Messy smokey pans

[tbear]

I don't want to come off like a jerk, that's truly not the intent, but let me ask, is the fire still going when you remove the pan or pans? If so you might want to let the fire die down or go out to avoid the problems you listed. Ted

[Twin Chimneys Syrup]

No worries it's a reasonable question yeah i did let it die down probably not enough I'll admit but I was running out of time. As soon as I pulled the pan off I got a back draft enough to blow ash and smoke inside. The reality is I'm still in the learning curve of using that setup and it is getting smoother. I guess I should have asked would be worth it to get a flat pan with drain ports and fit it with the setup I have or use it the way it is and upgrade later. I don't want to waste a pile of money buying a 250$ pan to just turn around and change it again.