Clay Saucer With Pork Shoulder


 
B

Brian B.

TVWBB Fan
I'm switching over for my first cook with a clay saucer and was curious what that would be like with a really fatty cook like shoulders. Does anyone put a small layer of sand into their saucer to soak up all the drippings for easy cleanup? If I just have foil in the saucer, will I have a lot of burning and smoking fat? My thought was to put a layer of foil, covered with some sand and then just dump that at the end of the cook.

Thanks for the advice.
 
Why screw around with all the saucers and sand. Your smoker came with a water pan. Buy a cheap aluminum pan that will fit inside the factory pan. If it gets an accumulation of grease after cooking, toss it and put a new one. What's with all the cleanliness of the porcelian painted pan, it is not in contact with the food.
 
Brian, when you foil the saucer don't push it all the way to the bottom, leave a little gap between the saucer and the foil,
 
J Bowie,

I think the original thought of the clay saucer is to act as a heat sink to stabilize your cooking temp. It also seems that you could add more or less sand depending on the outside temps to maintain your target temp longer.

Are you normally able to control your temp fine without any water in the pan or any other kind of heat sink?
 
Hey Brian,

I have the 22" WSM and use a 16" (I think) clay saucer. I foil the water pan and then the clay saucer. I have never really noticed any burning or smoking from rendered fat as an issue. However, If I have a piece of meat that I think will produce a bunch, I'll put a drip pan under it just to catch it. Seems to work well for me and I've been able to dial in temp control pretty well with that method.

Edited to add: The clean up is the best part! So easy.
 
I followed Harry Soo's lead, after a few cooks, and no longer use ANYTHING in my water pan. I simply foil the pan and clean up is a breeze. I have NO problems maintaining heat. After all, a couple of pork butts make a FINE heat sink, my friends.

Right now, it's too cold to cook anything outside. Wind chills will hit 25 below zero tonight! I feel for those who must work outside in this weather! Here's to milder weather (where is all of that "Global Warming" when you need it?:rolleyes:).

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I have the 18.5 WSM. I use a clay saucer and just foil over it. After the cook,I just throw the foil away and I'm done!
 
I use nothing but just a clay saucer covered with foil also. I rarely do more than a single pork butt at a time any more. When I do, I like to put an aluminum pie pan underneath to catch most of the grease.
 
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