Pot pie on the wsm


 

Brandon A

TVWBB All-Star
Just wondering if anyone has tried a pot pie on the wsm? The kind where you use two pie crusts, one for top and bottom. I searched the forums and found some recipes but nothing really for the wsm. I used to make these in the oven, but haven't in years. My wife mentioned it and I started thinking. If I cant get any advice I'll just wing it. Kind of excited to try it actually. I guess the only thing I'm not sure about is what to use for meat. I used to use raw chicken, and it would cook inside the pie, but what about leftover pulled pork or beef? Or would it be best to use a raw meat? Im guessing it would have to be a high heat cook, without water. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks
Brandon
 
Brandon, I use the WSM for a lot of things. Just think of it as a charcoal fired oven. I make pork and kraut every New Years day in it. For St Patty's day I made my corned beef and cabbage in it. Pizzas, bread..... the list is endless. You just have to choose wether you want to add smoke wood or not. Make your Pot pie as you normally would and just cook it in the WSM, yes to the high heat. You'll pick up a nice sutble flavor from the charcoal. Even more if you are using lump, HTH.
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I've made pasties from smoked chuck and it was very good. I baked them in the oven though. Pasties are kind of similar pot pies, although the meat is not in a béchamel sauce. I think if you are going to do it in the WSM, I like the idea of being thematic and doing some kind of smoked meat. Smoked chicken, pork butt, smoked chuck, brisket, any of those would work.

I've always cooked the chicken before putting pot pies in to bake, since I didn't want to chance the meat not being done when the crust was ready. In fact I've made chicken pot pie with thickened leftover chicken soup.
 
Pot pies on the WSM are great. Just be careful not to add too much (or any?) wood for smoke. That crust, even though there's very little of it exposed, will soak up a bunch of smoke and taste bitter. Don't ask how I know.
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Also, I always use pre-cooked meats, whether it's leftover BBQ, or meat just for the pie.

BOB
 
Once again thanks guys, I'm looking forword to a long weekend, and I plan to keep the wsm warm all three days
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. I think the pot pie will be a Sunday evening project, but I don't know if I can handle firing the smoker without a "little" wood at least. Maybe just a chunk of apple or cherry. I will probably use some leftover pulled pork from saturday. Heres the plan, Friday 20lbs buckboard bacon, Saturday 7 lb butt for pulled pork, Sunday Pot Pie and a fatty, maybe some homemade smoked chex mix. Wish me luck! There'll be pics.

Brandon
 
This sounds REALLY good! So....my understanding is, if I read this thread correctly, when doing a pot pie in the WSM I should do it on high heat? Like 350 degrees or so? For how long? And that's with a raw crust but pre-cooked meat? Thanks for any help anyone can give!
 
Thinking out loud here:

Definitely pre-cooked meat.

My gut feeling is that 375° or 400°F might be a better heat to strive for. 350° doesn't do much for pot pie crusts in the oven.

I'm wondering if you should remove the water pan so that the bottom crust will brown from the direct, but distant, heat of the charcoal. And maybe put the pot pie on the top rack so that the top crust will get a better browning from the higher heat in the dome.

Any pros and cons on this idea?

Rita
 
That sounds good, Rita, because that would make the pie crust nice and crispy. How long do you suppose? 45 minutes? 60 minutes? I never go by "as long as I would do it in an oven," because it's just never the same. Thanks!
 
Mel, this is one of those times I'd say the generic "cook until done."

Check the crust from time to time and see if it is at the point that you're looking for. And don't forget to note your temp, WSM setup, amount and type of wood, and timing for the rest of us! Also your reaction on what you would do different the next time.

Good luck!
Rita
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rita Y:
Thinking out loud here:

Definitely pre-cooked meat.

My gut feeling is that 375° or 400°F might be a better heat to strive for. 350° doesn't do much for pot pie crusts in the oven.

I'm wondering if you should remove the water pan so that the bottom crust will brown from the direct, but distant, heat of the charcoal. And maybe put the pot pie on the top rack so that the top crust will get a better browning from the higher heat in the dome.

Any pros and cons on this idea?

Rita </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Sounds solid to me Rita.
Also thinking out loud here:
Maybe make a foil top/dome, shiny side in and cut the distance from the top of the inside lid in half to get better browning of the top crust? It's like when you make pizza. You need to find the perfect spot in the oven so the bottom and top cook at the same speed. But the higher the temp you can get the more reflective heat you will get off the inside of the lid for the browning of the top crust.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Maybe make a foil top/dome, shiny side in and cut the distance from the top of the inside lid in half to get better browning of the top crust? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>That sounds like a very good idea to me.

I am also with Rita on temps. 375 is the usual minimum for these sorts of crusts. One can finesse a lower temp--but then one needs to be using a different crust.

I'm not sure that the pan needs to be removed (my mind's jury is out on that one at the moment). But I do think no water.
 
OK, I've actually cooked pot pies in my WSM, so here's my set up.

No water. You need a dryer atmosphere, and the higher temps that are more difficult with water. If it's cold or windy, you need sand or something else (clay saucer?) to help act as a heat sink and keep the temps from fluctuating as much. I used sand, covered with foil. Maybe (or not?) the foil helped reflect the heat up to help with the lower crusr's browning?

I didn't use any type of foil tent, but I like the idea. Just be sure to leave pleanty of room for the air flow/temp control.

My temp was about 385, because I agree with Rita, 350 didn't do much for crust browning. I was shooting for 400, but it settled at 385 and I didn't want to fiddle too much, I was hungry!

I don't remember the time. I just remember that the ones with less wood for flavoring were much better, in fact, less bitter.

I DO treat my WSM and all of my smokers like an oven, since I can (usually) control the temperatures much better than an oven. Remember, your oven has a thermostat, and from on to off, there can be a 10 to 20 degree swing in each direction from your set temperature.

It's been a while, so some of these details may be a little fuzzy.

Good luck with this, and be sure to report back.

BOB
 

 

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