Covering the water pan


 
Anne M.

Anne M.

TVWBB Pro
First off: I read a lot of the threads and know some people like using water in the pan, some cover it in aluminium foil and everyone seems pretty adamant that their way is best :rolleyes:

Still....
I live in a hot climate and I use water in the pan to help keep the temperature down. I actually need to close most of the vents to achieve the temperatures I want.
I was now thinking: what if I fill the waterpan and then cover it, instead of leaving it open.This should reduce the evaporation and gives me a longer time before having to refill (this would be for the long cooks as I easy get 5+ hours, before refilling).

Has anyone tried this?
 
It's the conversion to steam and evaporation that consumes the excess energy you're trying to dissipate from the cooker. What you're suggesting is like putting a lid on a pot of boiling water while continuing to apply heat. What happens? The pressure builds and the lid rattles and the steam escapes. If not, you've basically got a pressure cooker that will explode if the pressure is not released.

I think you're better off leaving the water uncovered and replenishing it as needed. If you need to use water and close most vents to keep temps down, consider using a bit less fuel to start with.
 
Thanks Chris.
I was definitely not thinking of closing it tight, more like covering with alu foil and making some holes in it.
Basically, the water would boil, some vapour will escape through the small holes and some will actually condensate against the foil and get back into the pan.
At least that's what I would be hoping for...
In your analogue, it would be something like boiling water in a kettle as opposed to a frying pan :cool:

I run the wsm wth very little hot coals to start off with and after a 6 or 7 hour cook I still got more than half of the coals left.
I'm quite sure that it's my ambient temperature that causes some of the issues. In the summer, the shade temperature is around 42-45 oC (somewhere around 110 F).
You don't really want to know the temperature in the full sun.....
 
I'm,not so sure you will get much condensation return to the water pan, try sand, there are those here who swear by it. I'm too new to this particular pool to be able to offer first hand information. The covered pan might in truth till do what covered pans do anyway and increase the steam inside the smoker too. Might that cause any bark to soften more?
 
I'm not a proponent of sand, dirt, concrete, rocks, etc. in the water pan. They do not "consume" energy the way water does as it converts to steam and evaporates. It takes far more energy to raise the temperature of water than sand, and at some point the sand just radiates heat upwards toward the meat.

Anne, you're basically cooking with 1/2 solar energy and 1/2 charcoal. The variables you have to work with are the amount of charcoal you burn, the amount and starting temperature of the meat (more meat and lower meat temp will keep cooker temp down), the amount and temp of water in the pan (add ice cubes?), and limiting solar gain (keeping cooker in the shade).
 
Thanks guys,
I will just give it a try when I am doing one of the longer cooks.
This winter, I will try cooking without water in the water pan, but, like Chris, I am pretty convinced that I need water in the pan it to keep my temperatures down during our summer.

The first time I used the WSM, I couldn't keep the temperature down. With all consecutive cooks I could.
It was just a matter of less charcoal, starting with cold water and working very quick to catch the temperature on the way up.
That little cooker is quite amazing!
 
When I see you saying that you have to keep the vents closed to keep the temp in line, my first thought is that your cooker is letting too much air in from other places. One way to test this is when a cook is done and you shut off all vents, does the fire go out in a reasonable amount of time? At the very least, if you shut down a cook, do you have some charcoal left the next day when you open it up - signifying that the fire actually went out? If not, check to see if there is smoke leaking out when you start your cook. The first place to look is the door. It's known not to seal too well. The next place to check is the seams at the lid and the charcoal bowl. If the unit is out of round, some minor coaxing can make a big difference. Remember, fire needs fuel and air. If you can get your temp down, likely, you're getting too much air.
 
Thanks Jerry.
The smoker closes very well. At the end of say 4-5 hour cook I am left with 1/2 to 3/4 of the coals.
I always close all vents when finishing, and that is what's left.
Occassionally, I will take the middle and top section off, let the fire get hot and sear off some pieces of meat.
I can keep the smoker at around 100 oC which I think is pretty good considering the ambient temps and using hot burning lump charcoal (as that's about the only charcoal easily available).

