Using the WSM without a water pan


 
T

Tom Murtiashaw

TVWBB Member
I cooked a split turkey breast yesterday in the WSM (top rack) without a pan between the bird and the coals. I used half a ring of Stubbs charcoal lit by the Minion Method. I was able to bring the dome temp to 300 and halt it there with all vents at 25%, then I eased the temp up to 350 by opening the vents to about 50%. The aroma created by the turkey dripping directly onto the lit coals was great and the meat turned out juicy and tasted fantastic, plus the skin crisped up nicely. I am considering trying a well trimmed pork shoulder next using a similar approach for the first 4 hours of the cook. My thought is to try and keep the WSM temp below 250 by using only one partially open vent (mopping and turning the meat once or twice). Then I will slip in my foiled clay pot as a heat sink, add more charcoal, and put the rest of the cook on autopilot until the butt is done some 8 hours later. The objective being to try and duplicate the open pits used at some bbq joints in the Carolinas. If anyone has ever tried a similar approach with the WSM, please let me know the results. It means more work in the beginning, but it could be worth the effort. Thanks.
Tom
 
nothing wrong with that if it works for you. the only thing i would be concerned about is if the drips stir up the ashes and it gets on the food.
 
Most drum smokers dont have a heat deflector, and they cook right over the coals. However, they have a large distance from coal to food. My brother does this on his UDS, and the food is great.
 
Well considering you are talking about only having it over the coals for the first 4 hours then you shouldn't have to worry about the drippings stirring up the ashes, and if you do it on the top rack, like the turkey, then you should be fine there as well. I say go for it, and let us know how it goes, I might be interested in trying that method if it comes out well.
 
Won't the pit flavor best be replicated by cooking without the pan toward the end of the cook... after the fat starts rendering? It's just a thought.

I've cooked a lot of meat on my vertical drum cooker, a BDS clone, if you will. Anyway, my wife likes the flavor of pork butts off it better than my wsm, but I think the drum puts too much "pit flavor" on the pork because it's a much more closed environment than any of the traditional pit set-ups....at least the ones I've seen. It's a great chicken cooker, though.

Anyway, I've found a lot of pretty good sounding ideas here in the posts of a lady from Oklahoma. I don't think she's posted here in a while, but she's suggested cutting some chunks off the fat cap before the cook to save for throwing onto the coals during the cook. I haven't tried it yet, but I'd think this would be a more subtle touch of "pit flavor" that would be real easy to add.
 
Thanks Dave, I may experiment without the pan at the beginning of one cook and then at the end of another to see if there is any noticeable difference. Also the idea about tossing some pieces of fat on the hot coals sounds interesting. Just more reasons to smoke more pb...

Tom
 
i hadn't thought about there not being quite so many ashes on a shorter cook.

i may have to give this a try.
 
i have concidered the no pan cook. if you read the threads on the other sites concerning bulding a uds they reccomend 24" between the charcoal grate and the cooking grate. the 22.5 wsm is there, if cooking on the top grate, so it should be fine.
 
Originally posted by David Wheless:
i have concidered the no pan cook. if you read the threads on the other sites concerning bulding a uds they reccomend 24" between the charcoal grate and the cooking grate. the 22.5 wsm is there, if cooking on the top grate, so it should be fine.
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You got that right. It's funny how everyone raves about the big WSM, but this would be THE reason I'd want one, mainly for chicken cooking, unless I started catering, that is. It's pretty much like cooking with my upright drum smoker if you remove the pan, but it's gonna last a LOT LONGER, since it's porcelain coated. Like I said though, I have a drum cooker, and it's not broke, so...
 
I thought this was common. I cook whole chickens and chicken thighs on the WSM without the water pan all the time. Cook them for about an hour and they come out perfect. When cooking thighs, I just flip them half way through and they come out perfect with crispy skin.

Cooking in this manner, from what I understand, is similar to cooking on a drum. I want to try a brisket in this manner, but I'm worried about there being too much grease to feed the fire and run my temps too high. Let us know how it goes for you.
 
This does sound like the perfect method for chicken or turkey. My only concern would be the possibility of a grease fire from the drippings.
 
Several people on the roadside chicken thread talk about cooking on the bottom grate without the water pan with lump to prevent ash from stirring up. FWIW.
 
I always cook butts on the top rack without a water pan using a Guru. The flavor is better and no pan to clean. I have been using a Piedmont pan with the Guru when cooking ribs, but the next time I do ribs I am going to try no pan.

Without a Guru temp control might be a little more difficult without a pan.
 
Originally posted by Gary H. NJ:
This does sound like the perfect method for chicken or turkey. My only concern would be the possibility of a grease fire from the drippings.
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I actually cook them on the top grid, not the bottom one. When on the top, you shouldn't be too worried about a grease fire.
 
Originally posted by Gary Wilson:
I always cook butts on the top rack without a water pan using a Guru. The flavor is better and no pan to clean. I have been using a Piedmont pan with the Guru when cooking ribs, but the next time I do ribs I am going to try no pan.

Without a Guru temp control might be a little more difficult without a pan.
Click to expand...


i am going to try no pan turkey this weekend (sounds like chinese food), shouldn't be any harder to control temps than on the uds and those guys swear drums are set and forget it cookers. i'll let you know how it turns out.
 
no pics, sorry. cooked a turkey breast and 3 split chickens without the pan on the top rack of my 22". tasty, juicy, good flavor, and crispy skin. used MM and caught the temp on the way up and ran most of the cook with bottom vents pretty much closed, there was enough air to hold the smoker at about 300, this is only the third cook on my new 22 so it's not completly gunked yet. did notice that the lid temp was almost 50deg lower than the grate temp. no flare ups no ash just good bird.
 
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