Michael Vrobel
TVWBB Member
After a failed attempt last year to cook Potatoes on the WSM, I decided it was time to take a thorough approach. Last weekend, I cooked potatoes in the following way on the WSM:
Smoke Cooked Potatoes (recipie from How To Grill )
A Baking Potato and a Sweet Potato, both with their skins on, sprayed with oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, punctured with a fork a few times, and cooked on the top grate at 200*F to 250*F for 3 hours.
Water Pan Smoked Potatoes (recipie from VWBB discusssion with Rita Y )
A Baking Potato, with its skin on, was put in the water pan and cooked for an hour and a half. Same temp as above.
Potatoes in the Embers (recipie from How To Grill )
A Baking Potato and a Sweet Potato, both with their skins on, put on the charcoal, and cooked for an hour and a half, same temp as above.
Disclaimer:
Starting this experiment, I had my doubts. I tried the smoked cooked potato method last year, and was disappointed with the overly smoked potatoes. (I believe I cut them in half to simulate the 'smoke cooked potato skins' recipie from Smoke and Spice ). Because of this, I thought the smoke cooked potatoes would be too smoky, so I went easy on the smoking wood. I was worried about the water pan method resulting in greasy potatoes, since my water pan usually looks like a toxic oil spill, and I was cooking a pair of ducks right before putting the potato in the pan (I'm going to make a separate post about the duck.) Finally, I was worried about the cooking in the embers method resulting in charred lump that was once potato. The one test I didn't perform was a foil wrapped potato - I assumed that would be like cooking it in the oven, since the smoke couldn't get at the potato that way.
How did I do it?
I was cooking the following:
After cooking the duck, I put the Smoke Cooked Potatoes on the top grate. I waited for an hour and a half, then put the other potatoes on the charcoal and in the water pan, then added my other food. (Meatloaf, Baked Beans, and sausages - all of which I figured would take about an hour and a half to cook.)
How did they turn out?
Results:
Smoke Cooked Potatoes - Probably the best overall. Both the baked and sweet potato turned out similar to the way they would have come out of the oven cooked at 250*F. Not much smoky taste to them that I could tell, but as I said above, I went easy on the wood. Advantages: easiest to deal with during the cooking process - just put 'em on the cooking grate; tasted good. Disadvantages: Long cooking time (3hrs), not much smoky taste (try more wood?). Potato skin was not crispy like a really good baked potato, which was a disadvantage for the baked potato (I like to eat the skin), but didn't matter for the sweet potato (I usually toss the skin anyhow.) I will definitely try this cooking method with Smoked Mashed Potatoes or a similar recipie in the future.
Water Pan Smoked Potatoes - Good. I didn't really notice the fact that it was cooked in a stew of water, smoke, and duck fat, probably because I left the skin on. Tasted like a regular, cooked potato. Advantages: Short cooking time (1.5 hrs), doesn't take up any space on the grate. Disadvantages: My big complaint about this cooking method is that, since it only needs about an hour to cook, you have to get the potato into your water pan late in the cooking process. If your lower rack is in place, this could be annoying, if not a real mess. I have a hard enough time getting my lower rack in place without a lit smoker and a full water pan sitting under it.
Potatoes in the Embers - Mixed. I think I cooked the potatoes too long; they were in the embers for 1.5 hours. If I had to do it again, I'd leave them for 45 minutes to an hour, and I'd flip them halfway. The bottom side was burned for 1/4 of an inch (which was to be expected), the top was OK. Scraping the burnt part off was annoying - I kept getting burned potato all over the cooked part. It tasted interesting. It was the only one of the three that had a distinct taste of being cooked over a live fire, but that bordered on 'burnt' a little too much, especially with the sweet potato. Advantages: Wow factor (pulling potatoes out of the fire is showy), smoky taste. Disadvantages: Crossed the border between 'smoky' and 'burnt' with the sweet potato. With the short cooking time, it's tough to get them in with a loaded cooker, especially if you've done the 'get a brinkman water pan' modification - I couldn't fit the potatoes through the access door and had to pull the top sections off my smoker. I think this is easier than the water pan issue above, but some recipes would make this almost impossible. (Beer can chicken comes to mind.)
