WSM ribs-no water pan


 
Tom_M

Tom_M

TVWBB Super Fan
I tried an experiment today with my 22.5 WSM, I cooked three slabs of St. Louis Style ribs with no water pan. I've done this before with chicken but wanted to see how it worked with a more traditional BBQ meat.

The most notable thing was that they were done quicker than I'm used to, five hours with no foil, average temp was between 230 and 240 with one vent cracked open a tiny amount.

A toothpick slid in easily and when I lifted the center slab they began to split so I pulled them and put in a cooler to deliver to my son.

I'll get a report from him tonight to see how they taste but a little piece that "fell" off tasted pretty darn good.

Three packages of Smithfield spares. I like them because they aren't "enhanced" with a brine solution.

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Trimmed, rub applied and loaded into the WSM which is setup with three chunks of maple. I like to add a layer of brown sugar on top of the rub before putting them on to cook, and maple is quickly becoming my wood of choice for ribs.

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And, here they are just before I pulled them. I'll update later after I get a report from my son.

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Ribs look great!
Doing a brisket and butt right now for 1st time w/o water. So far so good.
That little cooker really holds the temp, and without water you can get it up with no problem.
 
I agree, I haven't used water since the first time I used my first one. Usually just a foiled water pan but tried these with no water pan at all.

Good luck with your cook!
 
Beautiful Ribs Tom!

five hours at 235º?
how many lit coals did you start with on top of that pile?
 
Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
Beautiful Ribs Tom!

five hours at 235º?
how many lit coals did you start with on top of that pile?
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Thanks! Maybe 15-20 but they weren't all full size pieces. I keep a box of briqs I recover from previous smokes that I use for starters, or on short cooks. I just grab a handful or two and drop in the chimney starter.
 
nice!
and only one vent slightly open... i'm gonna try that.
Thanks Tom!
Enjoy your Indiana Sunday!!
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Those look might fine from here. Gotta love how even ribs cook over the coals, end to middle.

Speaking of evenness though, did you flip 'em any to keep the bones from cooking out on the bottom, and do think there was much difference in your WSM ribs cooked direct and UDS direct ribs? Been a while since I cooked like that, and I haven't tried it in a wsm yet.

By the way, though, if you haven't already, you might try making a smaller charcoal ring or get one made for a 18.5" wsm. That'll save you some charcoal and make lower temps even easier.
 
Tom that is the best way to cook in the WSM no water pan at all, i have been cooking in mine without the water pan at least the last 5+ years, works awesome, easy temp control, quicker cooks, less fuel useage, no over cooked ends on ribs i can go on and on. Awesome looking ribs...
 
Originally posted by Dave Russell:
Those look might fine from here. Gotta love how even ribs cook over the coals, end to middle.

Speaking of evenness though, did you flip 'em any to keep the bones from cooking out on the bottom, and do think there was much difference in your WSM ribs cooked direct and UDS direct ribs? Been a while since I cooked like that, and I haven't tried it in a wsm yet.

By the way, though, if you haven't already, you might try making a smaller charcoal ring or get one made for a 18.5" wsm. That'll save you some charcoal and make lower temps even easier.
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Dave, I didn't flip them, but I did rotate the grate a few times in case there were any hotspots.

It seemed very similar to a UDS cook, that's one of the reasons I tried it without a pan, just to see how similar it is. And I do have an 18.5 WSM that I can use the ring from next time. I actually take the charcoal grate from the 18.5 and set it on top of the 22.5 charcoal grate at a right angle so that the holes are smaller and the small pieces of charcoal don't fall through as it burn on long cooks.
 
Originally posted by Noe:
Tom that is the best way to cook in the WSM no water pan at all, i have been cooking in mine without the water pan at least the last 5+ years, works awesome, easy temp control, quicker cooks, less fuel useage, no over cooked ends on ribs i can go on and on. Awesome looking ribs...
Click to expand...

Thanks, I did some searching the last couple of days and your topics were about the only ones I found about using no water pan. I do believe the more direct heat flow helped cook these a bit quicker than when the heat's deflected.

I usually always just use one vent to control heat, and I always position the exhaust vent directly across from the one I'm using, I believe that helps take the heat directly towards the center of the cooking area, which should eliminate the problem of the ends burning.

I'm definitely interested in trying butts and briskets this way, do you ever have any problems with the fat dripping on the coals? I did a huge amount of chicken leg quarters one time on the UDS and they had an off taste which I think was caused by so much fat dripping and smoldering on the coals.
 
Tom, when i cook chicken pieces i move the charcoal grate to where the water pan normally sits, i like to cook chicken pieces in the 325-350 range, chicken absorbs smoke so easy no need to prolong the cook. Also no minion start, all coals lit.
 
Thanks, Noe. I've cooked a lot of high heat chicken in the WSM's without the water pan, never moved the charcoal grate up but will keep that in mind next time. You seem to be the pioneer of water pan free cooking so I'll be keeping up with your experiences. I'm seeing some real advantages to going without the pan that merit further experimentation.Thanks for your input.

Just got a text from my son and he gave the ribs a big thumbs up.He does a lot of BBQ'ing himself and doesn't like a strong smoky taste and these seemed to be just right. That's mainly due to the maple wood, that stuff is great.
 
Just did a butt on lower grate yesterday, foiled pan but no water. I think at least a foiled pan is necessary from the amount of drippings in the pan. Haven't ever used a flower pot base, but I suppose anything that keeps the drippings from the coals would work.
 
Originally posted by J Hoke:
...I suppose anything that keeps the drippings from the coals would work.
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J, the drippings can end up smoking whether fat hits the fire or not. Just something to consider if you're not a fan of that flavor profile. I don't care for that flavor on anything really but ribs, as long as not glazed over the coals. I know. I'm kind of weird. Anyway though, it's pretty much completely avoided if cooking with water, but there's ways to avoid it if cooking dry, as well.
 
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