Clay Saucer Broke

[Tommy B]

So my brother and I built him a mini last weekend. He fired it up and as the smoker was coming up to temp the clay pot cracked! Any idea why? He started it minion method style and the cooker was about 225 degrees.... Should we try another clay saucer or go with a pie tin or something? I have had a clay saucer for over a year and never had a problem.

 

[Dave from Denver]

Thermal shock, it happens. Maybe the saucer had some water in it, or maybe it was cold when it went on the flame...

 

[Tommy B]

Thermal shock, it happens. Maybe the saucer had some water in it, or maybe it was cold when it went on the flame...

it was on the cooker for about 15 minutes heating up before it broke....

 

[CaseT]

Yep as mentioned could have had a bit of moisture in it, or a hairline crack and the heat popped it. It doesn't take much. Wrap it in foil and keep on using it. I for one almost never use anything except the steamer insert any more for the diffuser. I have a 8"x9"x1" thick chunk of granite wrapped in foil that I will use for low and slow cooks, but those are far and few between.

 

[Dave from Denver]

if you wrap it up tight with foil it will still serve the same purpose, but a little bit more awkward to handle since it's broken.

 

[PeteBow]

every clay saucer ive had has broke too...also they dont hold much water, less flexibilty. I just swapped it out for a 2" deep pie pan. 4 bucks at the discount store.

 

[Tommy B]

every clay saucer ive had has broke too...also they dont hold much water, less flexibilty. I just swapped it out for a 2" deep pie pan. 4 bucks at the discount store.

I have heard about the pie pan... I have used the same clay saucer in my cooker for a year and never had a problem!
When I use my saucer I never put water in it. I just cook with it dry.

 

[JRAiona]

I used a clay saucer since I had my 18.5 and never had an issue except that it really didn't sit on the brackets to well. This past weekend I bought a 15 inch pizza stone for it. It fits it perfectly and works great. I took it for its maiden cook with some bacon I did Sunday.

 

[Robert-R]

Think metal. Those clay saucers, ceramic pizza stones & etc get pricey after a while.

 

[PeteBow]

im assuming there are different qualities of clay saucers...i buy the cheapest ones...2 bucks or so, so im not surprised when they break ha.

 

[J. Winn]

My saucer just broke :-(. This was the third time I had fired it up. The only difference this time was I was using a blower on my Heatermeter so Im thinking the introduction of cool air may have cracked it from temp shock. I think I will look for a pizza stone.