Burnt grease on foiled lid of wood box is causing a problem.

I'd guess in the new owners forum,they have posted about covering the floor with HD foil and poking a drain hole.

Covering the roof of the woodbox with foil,and spraying the racks with pam.

That way you just throw out the dirty foil and wash the racks.

If you already do this,I suppose you could put a second layer of foil on the wood box.

When the top one gets too dirty,peel it away and you have fresh.

I've not heard of the problem in a smokette,but for comps we do this in the FEC s,when we crank them up to hot cook chicken.

You can also foil your underneath drip pan,or just use a disposable foil pan.

This is what I am doing, but while it is cooking the grease is building on the foil that I have placed on the lid and this is what is burning and causing the problem.

To each his own I guess. Each type of smoker seems to have their own characteristics and each gives a slightly different end product.
In a year now with our 009 we have probably done close to 50 pork butts , beef shoulders etc. Just about everything we have done has come out excellent. The burning grease taste (or aroma) has a lot to do with it. I guess what I'm saying is that this is just the nature of the beast, much the same as the flavor imparted from juices dripping on hot coals or charcoal grill give a different flavor.
One thing to keep in mind though is that the flavor will change the more broken in your unit becomes.

as long as there is space for the heat and smoke to get around the tray that you place on the bottom rack there will be no effect.

Go ahead and give it a whirl. All that matters is that you're happy with the product you make.

This may or may not help, but I double foil the wood box top with extra heavy duty foil instead of the lighter foil weights. This keeps the foil a bit cooler and prevents it from sticking to the box like the lighter foils can. I also spray the foil after wrapping it onto the lid with some cooking spray, which helps the drippings slide off the box, at least a little bit.
I also try to avoid putting meats directly over the box, and I start fatty meats at lower temps until they form a crust and then increase the temp. I've found a lot less grease on the bottom and in the drip pan, which means it's kept inside the meat (more for my belly and coronaries!)

I would think the pan under the meat would work if the piece of meat is small, but a large pan like a cookie sheet would block the meat from the heat and slow your cooking time way down. And unless the pan or sheet is thick and/or insulated, if the smoker is cranked up the sheet might absorb enough heat to cause droppings to burn on it instead of the wood box.

In my 009 I cook all my butts and ribs in a cheap disposable aluminum pan with a raised grate in it. I put about a 1/2" of beer in the bottom of the pan when I start. I change the aluminum foil in the bottom of the smoker about twice a season and the aluminum on the fire box about every other time or so depending if anything leaked out of the pan on it. I don't like messes so this works for me but might not be for everyone. Also I use the 3-2-1 method for my ribs so all I have to do is cover the pan and ribs with tin foil after 3 hours after spraying with apple juice and take it off after an additional 2 hours for the last hour uncovered. Best ribs every time!

First time in 10 years someone mentions a "burnt grease taste". NOt sure I know what that tastes like.

If you're that worried about it the suggestions above might help. But I'm not a fan of any pan methods of smoking (where you put the meat directly in a pan) as that does have an impact on the smoke penetration (for me). From the design of the smoker being in use for 40 years, not sure it's been an issue for most, but you need to make it work for you.

Believe me, it is not a pleasant smell or taste. The drippings off the butt puddled up on the tinned lid and after 18 hours it burned and caused it to add a bad flavor to the butt. It was still good, but it did not have the good pure smoke flavor that I like. I am a newbie and will get better with time. I am also a fan of this unit and have influenced two of my co-workers to order them one of the new style smokers. So I am not complaining about the Cookshack, just looking for advice and hoping that someone else may have an idea that will prevent this problem. I just tried running the tin foil through the bottom rack and attaching the foil on both sides of the lid, thus making a tent of foil from the rack to the lid, which allows the drippings to run down the foil and stay off the lid. I tried this over the weekend and it worked nice on a brisket. I attached a picture of what I'm talking about.

Wow, That looks like a lot of work (pretty cool looking though). I have the same smoker and just cover my wood box lid tight with foil and sucure the foil by wrapping it under the lid at the front and back and let about 2 inches hang left and right of each side and just replace it each time. It is always Heavy Duty type foil as the thinner foil sometimes sticks and is too hard to remove.

I would definitely use a pan on the bottom rack instead of going through that much trouble!