flavored water redeux


 
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Chet Johnson

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I'm 80% convinced to shift to sand to reduce the margin of error. Lord knows, I need plenty of margin for error.

A friend of mine insists that the addition of aromatics (celery, onion, tiny touch of garlic, etc...) to the water makes a significant difference to the flavor of his smokes. I'm new at this and am reluctant to publicly ridicule him with my expertise (he is a friend after all).

Has anyone attempted adding such aromatics to a water pan smoke? Maybe for poultry and shorter cooks? Maybe for whitefish and even shorter cooks?

Chet
 
If you remember the old science experiment of dissolving salt in water, and then boiling away the water, the end result being salt left in the pan. You could think of the vegetables the same way, i.e. salt water in the pan is not going to give you salty meat.

Aromatics in the cavity of a turkey are one thing-- and I'll even go so far as to extend that to the contents of a beer can for beer butt chicken because of its intimate proximity to the bird-- but, in the water pan of a smoker, it's just a waste of good vegetables. You're better off making a nice stock out of them.
 
I don't want to disagree with a wizard. If I recall my mythology right, it could lead to really bad things. But....

When I boil salt water, there is no aroma. The mineral salt remains in solution. However, when I cook up a vegetable stock, there is a LOT of aroma. It is not the same experiment.

Have you tried it? If no-one has, I will try it eventually. I was wondering if someone had given it a go and determined that it was a waste or discovered another way to add flavor.

Chet
 
There's no aroma to boiling salt water because salt is not very, well... aromatic. And, because you can smell the aroma of vegetables in a boiling stock, we know that something from the vegetables is escaping the pot in the steam-- enough to be perceived by our sensitive noses, but the question is to what degree? The water in the smoker pan never really boils, so there just isn't enough oomph to make putting extra stuff in there practical. Now, if you took a sprayer bottle of vegetable stock made from aromatics, and basted the meat throughout the cook with it, you might be on to something.
 
I've never added anything to the water, but I can see that SOME (albeit not major) effect should occur. Some things like onions and garlic have oils in them, which definitely would evaporate off. Even other things that gave off aromatics would affect your end product. Half of good food is smell anyway, so anything that changed the taste or smell could arguably be used.

Thinking about it: If you add onions, garlic, salt etc, you'll want to reduce the contents of the water pan to make a smokey gravy!
 
Even so, it would take an awful lot to be perceptible against rubs, typically containing paprika, cayenne, pepper, salt, sugar, cumin, oregano, thyme, etc, not to mention the deposition from whatever smokewood is employed.

Gravy from water pan contents? Ack!
 
I must agree with attempting to prepare gravy from water pan contents. Bad thing, bad thing... Blechhh

Just say no.

But, basting with vegetable stock, chicken stock, beef stock, lamb stock, or others might concentrate and intensify flavors. Hmmmm....

I may still need to try adding aromatics to a water tray smoke, but basting with the other flavors certainly seem more complex and interesting than spritzing with apple juice.

Chet
 
I did a whole roaster on my kettle a couple months ago and used about a 50/50 water white wine mixture in my water pan. During the cook the aroma from the kettle was fantastic. However, the meat, although delicious, did not absorb one iota of wine flavor.

I've since decided to put flavor either right on the meat (seasoning, rub, etc.) or directly on the fire itself.
 
I tried putting veggies in the water pan back in the day of my ECB. The aroma was great, but the meat did not seem to be affected. Might be worth a try on the WSM because it's "tighter" than the ECB, but I would use a LOT.

Gravy from the water pan is pretty nasty stuff in my experience. The water and drippings really pick up the smoke - both flavor and particulates. If you want to try, I'd suggest very little smoke during the cook. An alternative might be to use some of the "drippings" to flavor your canned gravy.
 
Absolutely NO flavor is added whatsoever. I and several of my neighbors have done side-by-sides many times with various types of stuff in the water. As has been mentioned...it smells good, but NO flavor is imparted. There was on exception...cheap whiskey. However, the flavor was so horrible we all agreed there was no way any of us would use it again.

Doug brings up a good point. Look at all the stuff we already put on the meat....rub, smoke, mop....nearly impossible for anything in the water steam to penetrate all those flavors.

Save your money and stick with plain old water.
 
Alot of those LEgends of Texas Barbecue guys (in that book) add onions to their water. I might try it this weekend with my brisket/pork butt cook (but I probably will forget all about it).
 
We've put all manner of things in the water pan in our earlier years of smoking, from beer and herbs to fruit and veggies, and NOTHING ever added ANYTHING to the meat that we could tell - just usually added to the mess in the waterpan. When I use water in the waterpan anymore, it's just that. Plain water.

Take that onion that you were going to put in the waterpan, slice it thick, and set it on the grates of the WSM where you have room. Won't do anything for the taste of the meat, but the aroma is heavenly.
 
I strongly agree. Nothing you could ever put in a water pan, including Kool Aid, Beer, Wine, Moonshine, Liquid Nitrogen, Liquid Cocaine, Iced Tea, or Buttermilk will make one bit of flavor difference.

From experience, I've tried 5 of the above.

Good Luck!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pat Trammell:
I strongly agree. Nothing you could ever put in a water pan, including Kool Aid, Beer, Wine, Moonshine, Liquid Nitrogen, Liquid Cocaine, Iced Tea, or Buttermilk will make one bit of flavor difference.

From experience, I've tried 5 of the above.

Good Luck! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hahaha...that's pretty funny. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif
 
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