first smoke-- questions

[Guest]

Hey everyone...

So i am attempting my first smoke as we speak. I am doing 2 butterflied chickens (lemon pepper receipe from this site.)

Finally got my temperture down to about the mid 250's.

My question... I lined the water pan with foil, however, when i was placing some smoke wood into the charcoal chamber i noticed a consistant dripping of water. It is kind of like a leaky faucet. Will this be detramental to my temp. I kinda of cleared a little path around where the water was dripping.. used a piece of wood to kind of redirect the water from the charcoal. any advice?

oh and is the door suppose to be relatively airtight?

thanks

Jerry

 

[John L]

Jerry,
Did you "piece" your foil together? If so, then your water is wicking out and into your fire...very bad. You should always only use one piece of large foil for the Weber pan, and I wouldn't even try foiling the Brinkman pan.

Your door should be somewhat airtight, not totally. The good news is that it is somewhat flexible, so you can bend it a little until it's more airtight if you like.

 

[Chris G.]

Welcome to the wonderful world of smokin'!

As for your "leak", short of having a hole in your pan (which I dont suspect), you most likely over filled the pan, and the water is "siphoning" over the edge of the foil. You could also be boiling the water, which would promote this action.

Sounds like you may have too much water in the pan. I find a full pan (3 quarts) of water will last about 6 hours @ 225.

I had to tweak my door a little to get it to fit better, but it will never be air-tight. I also know guys that put their door on upside down, claiming it to seal better, but I have never had the need to try it.

Good luck.

 

[Guest]

argh.. yah.. i did. i didnt know that that would happen if you used two pieces.

well, i just ran to check the fire though the access door. it is holding. My temp is holding. I think it was a good thing i put a decent amount of fuel in there. I placed a layer of briquettes on the bottom.. Then covered it with a full load of ashed over charcoal from the Weber Chimney Starter. Hopefully it'll hold out for the next few hours even with the dripping pan

any sugguestions on what i should do at this time during regarding the dripping pan? my temp is still steady..

11:30am - 278F
11:45am - 266F
12:00am - 255F
12:15am - 257F

 

[Jeff S.]

Jerry,
Just let your WSM do its thing.
Your temps are right on target.
If it aint broke,,, dont fix it /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

 

[Guest]

Thanks! I appreciate the prompt response and advice from everyone. I just wanna say that i am amazed at how great of a resource this website is. Not only the info on the site, but the people and their willingness to help others and share their experiences. Definately takes the enjoyment of smoking to a whole new level /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Jerry

 

[Doug D]

For future reference, wide heavy duty and x-hvy duty foil are just the right dimensions to line a standard WSM water pan inside and out. I have a box of each, and use the heavy to line my pan. I use the x-hvy box as a measuring stick to dispense a roughly square, or only slightly larger, piece of the heavy. This square will line the pan with about 1/2" of overlap minimum. Center it in the middle of the pan and smooth it to the edges, making sure not to tear or poke holes as you do. If you do both inside and out, line the bottom first, then the top.

 

[John L]

Glad that I was able to make the right call! /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Sounds like your temps are OK (even a little high actually) and you could continue as is; but if it was me, I'd take the whole thing apart and pull out the foil, reassemble, and go from there. The dripping water thing would drive me totally nuts...but that's just me.