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11 Drip pans, sand, salt, and water
Appears in
By Jeroen Hazebroek and Leonard Elenbaas
Published 2015
When cooking meat or fish, it is always handy to place a drip pan underneath the grid, on top of the heat shield. The pan will catch any leaking fat and juices, making sure the heat shield stays clean. A greasy and dirty ceramic shield can lead to unintentional smoke and even cause a flare-up.
If we fill the drip pan with water, we alter the temperature and the humidity in the dome. Although at first the temperature will go down, the higher humidity will actually increase the heat transmission to the food. Once all the water has evaporated from the pan, the air surrounding the food will become drier, the Maillard reaction will intensify, and more crust will start to form.