Anyway, that's all going a bit off topic. I was just wondering about ways to make the water last longer
And I can think of 3 ways
- just continue as I am oing and top up when needed
- do a test run with slightly covering the pan to diminish evaporation
- add an extra waterpan on the lower rack (just thought of that one) :rolleyes:
 
When I'm doing ribs, I'll foil the water pan then use a foil tray from the dollar store filled with water inside the water pan. After I'm done, I dispose of the foil tray/foil wrap and there's no need to wash the water pan. Easy peasy.
 
I like Chris' suggestion of using ice to keep the temps down. Aggressive vent control and ice sounds like the way to go unless one can figure out a way to automatically keep the water pan filled in such a hot climate. It would make for an interesting project.
 
What you need is a sealed water pan, some tubing, an old car radiator, an electric pump, and a temp controller. That way you can use the old radiator to cool off the water, and the temp controller to activate the liquid pump to circulate water in and out of the sealed water pan. Make it a closed loop system so you don't loose any water to steam.
 
JBooker said:
What you need is a sealed water pan, some tubing, an old car radiator, an electric pump, and a temp controller. That way you can use the old radiator to cool off the water, and the temp controller to activate the liquid pump to circulate water in and out of the sealed water pan. Make it a closed loop system so you don't loose any water to steam.
Click to expand...

Creative juices already at work!
 
Thanks all,
I'll be doing some experimenting over time and keep you all posted.

Love the radiator/pump idea, but we have another problem here besides the temperature: our power supply is absolutely erratic !
 
Hello Anne
I love this form because all the people here are so helpful. And you get so many different ideas to work with. I foil my pan all the time. Easy to me to keep temps steady and keep clean up a breeze. Now where I live it gets hot but not like where you live. I don't know if you tried but try foiling the pan fill the ring up full with un light charcoal and add 5 light fully gray briquettes. Also add you chunks of wood in at this time. Whatch temp rise and start shutting the vents down on the bottom. When temp are getting close to 190 to 200 put The meat on. I like to keep my temps as close as I can to 225 on the temp gauge on the bullet. At this point my vents are almost all the way closed except the top one. Temps for me stay steady for at least 10 to 12 hours depending on how windy it is out that day. Not on how hot it is out.
I have done this method when temp in my Area were at 95+. So I hope this way give you an other option to try and help with your cooks to come.
 
Rusty James said:
...unless one can figure out a way to automatically keep the water pan filled...
Click to expand...
Years ago I had imagined a 2 liter bottle hanging upside down outside the cooker with a tube running down through a hole in the access door into the water pan. Water level drops and the bottle supplies fresh water to top off the pan. Never did it. And this was in the days before the silicone grommet...that would make access into the cooker much easier.
 
Chris Allingham said:
Years ago I had imagined a 2 liter bottle hanging upside down outside the cooker with a tube running down through a hole in the access door into the water pan. Water level drops and the bottle supplies fresh water to top off the pan. Never did it. And this was in the days before the silicone grommet...that would make access into the cooker much easier.
Click to expand...

Similar to a dog water dispenser, good idea! The bottle should be at the same level as the top of the water pan or a tad lower because water seeks it's own level.


Tim
 
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@ the op Anne. Have you ever thought of just rolling with it and cook at a higher temp? You can produce some killer BBQ in the 275-300deg or higher range with a foiled empty pan.
I know I struggled with temp control until I learned that my WSM had a sweet spot of 275 ( with a empty foiled pan), and I could dial that in consistently whatever the weather or temps gave me.:wsm:

Tim
 
Thanks all,
There's some fun ideas that came up.

I actually have no real problem controlling the temperature. The little WSM likes to sit at around 100-120 oC and I am pretty happy with that (that's 210 to 250 oF), with a waterpan.
The water in the pan lasts about 4-6 hours, depending on the ambient temperature.
It's getting a bit cooler now, so we'll see how long I can make it last.
October and November are going to be the interesting months. Those are our summer months :coolkettle:
 
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