Pics of WSM Piedmont Double Water Pan Mod and Detailed How to Instructions.


 

Jonny K

TVWBB Fan
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 did the mod also by looking at other threads and some help from Steve Patrone. I can't wait for the test run with a couple of 8lbers for the family Christmas party.
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I used:
1/4"x1' copper cut into 4 @ lil' over 1/2" $3
4 SS wing nuts $2
4 1/4"x1" SS screws $2
1 Brinkman pan(already had one) $8

Hopefully $15 will end up saving me time and money
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Nice post!!
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Originally posted by Jonny K:
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.

Actually, this will work if you use smaller bolts. The 1/4 inch size won't work, but smaller ones will. The pan does sit higher, but I don't think it causes much of a problem. As soon as I run across another Brinkmann pan I'll probably do it the way you did, but until then, the Weber + Brinkmann arrangement seems to be working just fine for me.
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Thanks Steve, I discovered this forum after I purchased my WSM. I visit the forum almost daily. When I discovered smoking and real bbq it became something I'm really passionate about. I've learned so much from reading the posts here.

I could read these post all day if I had the time. I'll have to post some pics of my first "Piedmont" smoke.
 
Jonny that is an excellent presentation for installing the Piedmont Pan.
This encourages me to finish building my Piedmont Pan, I have both pans ready however, the 1/4'' screws and nuts are larger than I want to use and I have thought of using stainless material. I’m sure that which type of material used is a personal preference; mine being the ease of taking the pans apart for cleaning. I have seen mention in this forum of using zinc in the WSM as not being safe but putting that aside; I would think the heat may be high enough to cause zinc plated screws and nuts to freeze; causing one a heck of a time of removing them. If I am wrong please let me know because there is a considerable difference of money between the two.


Val
 
V. Roberts,

After reading you post about zinc coated bolts and hardware I've become a little concerned. Being the cautious person I wonder if I'm at risk for using zinc coated hardware in my WSM.

Can anyone clarify.
 
Originally posted by Bruce Bissonnette:
Your OK, unless your temps get above 1660º.
Basically if the legs and vents have melted it may be time to worry about the zinc hardware? (what exactly is the issue anyway?)
(on edit - oops just read another thread about the zinc thing, sorry)
Is the standard hardware stainless?

As for the freezing issue - why not leave the lower washer and wingnut off, you may need longer bolts.
 
My thanks to Jonny K for his post as it got me off my behind and I got my Pan finished tonight.
It's a little different in the make up but I'm sure it should work fine.
This Saturday I have a request for ribs on my daughter's birthday and I will get to try it out.

Thanks, Val
 
Johnny, I hope you give us some updates after you use your piedmont water pan to let us know whether this set up really produces benefits on fule and temperature control. I had recently ordered only one brinkman water pan and am thinking about ordering another but I would like to see whether there are real benefits to this.
 
Val,

I'm glad I helped you finish your "Pan." I'm sure everyone's version is slightly different, it's the basic idea of the double pan that important. I hope you're ribs turn out well.

Here's my rib rub that I've perfected through many a trial and error.

My rub uses a fair amount of brown sugar, very little salt and a little spice. I reccommend removing the back membrane, which is easy if you start pulling from the narrow end of the rack. I You can cover your ribs with moderately with the rub.

You can adjust to your taste.

2 Cups Dark Brown Sugar
2 tblsp Onion Powder
2 tblsp Garlic Powder
2 tblsp Paprika
2 tblsp Old Bay (contains salt and a little heat)
1 tblsp kosher salt
1 tblsp Black Pepper
1 tblsp Onion Flakes
1 tsp Mustard Powder
1 tsp Cayene or Chili Powder.
1 tsp celery seeds

Mike I'll definitely post some results of my Piedmont pan. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing some ribs this weekend.

Jonny
 
Jonny that rub looks good.
Mike, there are benefits. It will use less fuel-no water to boil. It is better suited to higher temps cooks too.
When I started qing I took low and slow to mean the lower and the slower the better. That is not always true. There are optimum ranges. I am finding very good results not by cooking butts at 220* for 18-20 hours but rather 250-275 and some even higher for more like 12 hours. Shaving six hours off is a convenience. I cannot tell any difference. If you choose to cook at these temps, it does not make sense to be boiling water the whole time!
For me, I do not find that the PP aides temp control-at least not like water can. Properly setup it does allow waterless cooking and use of the bottom rack.
Finally, who wants to handle a pan of yucky water post cook? Just my opinion....
 
I agree, like I said earler I spilled the nasty water all over my sandals and jeans and all over my deck. I vowed not to deal with the greasy water again.
 
Well I tried out my Piedmont Pan for the first time today on two corned beefs that I am smoking for pastrami. I have supplied a link with my findings and pictures if you're interested.

Quickly though, as I explained in the link, my WSM came up to cooking temps very fast and I let it get away from me and found it tough to get the temps down. More my fault than the pan's though I think.

Will definitely try it again; enjoy the link.

Pastrami Cook W/Piedmont Pan
 
Steve, thanks for info. The times that I cooked butts I followed Chris' recipe to the letter and used his cook log as a guide. It would be nice for someone to post a cook log using the PP for comparison.
 
I should be doing some ribs for Christmas. I'll post pics and results of fuel consumption and temp control with the Piedmont when I get a chance.

Happy Holidays Everyone!
 
I just use the standard WSM water pan covered in foil. I push the foil down about 1/2 way into the pan. Been using it like this for over 3 years now. I guess alot of it just depends on what your used to using.
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