Bumped the smoker,DOH!


 
Phil Perrin

Phil Perrin

TVWBB Hall of Fame
While fixing a beautiful 7.5 lb butt yesterday,I accidentally bumped my WSM! I heard a whoosh,and saw a big cloud of ashes come out of every vent and opening! OH NO,I thought! I took the lid off and saw the water pan lying directly on the coals. I grabbed my welding gloves,did the hot squat,and quickly set everything right. Soon afterward,our friends showed up for dinner. I was showing my buddy where I had stained our deck,and whoosh! It happened again,all by itself! I did the hot squat again and just removed the water pan for the last hour of cooking. While it was covered with ashes from the fire,by the time I took it off to rest,voila,no more ashes! Overall,the PP turned out great! And no complaints about grit,either!
 
I would probably make sure that all your legs are straight when sitting on a level surface. Also check to make sure the tabs for the water pan are where they should be. I use my smoker in the front yard of my condo and have never had that happen. I can surly understand how that scared the !#*% out of you. As for the ashes I think that is just a part of BBQ. A little bit goes into every meal. Vince
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vince B:
I would probably make sure that all your legs are straight when sitting on a level surface. Also check to make sure the tabs for the water pan are where they should be. I use my smoker in the front yard of my condo and have never had that happen. I can surly understand how that scared the !#*% out of you. As for the ashes I think that is just a part of BBQ. A little bit goes into every meal. Vince </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Good advice - first thing I thought of was the tabs. Check them and adjust. No way it should drop that easily. I have bumped mine and created a splash but never had it just drop. Something's wrong.
 
Phil, are you using the pan that comes with the smoker? It's just a tiny bit small for the tabs that it lives in.

I've found the Brinkmann pan (water, I think? There's info about it here, and it's been a couple of years since I got it) fits MUCH better than the stock pan, and the bonus is that it holds a WHOLE lot more water.

Got it at Bass Pro Shop, and I think it's available online as well.

Jarrod
 
I checked the pavers that I have my WSM sitting on,and one of them had shifted. One of the legs was barely perched on them,so when I bumped it,you know what happened. And I guess when I put it back in,it was barely on the tabs. Oh well,it was one of my best butts yet!
 
Another reason to forgo the water and do the ceramic saucer mod.....you would just hear a "clunk", then maybe a nice grease fire...

But seriously, my patio is very uneven due to old tree roots, I've never had a problem with this mod.
 
I did the same thing a while back and when the steam started coming out of the bottom vents, the WSM looked like a rocket trying to launch into outer space. A friend and his son were sitting with me on the back patio when it happened and after we got over the shock, we laughed for 10 minutes!

It was quite a sight - kind of the "you had to see it to believe it" moment!

Pat
 
Not so big a deal with a butt or something that take a longish cook time. You can do a hot lift of the mid section and set it aside (on a safe surface). It will hold heat unit you do what you need to do with the fire to get things going again. Just don't remove the lid!

Been there - and the technique works great. You would be suprised how much heat is retained.
 
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