flower pot bottoms


 
I posted a message in Barbeque but maybe it would have fit better in this string.

Just did my first smoke with no water and a 12 inch clay pot base foiled in the stock pan. I did 4 butts on top and 11 lb packer brisket on the bottom. At the end I was vey concerned about grease/drippings buildup in the pan/base. It was almost to overflowing at the end of the smoke (about 17 hours).

Anyone else run into this?
 
I noticed that most of you cook a lot of meat at one time using the clay base. Will it work if I only cook two slabs of spares?
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Dave, use the find button and search for waterless or clay pot bottoms or saucers and you will see a lot of discussion.

To answer you question, considering that I have all of one waterless smoke under my belt, yes.
 
Dave,
In my limited experience (~ 10 cooks or so with the modification), it works very well but temps run higher at a given vent setting. Using Minion Method (12 or so hot coals on a full ring), I have to shut the vents down to 10% or so to keep the temp down. I’m thinking of maybe adding sand as well to have a bit more of a heat sink. The main advantage to me is that the extent of heat sink does not change with the cook (as does with water as it evaporates). Give it a try and see what happens
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I agree with Don. Once you figure out the proper settings on your vents it is nice to know that temps will hold as long as your charcoal will.
 
That was my one of the two reasons I tried it. I don't have to worry about a temp spike b/c the pan goes dry as I'm sleeping. Once I get the temp/vent position stable and set nothing should change the cooking temp except wind and eventually the coals burning down.

The other reason for me was the clean up. No nasty water to dump.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Eric Aarseth:
That was my one of the two reasons I tried it. I don't have to worry about a temp spike b/c the pan goes dry as I'm sleeping. Once I get the temp/vent position stable and set nothing should change the cooking temp except wind and eventually the coals burning down.

The other reason for me was the clean up. No nasty water to dump. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pretty good reasons, IMHO
 
Both goals satisfied during my last cook. The only potential issue I had was with the reduced holding capacity of the water pan for the rendered grease/fat. See Grease overflow - almost.

Temps were rock steady until the end of the cook and you could see the gradual decrease of temp indicating the need to stoke (and in my case add hot coals).

Clean up was so easy. Just pull off that last layer of foil and the water pan w/ clay pot was ready for the next cook.
 
OK,here's another question about clay bases. If the air in the water pan acts as insulation and the clay base acts as a heat sink, could you put bricks or maybe small clay bases inside the water pan to absorb even more heat to help stabalize the temperature? I read that sand in the water pan will turn to almost like concrete after a few cooks. With the bricks or pieces you wouldn't ever have to change them. I'm still new at this so bear with me.
 
IMO, nothing other than the saucer and the water pan needed. I've had very good temp control results by foiling top and bottom of both the saucer and the wsm water pan. I put a few foil balls in the water pan because I have the 12" saucer. I rest the foiled saucer on these balls to raise to about the level of the water pan lip, maybe a bit lower, and I then foil the whole thing as one piece. Has worked just fine for me. Gives me the benefit of the air space and the saucer.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave L.:
OK,here's another question about clay bases. If the air in the water pan acts as insulation and the clay base acts as a heat sink, could you put bricks or maybe small clay bases inside the water pan to absorb even more heat to help stabalize the temperature? I read that sand in the water pan will turn to almost like concrete after a few cooks. With the bricks or pieces you wouldn't ever have to change them. I'm still new at this so bear with me. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Regarding adding bricks and a smaller clay saucer base to "help stablaize the temperature" in my experience a clay pot alone does a fine job for me, YMMV. However, what I have done is purchase a 12" and a 14" saucer. I use the 12" when I'm using the bottom rack and the 14" when only using top rack. When using the 12" I also invert the saucer to create more space for air prior to wrapping in foil, yet the bottom rack still has plenty of clearance to allow air flow between the foiled water pan/clay saucer and the bottom rack. The 14" saucer actually rests on the top of my water pan and thus the bottom rack rests on the saucer, which I've been told is not enough clearance to allow proper airflow when using bottom rack, but for top rack smoking it works great!
 
For the first time I cooked two butts and used the flower pot saucer. For 13 pounds total weight, cooktime was around 14 hours at 235 grill temp.

Both Armadillo Willy's Rub and Southern Sop recipies were used as flavorings.

I began the smoke using a full ring of charcoal w/MM - 12-15 hot coals to start with. The day after shutdown when I opened up the unit for cleaning, almost 1/2 the charcoal remained although slightly smaller from having been partly ignited.
 
i had 2 brinkmann charcoal pans that i was going to make a piedmont with. instead, i picked up a flower pot base and used it. wow...great control. it maintained temps better than the other cooks without.

i used nothing in between the pan and the pot base and it worked really well. i also had to open the vents a lot less than without the base.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by reardon:
i had 2 brinkmann charcoal pans that i was going to make a piedmont with. instead, i picked up a flower pot base and used it. wow...great control. it maintained temps better than the other cooks without.

i used nothing in between the pan and the pot base and it worked really well. i also had to open the vents a lot less than without the base. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

and its SO easy to - no drilling, no nothing but foiling
 
I have been using a modified version of this and consistently getting 20 plus hours unattended cooking between 225 and 250.

Took an old pizza stone and cracked it into large pieces. Put them in the Brinkman water pan and covered it with foil to catch the drippings. I have done a long butt cook and popped Ribs on the top rack at 15 hours. Pulled the butt at 20 hrs and held in a cooler while the ribs cooked for a total cook time of 23 hours with no refueling. This was a minion cook with a very full Charcoal ring, refreshed the smoke wood about 30 min before adding ribs.

Cooking without water Rocks!
 
Simple question...maybe.

I have a Brinkman pan and the standard Weber pan. I plan to get a 14 inch clay pot bottom this week and try it out for 2 cooks I have planned in the next 2 weeks.

Should I put the clay pot in the Weber pan or in the Brinkman pan?? I was thinking the Brinkman would be better as it is deeper and would have a bigger air dead space.

Thanks for your suggestions.
 
Lee,
It's the Brinkman charcoal pan you want for this purpose, not their water pan which does not fit in the WSM.
 
I cannot speak to the Brinkman pan, however what I can tell you is both my 14" and 12" work just fine in the standard Weber water pan.

As Derek said, I can easily go 20+ hours between 225 to 250 without refueling using this mod.

Lee, what are you're two cooks going to be?

Something to keep in mind, if you're using the MM, do not start with the standard amount of lit as your temps will shoot sky high. I start my MM cooks with 8 - 12 lit. I get to temp in 20 - 30 minutes depending on the weather.

Good luck with the Mod.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lee Morris:
Simple question...maybe.

I have a Brinkman pan and the standard Weber pan. I plan to get a 14 inch clay pot bottom this week and try it out for 2 cooks I have planned in the next 2 weeks.

Should I put the clay pot in the Weber pan or in the Brinkman pan?? I was thinking the Brinkman would be better as it is deeper and would have a bigger air dead space.

Thanks for your suggestions. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

i use the brinkman water with a 14" pot bottom. it works/fits perfectly. g'luck.
 
Colder temps are coming. Flower pot bottoms are more efficient in the colder temps. This is the time that I'm not using water. You will notice a difference.
 
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