What's the deal with the drip tray?


 
S

Scott Smith

TVWBB Pro
I'm just curious what everybody does with the drippings that come out the bottom of your various grills. Do you cook with them, save them for something else, or discard them? Do you find the trays too shallow? Do you buy the liners? Does it ever spill all over the inside of your cabinet? Does anyone simply put a pot or similar under their grill? Do you separate the juice from the fat with a tool, by refrigerator, or another method?

Personally, I throw a Weber liner in the little pan and leave it there. I throw the whole mess out when it gets full. I am certainly open to the suggestions of those more knowledgeable than I.
 
If you are continuously having your drip trays overflow, you are not changing them often enough. If you do a lot of fatty meat, you will find the trays will fill up a lot quicker than if you are cooking mostly stuff like sirloin steaks. I cannot ever imagine filling up a drip pan in one cook. Just check them more often.

Yes, use the liners, toss them and put in a new one. I never collect any of the stuff that drips down below my flavorizer bars. Once anything gets down there, it is destined for the trash.
 
Never thought about doing anything with that mess except throw it away. Yes, I use the disposable aluminum liners. Some of the local critters like to dine on the drippings occasionally, which cuts down on how often I need to empty it out.
 
Incredibly, our dog does not go for the drip tray. That's enough to tell me what's for eating and what isn't. He also does not react at all to veggie burgers, which my wife eats from time to time. She's not a vegetarian, but does eat them sometimes. When we cook them, the dog acts like there is no food present. Fascinating, taken together.

He Loves it when I grill, because it makes the turner and tongs like meat lollipops for him, and I don't have a problem with him cleaning them for us. It's kind of funny actually. But he does not go for the drip tray. We had a family dog years ago that did, but she was a sweet girl and I don't begrudge her for that.

Anyhow, I just chuck that stuff too when it gets full.
 
Cheese, my dog eats anything. Is pickles tomatoes carrots celery green beans asparagus, whatever. If it is remotely edible he will eat it. If my wife didn't pick up the the dog bombs in the yard, He Willie them as well. This time of year we call them poop sickles
 
Bruce that's like our old friend Charlotte. She was a sweet sweet dog, but we figured out an interesting thing about our cat due to her. We were wondering if our cat was OK because all of a sudden we weren't needing to clean out the litter box that much. Turns out Charlotte was enjoying the cat's production enough so we had to move the litter box. I guess the litter was kind of like breadcrumbs for her.
 
My recollection of Weber's marketing wank that came with my grill circa 2000 is that the dripping were delicious and the that the grill was designed to save them in the adorable and sanitary aluminum liners. Not certain of that, however. It does make a degree of sense to me. Every time I cook a turkey, I pour off the drippings into the weird measuring cup with the spout at the bottom and separate the juice from the fat to make gravy. I mean they make special tools for that purpose, so it must be a thing.

I have tried saving various fats in the fridge, but the only one really worth anything is bacon fat. That stuff is delicious.

If you don't save the drippings, it seems to me that you might as well get a big old paint can or something that has less chance of spilling should you happen to bump the grill when the stuff is juicy.
 
Scott Smith said:
My recollection of Weber's marketing wank that came with my grill circa 2000 is that the dripping were delicious and the that the grill was designed to save them in the adorable and sanitary aluminum liners. Not certain of that, however. It does make a degree of sense to me. Every time I cook a turkey, I pour off the drippings into the weird measuring cup with the spout at the bottom and separate the juice from the fat to make gravy. I mean they make special tools for that purpose, so it must be a thing.

I have tried saving various fats in the fridge, but the only one really worth anything is bacon fat. That stuff is delicious.

If you don't save the drippings, it seems to me that you might as well get a big old paint can or something that has less chance of spilling should you happen to bump the grill when the stuff is juicy.
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There definitely is such a thing. The Yiddish word "schmaltz", which is used kind of like the English word corny -- to mean excessively sentimental -- has a literal meaning of fat drippings. I believe my grandparents would have said chicken fat, which was used in various recipes. It came from German where I believe it applied to any kind of animal fat. Lard is yet another word for animal fat. It's used extensively in Mexican food. If you've gone to an old-fashioned Mexican restaurant, you're pretty much guaranteed to have eaten lard.

None of that grosses me out. Hell, butter is essentially milk fat. But the grill is so full of soot and dust and God-knows-what, I wouldn't want to eat anything that's run down the sides of its cook box, flavorizer bars or drip tray.
 
Scott Smith said:
I have tried saving various fats in the fridge, but the only one really worth anything is bacon fat. That stuff is delicious.
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Now try goose or duck fat on a slice of your favorite bread.

Regarding drippings, you don't want to consume them if they are old or freshly dripped through existing old grease at the bottom of the grill.
 
Here's a drip tray question. Posting here rather than creating a new thread.

Is the one for the Genesis 1 the same as for the 1000 series? I ask because I've got a Genesis 1 in need of a tray (in case that wasn't obvious). I'm thinking the boxes are identical but I'm hoping someone can confirm or set me straight.
 
Roy-Parallax said:
Here's a drip tray question. Posting here rather than creating a new thread.

Is the one for the Genesis 1 the same as for the 1000 series? I ask because I've got a Genesis 1 in need of a tray (in case that wasn't obvious). I'm thinking the boxes are identical but I'm hoping someone can confirm or set me straight.
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edit: for clarification, first, I'm talking about bottom pans.

I don't know about a Genesis 1 as I've never seen one.

A 1988/89 Genesis 2, 1990 Genesis 3 are the same as a 98 Genesis 2000, and a couple of unknown year ( late 90s ) genesis 1000s I've adopted.

If the question is drip trays: Drip Trays that hang below bottom pans may be different, and I don't know when they changed. I believe the size is the same.

Earlier version of drip trays were black steel. At some point they changed to aluminum.
 
DanHoo said:
Edit. I forget the correct name.

They are the same and hard to find.
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Unfortunately, as we all know, you can't buy them new any longer. I have had good results repairing holes in them with high heat JB weld. After sanding it and repainting with Rustoleum hi heat paint it looks pretty good. 20211008_153838.jpg
 
The grease that sits in there for several months before it gets tossed is undoubtedly rancid. I toss the liner and drop in a new one.
My Broilmaster had a little wire loop holding a can for the grease catch. It was so rusty I tossed it and fabricated a new one from a galvanized joist brace. Zero grease makes its way to the can.
 
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