The following was posted at the BBQ Bible message board. I am interested in getting the perspective of WSM users on cooking directly over charcoal in the WSM without a water pan. Based on the comments from James Stewart, the flavor is outstanding and unmatched by normal indirect smoking methods.
The key is good draft-control in an enclosed unit, there is practically no way to get flare-ups in my unit or in the BDS, the drippings vaporize upon hitting the coals. This is the way many of the traditional open pits do it in South Carolina and Texas and flareups are not an issue either. Now it probably wouldn't work well in a WSM or a ceramic due to how close the fire and the food grate are but I have about 28" of clearance in mine and I believe the WSM has about 24". Give it a try with some chicken pieces or a whole chicken and you'll see what I mean about the flavor, can't be matched by other methods. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>In my experience with Weber products, flare-ups are minimal as long as the lid in kept on and air flow minimized. I may experiment with this method on some shorter cooks - ribs or chicken - cooking on the top grate only.Jamesstew said:<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">BBcue-Z said: I could see cooking without any water in the pan, but no barrier between the meat and the fire is asking for trouble. Flare ups comes to mind first, or perhaps putting out the fire all together. The amount of liquid brisket, pork shoulder or ribs put out is large and you’d have to have a drip pan to catch it. You could use an empty pan or use the sand filled pan instead.