Longest single load burn on WSM and what water pan mod was used for it?

I have put playground sand in the pan then wrapped the pan with foil(so I can reuse the sand). With new K I have gotten burn times that were easily 18+ hours with occassional tending. I have kept my wireless thermometer going long after the cook was finished it kept a temp in the 225 and higher range for quite awhile. Granted, I cook a little higher than 225 and don't really tend to temps as much as others do.

I still use the standard Weber pan (with Water but lined in Foil as I'm sick of cleaning it!!!!)

I've always refilled when checking the Q and adding more wood about 7-8 hours into cook so no need to worry about a bigger water pan.

I think that the only way to achieve those super long burn times is with something like the piedmont pan mod. With a water pan, a lot of the charcoal's energy is used up by heating the water. With the piedmont mod, all of the energy goes toward cooking the food so you can get much longer burn times. The only problem is that it is tougher to control the temp and it is much more likely to run hot this way. The water acts as a great temp regulator.

I use both methods, personally. If I'm going to be around to check on the cooker I'll use the piedmont mod. On my first overnighter that I did a couple of nights ago, I threw in the brinkman charcoal pan and filled it with 2 gallons of water... I wanted a little peace of mind.

HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:

Someone on another board suggested that the clay pot mod will burn longer than the unmodified water pan setup. I'm having trouble seeing how that could be. Also someone claimed a 25 hour burn on one load of charcoal. Anyone ever get anywhere near that? if so, what water pan mod did you have?

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You could concieveably get longer burn times using the clay pot base because you can choke down the vents more using that method. You aren't using energy from the fire to convert liquid water to a gaseous state, you're using that energy instead for heating the cooking chamber.
As far as 25 hrs..., I've never had burn times like that. With old K I could get maybe 14 hours. With the new stuff I get less. I'd be happy to get 10 hrs out of a load of new K with an empty water pan, but I've yet to try it with the clay pot base.
One thing I do with the standard Weber water pan is double wrap it in foil before filling with water (ask me how before you go and do this). This serves to reflect some of the fire's heat from the pan and it doesn't evaporate nearly as quickly. I've done 14 hrs + at 250 without having to refill. I believe that as a bonus, I get slightly longer burn times because of the heat energy going into the cooker rather than into the water.
HTH

Had a confirmed 19+ hours on a load of K and woods chunks(this am nothing but ash). May have gone longer, went to bed. I use foil covered sand. Water? In a pan?? What's that for????

I did 2 butts this weekend. I have been experimenting with a Piedmont Pan arrangement, with the top pan foiled and filled with 2 gallons of water. WSM was dead nuts all day, held right at about 250 dome temp. I had to add lump at about the 8 hour mark. Never had to add water. I was very happy with the results. I did take a peek, and noticed even with this arrangement the water was boiling, though not as vigorously as a single pan.

I got 21.5 hours cooking two large butts one time on 1 load of coal and 1 pan of water. I used Kingsford briquettes, the Brinkmann water pan and the weather was perfect. I have not done that again.

Tony

i use sand in the pan too and i've had burns up to twenty hours using a packed out ring of new k wood chunks and using the Minion method. i started it with about 1/4 a chimney of coals. outside temp was hot day and night, no wind, no rain.

phil

sand 22 hours

14-16 hours no problem with a regular water pan, not quite a full load of fuel.

easy 12-15 with full load of kingford(new) and wood chunks, and 2gal waterpan filled with water 2-3 times. want to try the peidmont pan or sand pan.