Note from Moderator: This message originally contained images, but they have since disappeared from the site they were hosted on. The broken image links have been removed from this message.
I’ve been using my WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) for a while now and have read pretty much every post regarding how to run the water pan, from apple juice, to sand, foil, and even no water pan.
The empty pan idea intrigued me the most because I dislike cleaning the nasty water pan after the smoke. The last time I did a smoke I ended up spilling the greasy mess from the turkey smoke all over my shoes and pants.
This is how I inevitably decided that I was going to go the Piedmont Double Water Pan route. The Piedmont water pan is essentially two Brinkman Charcoal pans stacked on top of one another with about 1 inch of space between them, which acts as a heat shield so you can smoke with good temperate control without the need for water, sand, clay dish, or other temperature dampeners. Many people already use the Brinkman charcoal pan instead of the stock WSM water pan because it can hold a lot more water.
Here is a link from the Virtual Weber Bullet Form where I first found out about the Piedmont Water Pan. http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1780069052/m...900031444#1900031444
Here are the tools required to do the mod. I forgot the Philips screw driver in the picture. Of course you will need TWO Brinkman Charcoal Pans. I got mine from Bass Pro Shop. The part number was “38-639-126-00 CHARCOAL PAN 15-1/2.” I believe I only paid $4.00 a piece with shipping. The project should take about 30 minutes to complete after you’ve gathered all your tools and materials. The stock WSM pan and one Brinkman pan will not work. There isn’t enough lip on the stock pan to mount bolts, also the pan sits too high and the bottom rack won’t rest on the grate mounts but on the pan itself.
Here are the bolts and nuts I used. They’re ¼-20 stove bolts with nuts. I also got ¼-20 wing nuts. I was originally going to go with stainless hardware but after I started adding up the cost it was way too expensive. For the bolts you will need 4 bolts, 8 nuts, and 4 wing nuts. I bought a package that contained bolt and nuts together. I got them at my local Menard’s (Cheap Home Depot like store in the Midwest) for 99 cents a package. The original plans call for cutting copper piping and using them for spacer but I found a post that said two nuts work perfectly. I think the nuts make the setup more secure and it’s easier than cutting piping and sizing them in my opinion. Total cost of bolts, nuts and washers about $5.
Here are the washers I used. I decided to use flat washers and lock washers. They’re both ¼ inch. Being a tinkerer (sp?) and modder I usually go out of my way to secure things nicely. You will need 8 flat washers and 4 locking washers. Just buy the large packs. They’re only a few more cents than the small bags they sell and it’s always nice to have extra washers around.
Here are the two Brinkman Charcoal pans stacked on top of one another.
I used a nail to punch 4 holes in the pans. I couldn’t find my center punch, but in the end I think the nail worked better. The pans aren’t nearly as thick as the original Weber pan. Before you punch the holes, set the pans on top of some scrap wood or a 2 X 4. You will punch two holes one across from each other and two more perpendicular to the first two. If you drew an imaginary line for both sets of the holes they would resemble a plus sign.
I can’t stress but to take your time. You want to put some pressure on the pans with you foot or knee so you get a solid hit that will go through both pans accurately. You shouldn’t need any clamps but make sure the holes in both pans line up as you punch each consecutive one.
Here are both pans next to each other after the hole punching, you should have 4 holes now in each pan.
When it came time for drilling, I used a 9/32 drill bit. You may want to size the drill bit up with the bolt if you don’t have the exact drill bit. It should be just slightly larger than the bolt.
You should drill each pan separately. The pan is pretty thin so if you put the drill bit squarely on the punch hole and squeeze the trigger it should go through with little effort.
Here are both the pans after I drilled out the 8 holes.
Stack the pans on top of one another to make sure the holes line up. You may have to spin one of the pans to make the holes line up to when you originally punched them. If the holes look a little off squeeze the pans together and you will see that they’re not too far off. If one of the holes is off you can just work the drill a little at a time until its right. The holes don’t have to line up 100% perfectly. Mine were just slightly off and it all came together fine.
