Interesting read (Danny Gaulden) possibly another WSM mod (free)!

I stumbled upon this article/review written by Danny Gaulden reviewing the BDS (big drum smoker). I was just laughing to myself how we spend all this time with heatsinks, gurus, piedmont pans, etc. and a man who has bbqed more than I ever will in 2 lifetimes just loves the big drum smoker! Concept is simple, a drum with plug holes to control airflow. The thing that makes me go hmmm would be no pan, foil, sand, etc., just cook the meat over a low slow temp for better tasting food. Why couldn't this be done with the WSM? It wouldn't cost anything...

Here is the article: http://bbqblog.com/?p=81

Anyone tried just removing everything and just cooking over a low slow fire? Cooking on the top grate would provide more than enough distance between the food and fire regarding flareups......

Yes, I've done it and it can be done. You just do a waterpan-less Minion Method and be very careful with your bottom vent settings. I did pork butt, the fat drips into the fire and creates some great smells, but cleanup of the ashes is somewhat messier as a result. You might immediately jump to the conclusion that you should line the bowl with foil for easy cleanup, but Weber says not to.

I agree that we sometimes overthink things and get caught up in lots of mods when sometimes it's nice to just keep it simple. The more years I cook, the simpler I get. I should point out that the only mod I've made to my WSM is to mount a thermometer in the lid. Oh, and I occasionally use the Brinkmann charcoal pan instead of the Weber water pan for long cooks when I use water.

And it's a fact that the WSM is a great cooker right out of the box with no mods of any kind.

Regards,
Chris

Originally posted by Chris Allingham:
The longer I cook, the simpler I get.

Click to expand...

Amen, Chris. Me too. I've played with a lot of the toys, and I'm back to plain basic vanilla cooking with no bells and whistles - I don't even use a thermometer in the WSM much anymore, as I've set my hand on the lid often enough now to know when it's not hot enough, too hot, or just right. That pork fat almost turns ash to concrete, doesn't it?

Danny's one of my heros. There's a dusty apron hanging on the wall there that Danny tells me is going to stay there gathering dust until we get to go out there and I get to cook in his kitchen with him.

mucho info at www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/index.php

So what are you waiting for Keri? Your last writeup was great when you visited Danny. I am looking forward to reading another article on BBQ.

Feel kinda honored to have both Chris and Keri both on the thread I started....