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Smoked several butts before but have a hard time retaining the juices when they drip. I was going to set them in a disposable roasting pan in the smoker. Will this reduce the amount of smoke that they take in?
They will pick up smoke just fine in an uncovered pan. If you can, set them on a roasting rack to hold the roast just up out of the juices. Have a great smoke!
The fat is what drips from the meat, this essentially is not something you want to go back into the meat once removed. The meat creates it's own juice by converting the remaining fat to liquid inside the meat. This is the goal of slow cooking and smoking. If you soak the meat in the juice, it will actually make the meaty fatty and not taste as good. Picture dunking your pork sandwhich into a warm vat of bacon grease and then eating it. Not so good right? This line of thinking that the juices need to stay in the meat come from grilling steak or chicken, in both cases the juices are good. However, keep the juices away from your pork butt for a better taste. Even when finishing the pork in a oven, the pork should be raised above the pan to not sit in the juice or fat.