Flavor: WSM vs UDS

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dmprantz

is Blowin Smoke!
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No, this is not yet another post asking which one to buy/build. I read a post on here not too long ago by a respected poster claiming that Q tastes differently depending on wether it is cooked on a UDS or a WSM. It was even asserted that cooking on a WSM without the water pan is close to the flavor of cooking on a UDS, but still not the same. My qestion: Is that really true, and if so, what is the difference, and how is it possible?

A WSM is a cylinder with charcoal on the bottom and 2 racks above it. The top and bottom are domed, and there are ways to control air flowing into the unit and out. You can cook with a water pan, without a water pan, or with sand in the water pan. While each UDS is dfferent to a point, its a cylinder, about 22" in diameter, charcoal on the bottom, and 1-3 racks of food. There are ways to control air going in and coming out, many of them with a kettle lid. How is it possible that the flavor would be different, presuming you use the same fuel and a water pan the same in both of them? I'd like to understand this a bit more please. I'm a firm believer that different types of pits (wood, pellet, vertical charcoal, etc) produce different flavors, but I have a hard time believing that comparing a WSM to a UDS, that one can create a flavour which can't be replicated 100% on the other. Any comments on this?

dmp
 
You know how you get white smoke that is not from a dirty fire when cooking on a uds ?

I never get that when I am cooking on my wsm.

Even though it doesn't seem possible, there are a different set of conditions for the two different cookers.
 
I can't describe it, but there is a difference in flavor.
I could put my drum and Cajun Bandit or WSM without the waterpan side x side and the meats are going to taste different. They will both cook moist and the drippings will give you the "wonderful white" smoke, that I like, but seems the majority don't care for.

A seasoned comp cook had a great discussion with me when I was competing with all drums about cooking direct and I told him of some comment cards from judges that weren't looking on me favorably, and he said he got the same responses when he removed the pan to chicken cook on the 18" WSM.

I tried a couple rotisserie cooks on the 22" WSM and wasn't pleased with the results, but then I can score well with the Cajun Bandit. Go figure!
 
I've never cooked on a wsm but if there is a difference in taste, which is hard to believe, it must be attributed to the difference in amount of air flow necessary to achieve the desired temperature.
 
Cliff H. said:
You know how you get white smoke that is not from a dirty fire when cooking on a uds ?

I never get that when I am cooking on my wsm.

Even though it doesn't seem possible, there are a different set of conditions for the two different cookers.
Click to expand...

i dont get the white smoke you are referring to from my uds. and for the second matter, using the logic of two different cookers having a different set of conditions, one could come to the conclusion that no two wsm's produce the same flavors.
 
I remember when I was young running around going past the old BBQ joints in town how you could smell the sweet smell in the smoke as they cooked. Most places cooked over an open pit back then. That is the smell I get off of my UDS and its from the dripping falling in the the pit. I love that smell and taste as well as the crunch from the bark. I get a lite white smoke from my drum and when I do it helps me to know the temp is where it should be. I have never used a WSM and have never used a water pan in anything so I am not sure if that would change the flavor. I have cooked alot on ofsets and the flavor and smell is different there. Some day I will get my hands on a WSM and try a side by side test but will have to hide it from the wife because she thinks I am nuts right now but never complains when the meat hits the table. Just my two cents.
 
An older 18.5 WSM without a water pan would put the meat closer to the fire than my drum so that would probably give you some different flavors.
 
If the Juice from the meat hits the coals instead of a Water Pan or Diverter, It creates a different flavor. More like pit BBQ
 
Who out there has actually done an EXACT side by side test (meat, fuel, time, temps, exact seasoning)?
 
Rich Parker said:
An older 18.5 WSM without a water pan would put the meat closer to the fire than my drum so that would probably give you some different flavors.
Click to expand...

I should have mentioned he used a BGE raised grate, which actually puts the meats almost 24" from the coal grate, comparable to a drum.

Now if this throws a spin on things, I can certainly tell the difference between cooking on my Mini BDS clone and the Mini Cajun Bandit Smoker Joe.

IMG_0501.jpg


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I think the overwhelming majority of the Brethren that Rib-O-Lated Chicken wings at this outing, preferred the Drum wings.
IMG_3047.jpg


Thats about as much of a side x side comparison I've done.

UDS - Cajun Bandit - 22" WSM with Rib-O-Lators.
Anyone else??
 
I'm sorry guys...I'm just not buying it. I still don't see how using comparable cuts of meat, the same fuel, rub, airflow, and waterpan would produce noticably different results between the two cookers. Saying it's the fat drippings doesn't make sense to me since there's no water pan. Saying it's the airflow doesn't make sense to me because I'm not sure I buy that air flows differently between the two, unless you have special internal plumbing. Difference in the meat height, I could almost see, but then is some one saying that the top rack and the bottom rack in a UDS taste differently? Maybe I could see that the thicker drum will retain more heat and thus radiate more onto the meat, but that would affect brak, not flavour....right?

I think the answer is to do a test. Some one in the Nashville area with a drum, pick a day and we'll do a side-by-side test. You can come over to my house with your drum, pick your fuel and rub, and let me know if we should use draft control or not. From there we'll both cook a but and treat it the same way. Then we find 5 friends who don't mind being ginnea pigs and give them five samples from each butt. See if they can taste a distinctive difference in the two. Who's game?

dmp
 
I have both the same (very similar) smokers. Cooked plenty on both and I can not tell any difference in flavors. That comment must have come from someone with a more sophisticated palate than mine.
 
"Then we find 5 friends who don't mind being ginnea pigs and give them five samples from each butt. See if they can taste a distinctive difference in the two. Who's game?"

It neds to be in a neutral location. Come to my place.:-D
 
I've noticed a significant difference in taste when cooking on a UDS without a deflector/drip pan...BUT...when I added a deflector/drip pan to the UDS there was no difference in the taste between my WSM and UDS. The main difference in taste came from the fat drippings hitting the coals (which I did not care for). I have not used a WSM without the water pan so I can not honestly compare it to a non-shielded UDS.
 
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