WSM operation w/o pan

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Hello Everyone,
Wonderful Forum ,lots of info
Can anyone who uses The WSM without the water pan tell me if they have any problems with flare ups because of jucies which drip onto the coals.
I am thinking about doing chicken or pork loin without the pan.
I know this sounds risky for my first WSM cook ,
but I cannot get this out of my mind.
Thanks Fred.
 
Seems to me that if you don't use the pan you are basically grilling. Then again your meat is so far from the cooking surface you will end up baking.

I'm yet to see any pics of a WSM with flames shooting out the bottom but it would certainly be entertaining

Bob
 
Besides providing a container for water or sand to act as a heatsink, the pan also serves as a baffle to maintain the indirect heating necessary for true BBQ cooking. Having said that-- if you really wanted to proceed that direction-- I would think the same mechanism of oxygen starvation by the vents that prevents charcoal or smoke wood from flaming would also suppress grease flare-ups. I'd just line the pan with foil and leave it empty, but would expect a harder time keeping the temperature down in the circa 225* range.
 
In the SE direct cooking is a traditional cooking method. It's normally done with the grate 18 to 21" from the coals. The major difference is that large part of the flavor print is vaporized fat taste. There is normally very little wood smoke because they will burn there wood down to coals and add them as needed. Lump charcoal would give you same effect as burn coals down but you would add burning lump as needed during the cook.

You need the 18 to 21" speration from the coals so the fat burns off and the flames would not reach the meat.
Jim
 
I have cooked pan-less in the WSM a number of times. All chicken so far, though, and still experimenting. One method I've used is to build the fire on the lower cooking rack instead of on the normal charcoal level, and to put my chicken pieces on the top cooking rack. Yes, this would be grilling IF I let the heat move up. I've done it both ways - with the fire in the regular place and on the bottom cooking grate; I've kept the heat pushed down to 230-240 or so and cooked my chicken over about 3 hours, and I've run it full blown open to smoke/grill my chicken at much higher temps, whereby it was done within 30 to 45 minutes. Yes, you'll get some flareups in the fire that will help make your temps more temperamental, but temp is still controllable with the vents. They'll probably need to stay only about a third open or less, and you'll need to watch it more closely than if you were using the pan with either water or sand. If you do a pork LOIN, think about brining it first. You won't be sorry.

I've not tried a butt or brisket "direct" on the WSM yet, but I've thought about it... I'm comfortable at this point with the extra care it takes to watch temps when you're cooking chicken "direct" in the WSM, but just haven't quite gotten determined enough to dedicate the 18 hours or so that I think a direct butt would need the first time I try it. I'm too spoiled to running a brisket and butt in the WSM in the regular WSM-Minion-water-or-sand-in-the-pan way whereby I actually get to get some sleep. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Over the last 25 years we've cooked (or helped cook) in dirt pits, brick or concrete block BBQ's, 1/4-inch steel offsets, huge converted propane tanks, miscellaneous barrels, a well-worn ECB that fought back more than ANY of the rest, and, for the last year, a wonderfully cooperative WSM. I'm sure there are those somewhere who would say that I've never cooked "real" BBQ, based on the traditionalists' definition of real BBQ. Well, I don't know, but we've sure done a lot of fine-tasting cooking with charcoal or wood fires over the years, and, with the WSM's help, I get to do it a lot more often! /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Keri C
Smokin on Tulsa Time
(who sometimes goes off on a tangent and writes a book instead of a post...) /infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif
 
Happy Birthday, Keri.

Dean

(Who thought it was time I wrote a post instead of my regular book.) /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
 
Keri
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I'm sure there are those somewhere who would say that I've never cooked "real" BBQ, based on the traditionalists' definition of real BBQ <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Isn't traditional BBQ is how you were taught to cook it? /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
Jim
 
When I do beer can chicken I remove the pan and cook direct. Have did 4 at a time, can't say it wasn't the flames of hell inside, since I didn't take the lid off except once at 1:45 min into cook to insert probe for internal temps. But nothing flame wise came out the top and the bottom of their little nubby feet wasn't black.
 
I cook without the pan frequently. Note- this is when I'm using the top grate only. It's great for leaner meats; chicken, pork loins, etc. I've also cooked several butts sans pan, with excellent results.
If I'm loading up both grates, I'll use an empty pan, or I will put 2 heavy steel plates in the pan and cover w/foil. I think the lower grate would probably be too close to the coals to use the panless method sucessfully. I also use the pan/steel plates method when I do an overnight cook, for thermal mass- less worrying about temps diving while I'm sleeping.
I've never seen any flare ups without the pan. I agree with Doug D that the WSM doesn't admit enough oxygen, even with the vents wide open, to allow the fat to catch.
Going panless does create a slightly different flavor, from the fat hitting the coals, but I like it.

Jim
 
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