Should I use the water pan?


 
A

Andre A

TVWBB Member
the goal is two cook two pieces of meat on my 22 WSM. My question is not whether I should cook with water or not, but should cook with the pan in the WSM at all. I plan on cooking a brisket and def one maybe two butts. I am guessing regardless of what I cook, I would need to pan to prevent the juices from hitting the coals if that happens to coals would just flare up and create smoke.

My second and separate question is, if I have a digi q and can reasonably control the temp, do I really need to use a water pan filled with water. So if does the aid in doing anything else to the bbq?
 
Andre A said:
the goal is two cook two pieces of meat on my 22 WSM. My question is not whether I should cook with water or not, but should cook with the pan in the WSM at all. I plan on cooking a brisket and def one maybe two butts. I am guessing regardless of what I cook, I would need to pan to prevent the juices from hitting the coals if that happens to coals would just flare up and create smoke.

My second and separate question is, if I have a digi q and can reasonably control the temp, do I really need to use a water pan filled with water. So if does the aid in doing anything else to the bbq?
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Adding water will be debatable so I won't touch that part. However, I will say that you should leave the pan in if you do not use water; you really need that in there.

I also have a DigiQ and will admit that I do not run with water. I do run a small bit of sand to act as a heat sink but no water.

Test both and see what you like better?
 
Andre A said:
Does water or moisture do anything for getting a good dark bark.
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Short answer: You can get good bark with or without water.

Most people who cook with water wrap in foil or butcher paper, which will reduce bark formation. The conventional wisdom is to wait until you are satisfied with the bark, and then wrap, regardless of the stall. Some people unwrap near the finish of the cook to firm up the bark.

Cooking with water, you can go unwrapped, but will have to deal with the stall. Long cooks with water, unwrapped, will give you a good bark.

Suggest you try both and see which you like.
 
Andre A said:
Does water or moisture do anything for getting a good dark bark.
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From Harry Soo's instruction; I do not use a water pan to aid a faster formation of bark.

That said, I do spritz just about every 15 after that point (ribs) and every 30mins (for butts and brisket) to keep a bit or moisture in there.
 
It's all what you are going for but I'm a former water user turned non water user who may go back to water. Both work great. Both have pros and cons. I think if you are going to wrap go with no water. If you wanna not wrap go with water. If you do the opposite you'll probably be ok too.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
It's all what you are going for but I'm a former water user turned non water user who may go back to water. Both work great. Both have pros and cons. I think if you are going to wrap go with no water. If you wanna not wrap go with water. If you do the opposite you'll probably be ok too.
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LOL I like that! haha
 
I quit using water when I got my BBQ Guru controller. Keep the foil-lined pan in there to catch drippings.

Many posts here on the water/no water issue. I never noticed any difference, it was purely a heat sink.

All you're going to lose is that greasy slick to get rid of at the end of the cook.
 
Mike A. said:
I quit using water when I got my BBQ Guru controller. Keep the foil-lined pan in there to catch drippings.

Many posts here on the water/no water issue. I never noticed any difference, it was purely a heat sink.

All you're going to lose is that greasy slick to get rid of at the end of the cook.
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Not the only reason:

http://www.scienceofcooking.com/why_...in_cooking.htm


There's a thread about wet bulb temp a few threads down.


(Hey Mike, Before moving here, I lived in Mt. Laurel. Still have family in the Philly area. -- Jeff)
 
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My noob opinion is that while water isn't neccesary, it definitely seems to make maintaining a low and slow temp even easier than it already is.

Any temp swings also seem to happen much, much slower.

Other materials, sand, clay saucer etc may mimic that however. I've only had experience using water.
 
When I had mine I did the messy water thing for awhile. Then I read about just wrapping the pan and never looked back. One of my favorite ways was to leave the pan out and cook at 270 degrees and let the drippings fall on the coals.....that's how I ended up with a PBC.
 
Chris Allingham said:
My take on the use of the water pan:

Using A Water Pan In Weber Smokers: When To Use It, What To Put In It And How To Clean It
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I didn't realize there was such a difference between the size of my water pan (~2006) and the newer ones. 1 gallon vs 2.5.

I haven't used water for several years but I've been thinking of trying it again.

(one recent post, this one by Q&A guest Jamie Purviance)
http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?651...something-else&p=722226&viewfull=1#post722226
 
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