To start the assembly put a bolt through a flat washer, then into the one of pans from the top and then a nut on the other side to keep it secure.
I firmly tightened the bolt with a Philips screw driver. Don’t over tight otherwise you will crack the enable coating. Then I hand tightened another nut onto the first one. This will provide the perfect spacing between the pans.
After you have inserted the bolt, flat washer, two nut assemblies for each of the four holes, line up the bottom pan to match the bolts and insert gently. You will then end up putting another flat washer, then a lock washer and finally a wing nut as pictured below for each bolt.
Here is the Piedmont Double pan all assembled ready to go.
As you can seen there is plenty of clearance after being set into the WSM. I would say the double pan gives about the same clearance as the stock WSM water pan, but this setup is much more stable.
Close up of the pan and one of the lower pan supports.
Here is the Piedmont water pan with the lower grate in place. Plenty of space between the grate and the pan.
A side prospective of the setup, if everything went smoothly up untill now you should give yourself a pat on the back.
I decided to fill the pan with balls of aluminum foil to give the aluminum some support after I cover the pan with heavy duty foil to catch the drippings.
Here is the pan all ready to go! I don’t know if it will matter or not but I tried not cover the gap between the two pans when foiling, because I though it could trap heat inside.
This is my version of the Piedmont Double water pan mod. Please feel free to leave comments or offer any ideas if you come up with some extra tweaks. I came up with this plan after having read all the Piedmont mods in the Virtual Weber Forum. I know everyone has their own special technique for smoking, and I’m sure they all work in one way or another. By no means is this the ultimate mod for your water pan. I just thought it could help someone out who is looking for some cool smoker mods. I hope this wasn't tool long for my first post. I love this forum by the way!
I can’t wait to try my first smoke with this setup. No more messy pan to clean for me! I ‘ve got some cool Turkey day smoke photos I’ll post when I get sometime.
Happy Smoking!
I’ve been using my WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) for a while now and have read pretty much every post regarding how to run the water pan, from apple juice, to sand, foil, and even no water pan.
The empty pan idea intrigued me the most because I dislike cleaning the nasty water pan after the smoke. The last time I did a smoke I ended up spilling the greasy mess from the turkey smoke all over my shoes and pants.
This is how I inevitably decided that I was going to go the Piedmont Double Water Pan route. The Piedmont water pan is essentially two Brinkman Charcoal pans stacked on top of one another with about 1 inch of space between them, which acts as a heat shield so you can smoke with good temperate control without the need for water, sand, clay dish, or other temperature dampeners. Many people already use the Brinkman charcoal pan instead of the stock WSM water pan because it can hold a lot more water.
Here is a link from the Virtual Weber Bullet Form where I first found out about the Piedmont Water Pan. http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1780069052/m...900031444#1900031444
Here are the tools required to do the mod. I forgot the Philips screw driver in the picture. Of course you will need TWO Brinkman Charcoal Pans. I got mine from Bass Pro Shop. The part number was “38-639-126-00 CHARCOAL PAN 15-1/2.” I believe I only paid $4.00 a piece with shipping. The project should take about 30 minutes to complete after you’ve gathered all your tools and materials. The stock WSM pan and one Brinkman pan will not work. There isn’t enough lip on the stock pan to mount bolts, also the pan sits too high and the bottom rack won’t rest on the grate mounts but on the pan itself.
Here are the bolts and nuts I used. They’re ¼-20 stove bolts with nuts. I also got ¼-20 wing nuts. I was originally going to go with stainless hardware but after I started adding up the cost it was way too expensive. For the bolts you will need 4 bolts, 8 nuts, and 4 wing nuts. I bought a package that contained bolt and nuts together. I got them at my local Menard’s (Cheap Home Depot like store in the Midwest) for 99 cents a package. The original plans call for cutting copper piping and using them for spacer but I found a post that said two nuts work perfectly. I think the nuts make the setup more secure and it’s easier than cutting piping and sizing them in my opinion. Total cost of bolts, nuts and washers about $5.