All in all, I had much better results than I expected cooking Potatoes on the WSM. I'm definitely going to do the Smoke Cooked Potatoes again, and I may have to try the Potatoes in the Embers again just to show off.
Smoke Cooked Potatoes (recipie from How To Grill )
A Baking Potato and a Sweet Potato, both with their skins on, sprayed with oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, punctured with a fork a few times, and cooked on the top grate at 200*F to 250*F for 3 hours.
Water Pan Smoked Potatoes (recipie from VWBB discusssion with Rita Y )
A Baking Potato, with its skin on, was put in the water pan and cooked for an hour and a half. Same temp as above.
Potatoes in the Embers (recipie from How To Grill )
A Baking Potato and a Sweet Potato, both with their skins on, put on the charcoal, and cooked for an hour and a half, same temp as above.
Disclaimer:
Starting this experiment, I had my doubts. I tried the smoked cooked potato method last year, and was disappointed with the overly smoked potatoes. (I believe I cut them in half to simulate the 'smoke cooked potato skins' recipie from Smoke and Spice ). Because of this, I thought the smoke cooked potatoes would be too smoky, so I went easy on the smoking wood. I was worried about the water pan method resulting in greasy potatoes, since my water pan usually looks like a toxic oil spill, and I was cooking a pair of ducks right before putting the potato in the pan (I'm going to make a separate post about the duck.) Finally, I was worried about the cooking in the embers method resulting in charred lump that was once potato. The one test I didn't perform was a foil wrapped potato - I assumed that would be like cooking it in the oven, since the smoke couldn't get at the potato that way.
How did I do it?
I was cooking the following:
After cooking the duck, I put the Smoke Cooked Potatoes on the top grate. I waited for an hour and a half, then put the other potatoes on the charcoal and in the water pan, then added my other food. (Meatloaf, Baked Beans, and sausages - all of which I figured would take about an hour and a half to cook.)
How did they turn out?
Results:
Smoke Cooked Potatoes - Probably the best overall. Both the baked and sweet potato turned out similar to the way they would have come out of the oven cooked at 250*F. Not much smoky taste to them that I could tell, but as I said above, I went easy on the wood. Advantages: easiest to deal with during the cooking process - just put 'em on the cooking grate; tasted good. Disadvantages: Long cooking time (3hrs), not much smoky taste (try more wood?). Potato skin was not crispy like a really good baked potato, which was a disadvantage for the baked potato (I like to eat the skin), but didn't matter for the sweet potato (I usually toss the skin anyhow.) I will definitely try this cooking method with Smoked Mashed Potatoes or a similar recipie in the future.
Water Pan Smoked Potatoes - Good. I didn't really notice the fact that it was cooked in a stew of water, smoke, and duck fat, probably because I left the skin on. Tasted like a regular, cooked potato. Advantages: Short cooking time (1.5 hrs), doesn't take up any space on the grate. Disadvantages: My big complaint about this cooking method is that, since it only needs about an hour to cook, you have to get the potato into your water pan late in the cooking process. If your lower rack is in place, this could be annoying, if not a real mess. I have a hard enough time getting my lower rack in place without a lit smoker and a full water pan sitting under it.
Potatoes in the Embers - Mixed. I think I cooked the potatoes too long; they were in the embers for 1.5 hours. If I had to do it again, I'd leave them for 45 minutes to an hour, and I'd flip them halfway. The bottom side was burned for 1/4 of an inch (which was to be expected), the top was OK. Scraping the burnt part off was annoying - I kept getting burned potato all over the cooked part. It tasted interesting. It was the only one of the three that had a distinct taste of being cooked over a live fire, but that bordered on 'burnt' a little too much, especially with the sweet potato. Advantages: Wow factor (pulling potatoes out of the fire is showy), smoky taste. Disadvantages: Crossed the border between 'smoky' and 'burnt' with the sweet potato. With the short cooking time, it's tough to get them in with a loaded cooker, especially if you've done the 'get a brinkman water pan' modification - I couldn't fit the potatoes through the access door and had to pull the top sections off my smoker. I think this is easier than the water pan issue above, but some recipes would make this almost impossible. (Beer can chicken comes to mind.)
All in all, I had much better results than I expected cooking Potatoes on the WSM. I'm definitely going to do the Smoke Cooked Potatoes again, and I may have to try the Potatoes in the Embers again just to show off.