Smoking On The WSM With No Heat Diffuser


 
D Mark said:
No, not flipping at all actually but it doesn't seem like a bad idea. Just be careful not to keep the lid off for too long so the grease doesn't light up.

I cooked two butts this way over the weekend for a pre-Thanksgiving gathering of about 30 people. I have been smoking butts for this gathering for at least 10 years but this is the first time that I did them for this gathering without a pan. Multiple people told me that it was the best bbq I had ever done and several said best they ever had at all.

That settles the debate for me and I won't be using a pan again for butts, ribs, or chicken. I still may try a pizza pan with a bunch of holes drilled in it at some point to see if the lower rack can be usable.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Doing it this weekend!
 
Hmmm....I've always done Drumsticks and Wings on the top rack of the 18.5 with nothing down to the coals...I find that rack temperature can get to 300+ no problem. It yields a better skin finish and flavor. You can always lower the temp back down by closing the vents on the bottom...I never out water in the pan. I make a foil catch tray with 2 pieces of aluminum foil and a folded over seam...I've never thought to do a butt that way, but you must get a congealed mess of ash and fat (almost a saponification reaction for you chemists...) in the bottom when you are done. But the thought of that meat juice flavoring up with a tasty steam of fat and grease sounds delicious!
 
Reviving this topic.

I cooked two untrimmed pork butts fat side down with no water pan in place. For me, the taste of the burned drippings on the meat was too strong, I didn't care for it. But I didn't have any flare-ups, no problem with temp control, and it wasn't the huge mess in the bottom of the charcoal bowl that I expected.

Then the other day I cooked two butts fat side down with the empty water pan in place. Back to the flavor I expected.

Just a matter of personal taste/preference. Try it, you might like it. Next time I try pork butts with no water pan, I think I'll trim the fat cap so there's less drippings.
 
I'm glad to hear that you gave it a shot Chris. It certainly may not be the flavor for everyone. I am from eastern NC where pit cooked whole hog bbq over a thin bed of hardwood coals is the gold standard and the WSM with no water pan gets pretty close to that. To me it is far and away the best method for pork butts on the WSM. I do trim the fat cap so maybe I get a little less of an overwhelming amount of drippings. It has never created a big mess in the charcoal bowl for me either.

I have another couple of cooks done that way since my last post. One was for a group of 11 dads and 11 eight year old sons at a big camp out. The two 8-9 LB butts disappeared so fast that I only got to eat about 3 bites. Even the more picky kids were passing on hot dogs and coming back for seconds which made my heart swell with joy. I was happy to give up my portions for the kids wanting more. Next year I'll have to find room for the third butt in the cooler!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top