizza stone that was about 3" smaller in diameter than the ID of the body, so that there was about 1 1/2" of air gap all around the pizza stone. i put the grill grate in, then set the pizza stone on the grill grate.

then i bought a generic grill grate that when sitting on legs of the appropriate size, would fit inside the lid when the lid was closed.

for legs, i used #10 (or maybe 1/4", too long ago to really remember) threaded rod to make 3 legs for the "top" grate. i secured the legs to the grate with 2 fender washers, one on top of the grate and one on the underside, using 2 nuts per leg (one on top and one on underside) to squeeze the fender washers in place. then i bent the legs to have them sit on the pizza stone as near to the outer circumference as possible.

i made the legs just long enough so the top grate would clear the drip pan by an inch or so.

for a drip pan, i bought a straight-sided cake pan, largest that would fit inside the tripod of legs, right on top of the pizza stone. Wilton makes good-quality straight sided cake pans in several diameters.

when i decided to shell out the bucks for what BGE called at the time a "plate setter", i retired my contraption. however, the contraption worked just fine, with the caveat that grate surface availble for the meat is smaller than the standard grate, and there is less headroom for the meat. but you can judge that with a tape measure in your grilll before you decide to improvise as i did.

if you'd like more pictures let me know.

Ken

 

[Sweet grills]

The stainless drip pan can technically do both jobs, but it's not ideal long-term for serious low-and-slow smoking. Stainless transfers heat faster and can create hotspots, so you might get uneven cooking or flare-ups.

Ceramic deflectors, on the other hand, are specifically designed to diffuse heat and trap drippings safely, giving a more consistent temperature across the grill. If you're just experimenting or don't care about absolute precision, the drip pan is fine, but if you're chasing that perfectly smoked, tender meat, the ceramics are worth the investment every time. Some folks even use both drip pan underneath for cleanup and ceramic above for heat management but that's extra juggling.