Here are the washers I used. I decided to use flat washers and lock washers. They’re both ¼ inch. Being a tinkerer (sp?) and modder I usually go out of my way to secure things nicely. You will need 8 flat washers and 4 locking washers. Just buy the large packs. They’re only a few more cents than the small bags they sell and it’s always nice to have extra washers around.
Here are the two Brinkman Charcoal pans stacked on top of one another.
I used a nail to punch 4 holes in the pans. I couldn’t find my center punch, but in the end I think the nail worked better. The pans aren’t nearly as thick as the original Weber pan. Before you punch the holes, set the pans on top of some scrap wood or a 2 X 4. You will punch two holes one across from each other and two more perpendicular to the first two. If you drew an imaginary line for both sets of the holes they would resemble a plus sign.
I can’t stress but to take your time. You want to put some pressure on the pans with you foot or knee so you get a solid hit that will go through both pans accurately. You shouldn’t need any clamps but make sure the holes in both pans line up as you punch each consecutive one.
Here are both pans next to each other after the hole punching, you should have 4 holes now in each pan.
When it came time for drilling, I used a 9/32 drill bit. You may want to size the drill bit up with the bolt if you don’t have the exact drill bit. It should be just slightly larger than the bolt.
You should drill each pan separately. The pan is pretty thin so if you put the drill bit squarely on the punch hole and squeeze the trigger it should go through with little effort.
Here are both the pans after I drilled out the 8 holes.
Stack the pans on top of one another to make sure the holes line up. You may have to spin one of the pans to make the holes line up to when you originally punched them. If the holes look a little off squeeze the pans together and you will see that they’re not too far off. If one of the holes is off you can just work the drill a little at a time until its right. The holes don’t have to line up 100% perfectly. Mine were just slightly off and it all came together fine.
To start the assembly put a bolt through a flat washer, then into the one of pans from the top and then a nut on the other side to keep it secure.
I firmly tightened the bolt with a Philips screw driver. Don’t over tight otherwise you will crack the enable coating. Then I hand tightened another nut onto the first one. This will provide the perfect spacing between the pans.
After you have inserted the bolt, flat washer, two nut assemblies for each of the four holes, line up the bottom pan to match the bolts and insert gently. You will then end up putting another flat washer, then a lock washer and finally a wing nut as pictured below for each bolt.
Here is the Piedmont Double pan all assembled ready to go.
As you can seen there is plenty of clearance after being set into the WSM. I would say the double pan gives about the same clearance as the stock WSM water pan, but this setup is much more stable.
Close up of the pan and one of the lower pan supports.
Here is the Piedmont water pan with the lower grate in place. Plenty of space between the grate and the pan.
A side prospective of the setup, if everything went smoothly up untill now you should give yourself a pat on the back.
I decided to fill the pan with balls of aluminum foil to give the aluminum some support after I cover the pan with heavy duty foil to catch the drippings.
Here is the pan all ready to go! I don’t know if it will matter or not but I tried not cover the gap between the two pans when foiling, because I though it could trap heat inside.
This is my version of the Piedmont Double water pan mod. Please feel free to leave comments or offer any ideas if you come up with some extra tweaks. I came up with this plan after having read all the Piedmont mods in the Virtual Weber Forum. I know everyone has their own special technique for smoking, and I’m sure they all work in one way or another. By no means is this the ultimate mod for your water pan. I just thought it could help someone out who is looking for some cool smoker mods. I hope this wasn't tool long for my first post. I love this forum by the way!
I can’t wait to try my first smoke with this setup. No more messy pan to clean for me! I ‘ve got some cool Turkey day smoke photos I’ll post when I get sometime.
Happy Smoking!