using clay saucer instead of water pan


 
Dave O (Alaska)

Dave O (Alaska)

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I have seen a lot of posts about people using a clay saucer instead of water to reduce fuel consumption. Do I put this in place of the water pan or find one that fits inside of it?
 
Originally posted by Dave O (Alaska):
I have seen a lot of posts about people using a clay saucer instead of water to reduce fuel consumption. Do I put this in place of the water pan or find one that fits inside of it?
Click to expand...
I use a pizza stone and set it on the lower rack along with a large lined pan. (Pizza pans work pretty good.) It could be configured the same way below the lower level where the water pan goes, but I rarely need the lower level. Give it a shot. My expierience has been that those clay pot bottoms crack under to much pressure.
 
the saucer being able to take the heat was my concern. So you put a pizza stone on top of a circular pizza pan in place of the water pan?
I would like to remove the water pan if possible to make more room for fuel, especially come winter months.

Dave
 
Dave, if you don't use the clay saucer while cooking at high temps, I don't think you'll have a problem with it cracking. There's no sense to it anyway, sense the biggest part of using it is to provide somewhat of a heat sink. If trying to cook over 300*, I simply foil my pan so that the drippings will collect and not burn...no clay pot base.

I still use water in the pan for a lot of low-n-slow cooks, especially long over-nights, but have just started using the clay pot base for day cooks when I want to use both racks, especially competition style foiled ribs.

I use a Brinkman water smoker CHARCOAL pan, which is flat on the bottom and gives MUCH more access to the charcoal, allowing it and wood to be heaped up for long, full cooks without refueling. I got the pan at Academy Sports for about $5. Anyway, I double wrapped my 12" clay pot base (from Home Depot) in foil and lay it in the pan as level as I can. Then I double foil over it just like it wasn't there...again, to catch the drippings. The clay pot base isn't magic, and it does make vent adjustments a little slower to take effect. This is a good thing though, because it shows that it's serving it's purpose as a heat sink, and not only will it help in evening out temps between the two grates, it'll also speed up the recovery in temp after removing the dome to check or sauce the meat. For the current OE Weber pan, I read that the 14" clay pot base is what you want.
 
Agree with Dave Russell. I've never had a clay saucer crack. I also use an empty foiled water pan for cooks over 275.
 
I agree with Dave & Lew. Using a foiled clay saucer is definitely one of my favorite tips that I found on here (and I've found a LOT of good ideas on here). Dealing with a gross water pan used to be one of the things that kept me from using a smoker more often. The foiled clay saucer in the water pan has worked well for me, makes clean-up a breeze, and has me using the smoker more often.
 
Clay saucer cooking makes total sense. The clay not only acts as a heat sink, it radiates heat back once it gets hot.

I found a saucer that nests down below the lip of the water pan and foil the whole shooting match.

Cleanup a breeze, no messy water pan....perfect.
 
"A cracked terra-cotta saucer is only useful as a heat sink." Thomas jefferson. (or maybe George Jefferson, I forget which.)
The point is that it doesn't matter if it's cracked, whole, or ground up.
It still works.
 
I'll go ya one better'n that...I don't use anything but foil on the water pan...ever.

Been doin' that for almost a year with excellent results and lower c'coal bills.
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I'm one of the few I guess that uses sand in my water bowl. Like the foiled pan or clay saucer, it's easy to clean up. Yes it's heavier than the saucer but I just like the density of the sand for a heat sink, does it work better than the saucer, probably not. best I can say is try it all and see what feels right for you.
 
I have been using a foiled clay saucer with no water bowl and have had really good luck I see several of you use the saucer in the bowl I will give this a try mostly because I am tired of looking at the water bowl sitting on my kitchen table and need some place to store it ha ha ha but I am much happier with this cooker using it with out water I seem to be able to reach temps I could not achieve before tm
 
Originally posted by Trevor McCall:
I have been using a foiled clay saucer with no water bowl and have had really good luck I see several of you use the saucer in the bowl I will give this a try mostly because I am tired of looking at the water bowl sitting on my kitchen table and need some place to store it ha ha ha but I am much happier with this cooker using it with out water I seem to be able to reach temps I could not achieve before tm
Click to expand...

Brother?
 
I was going to buy a saucer but then realized I have a very heavy (16" diameter x 1/2' thick) pizza stone sitting in my oven. I foiled it up and it fits great (not perfect) in the brackets that hold the water pan/lower rack. I am going to smoke a pork butt using that set up tomorrow.
I'll let you guys know how it goes!

thanks for all the input.
Dave
 
I'm going to try a brick , had two half bricks I used to keep on the cooking grate of my old gas grill to prop the cover open when I wanted to vent. Should work, right in the water pan ( pan empty, foiled)
 
the pizza stone worked great, ran for ten hours using K blue and it was 50 degrees and raining off and on. Temp was very stable throughout.

Dave
 
Dave, I considered the pizza stone trick myself, but since it is flat, I thought grease and fat drippings will run off and hit the live coals below. Thoughts?
 
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