Aftermarket heat deflector & drip tray

[Mr.Fabulous]

After getting a factory replacement of my warped heat deflector & drip tray (under warranty) a month after purchasing my Pro 34, only to have the replacements warp, I thought I was stuck with that issue.

Fast forward almost 2.5 years later. There is a guy on one of the Facebook bbq groups that makes aftermarket replacement parts for Traegers (link to his group is here: Traeger aftermarket parts & ideas

I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a replacement drip tray & heat deflector from him. They arrived today, & when I picked up the box, I knew I had made a wise choice.

These things are beefy. The drip tray is 14 gauge steel, the deflector 12. To put it in perspective, the new deflector weights more than the original deflector & drip tray combined. When I picked up the new drip tray to install it I thought for a moment I was holding a piece of tank armor (only slightly joking).

I am currently doing the burn in now, & I am thawing out a Boston butt to cook this weekend. I am interested to see how these new changes affect heat retention (& hopefully reduce pellet consumption by a noticeable amount)

I will report back once I have any new shareable data. Comparison pics below

 

[GrillMeister]

Please keep us posted!

 

[Mr.Fabulous]

I wish I had pictures of the initial burn in of the factory pieces in question. VAST difference when I broke it down & wiped off everything last night. Aside from a little ash and the smoke residue, you could not tell the drip tray had been fired at all. Looked the same as when I unboxed it. You could see some slight color change on the heat shield, but it was just a very slight discoloration, & I probably would not have noticed if I wasn’t specifically looking. I do remember seeing discolored spots on the factory parts after the burn on, similar to when you re-heat heat-treated steel, you get a color change when you lose the temper.

(Burn in process: startup, then took it up to high (450). Once 450 was reached, set a timer for an hour. At the end of an hour, stepped temperature down to 275, then did shutdown procedure. Wiped down new parts with hot water & a rag, then dried, foiled drip pan, & re-assembled)

Boston butt currently thawing in the frig, going on in the early hours of Saturday morning. Will be back with my first impressions.

 

[Traegernator]

After getting a factory replacement of my warped heat deflector & drip tray (under warranty) a month after purchasing my Pro 34, only to have the replacements warp, I thought I was stuck with that issue.

Fast forward almost 2.5 years later. There is a guy on one of the Facebook bbq groups that makes aftermarket replacement parts for Traegers (link to his group is here: Traeger aftermarket parts & ideas

I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a replacement drip tray & heat deflector from him. They arrived today, & when I picked up the box, I knew I had made a wise choice.

These things are beefy. The drip tray is 14 gauge steel, the deflector 12. To put it in perspective, the new deflector weights more than the original deflector & drip tray combined. When I picked up the new drip tray to install it I thought for a moment I was holding a piece of tank armor (only slightly joking).

I am currently doing the burn in now, & I am thawing out a Boston butt to cook this weekend. I am interested to see how these new changes affect heat retention (& hopefully reduce pellet consumption by a noticeable amount)

I will report back once I have any new shareable data. Comparison pics below

Can you share the contact information for this aftermarket supplier guy for those of us that don't have or don't use Facebook? Looking to upgrade my rust-bucket of a drip-pan burn-pot cover. Thanks!

 

[Mr.Fabulous]

Can you share the contact information for this aftermarket supplier guy for those of us that don't have or don't use Facebook? Looking to upgrade my rust-bucket of a drip-pan burn-pot cover. Thanks!

Let me see if I can get him to do that.

Can you share the contact information for this aftermarket supplier guy for those of us that don't have or don't use Facebook? Looking to upgrade my rust-bucket of a drip-pan burn-pot cover. Thanks!

that didn’t take long

Shawn Hensley
208.812.2162
[email protected]

 

[Slimpicker]

But it is still not Stainless steel??? correct?

 

[Mr.Fabulous]

But it is still not Stainless steel??? correct?

They are stainless steel

 

[Slimpicker]

They are stainless steel

WOW, now we're getting somewhere!!!

 

[Traegernator]

Let me see if I can get him to do that.

that didn’t take long

Shawn Hensley
208.812.2162
[email protected]

Fabulous, Mr. Fabulous! Thank you!

 

[Mr.Fabulous]

My plan was to give these new components a good test run today to see if they gave me better heat retention. Mother Nature decided to play. Temp at 4am when I cranked it up was 19 °F dipping to an overnight low of 17, & we are currently sitting at a balmy 23° F .

Add to that a nice little ground breeze that happens to be blowing directly across my smoker from pellet box to stack, any results today will not be accurate.

I am noticing increased pellet usage, but this is BY FAR the coldest temps I have ever run a long cook in, so I am not placing a lot of confidence in that piece of data. I am also seeing a bit wider temp variation on the ambient probe on my FireBoard, but again, lower outdoor temps & wind account for that.

I can say that both that heavy tray & deflector didn’t show the least bit of warping during the burn in or subsequent cool down. I am also seeing that the on-board ambient temp sensor on the Traeger & the ambient grate temp probe on the FireBoard are closer to agreement then they ever have been. I can usually expect a 20-30° difference between them, the T always showing a higher temp. Today the max variance I have seen is 10°. That is a point for the upgrade in my book.

All in all I am still very pleased with the purchase. I just wish I could have had better conditions to test in today.

 

[Mr.Fabulous]

Now that the outdoor temp is almost liveable for the South (above freezing) I can tell an improvement in performance.

Earlier I estimated I was burning over a pound an hour at 250° F set temp. Now that the outdoor temp has come up, my last check looked like I was running at about a 1/2 lb or so an hour. These are gross estimations based on time between checks.

 

[miguelb]

Thanks for sharing this. I will probably order one at some point.

 

[miguelb]

Now that the outdoor temp is almost liveable for the South (above freezing) I can tell an improvement in performance.

Earlier I estimated I was burning over a pound an hour at 250° F set temp. Now that the outdoor temp has come up, my last check looked like I was running at about a 1/2 lb or so an hour. These are gross estimations based on time between checks.

Any new updates or it's too early for cooks?

 

[Mr.Fabulous]

Busy week. Haven not fired it up at all. With the start of high school baseball, my time for weekday cooks is limited.

I am planning on several things next weekend for super bowl, so I’m sure I’ll learn more. But so far, so good. Definitely pleased

 

[CMTiger]

So how much $ we talking?