You'd almost think that Weber would have realized the design flaw with their new style water bowl by now. I don't have one but all I see is people sticking in flower pots, pizza stones and other weird things where a normal water pan should already be!
Weber has a good rep, so I don't know why they won't bite the bullet, get rid of their inventory of these crappy new water pans (and they are crappy), and bring back what works and start making customers happy again. Until then I hope they do lose sales.
This forum is perhaps the biggest collection of WSM cooks going, and there's not been one positive word about this new water pan, just conversation about how to circumvent its negative effects on everyone's cook.
One sale they've already lost is mine. I want a 14, but I will not buy a product that has an obvious flaw. I wouldn't buy a new Ford then rip the engine out and drop a Chevy engine in it, why would I do that with a cooker?
Come on Webber, time to step up!
Wait, what? What you mean design flaw with their new water bowl? I've got a 2014 22" and previously owned a 2010 18", and both have have water bowls in them. There's nothing unusual about the design ------ it's a bowl, period. You put water in it and it helps to stabilize temps. The 18" had a slightly deeper bowl design, but nothing radically different.
Plenty of people, esp those with ATCs, can save fuel by not using it. But where is this "flawed new design" stuff coming from? Yeah the bowl is shallower but that doesn't necessarily change anything. I admittedly use an ATC nowadays, but I def had plenty of rounds with it on manual control before acquiring the ATC, and I never had any odd issues.
Water pans serve 2 purposes in this particular application:
1. It acts as a heat barrier, by simply being over the charcoals. Design won't change this as long as it's circular, which it is.
2. It also acts as a cooling source in 2 ways --- it has to heat up your water, and then once the water is boiling, it helps stabilize temps.
I feel like i'm missing something here. The bowl could made of platinum for all I care, as long as it does #1 and #2. One unsatisfied customer does not make a product flawed.
Karl, here's how I've always cooked on my WSMs and I've never had temp issues:
1. Place coffee can or beer growler onto middle of charcoal grate, then place some wood on the grate, and top with coals to the very top of the charcoal ring. Place more wood around the outside area.
2. Preheat bowl water (if using, sounds like you shouldnt). If not using water, cover bowl.
3. For 18" model, take 1/2-2/3 of a chimney of charcoal and get it started. I typically shake the chimney (like someone flips a pancake) as it burns to help speed up and even out all the coals. Once it's about half-way white ash (bottom line -- no smoke), I take that and pour it right in the spot where I had the growler/coffee can.
4. Vents set halfway to start, then once it nears set temp, I close them down to 1/4 on each (for the 18" model). THis almost always gives me 225-240 within 1 hour.
I've cooked chicken before at 350F without any issues, by simply opening the vent to max on all sides. Only thing I can think of that you could try to improve things, is to use lump coal and to eliminate water. When I had my 18", I could get a solid 14-16hr cook off a single bag of Kingsford Blue.
Why would you close vents when you have had problems with getting enough heat?
Also lose the water in the pan and foil it.
Agreed. I take 3 sheets of heavy duty foil (overlapping) and place the bowl on top, then tightly wrap it all around the bottom. I then tear off the excess foil that wraps past the rim and down into the bowl. Finally, I take a couple sheets and tightly wrap them over the top. This works well when cooking chicken or anything that needs to be crispier.
For longer cooks like brisket and butts, I still use water, though I've debated stopping altogether. Ive also debated replacing the bowl with a terra cotta pot, but haven't gotten around to trying it yet. It should work well with an ATC.
