Foil on the water pan?


 
B

BrianS

New member
Several people have recommended running the WSM without water, and putting foil on the bottom of the water pan to protect it from the heat. Some folks also use foil with water for easier cleanup.

My question is this: while it was easier to cover the water pan with one sheet of HD foil on the older models, which were more shallow, what do folks do with the deeper bowls on the newer model WSM? A single sheet won't cover the pan, and I understand that joining two is risky.

Thanks in advance,
Brian
 
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Two sheets on my 22" WSM works well
also, I "drape" a single sheet over the top WITHOUT water to catch any drippings
 
BrianS said:
Several people have recommended running the WSM without water, and putting foil on the bottom of the water pan to protect it from the heat. Some folks also use foil with water for easier cleanup.

My question is this: while it was easier to cover the water pan with one sheet of HD foil on the older models, which were more shallow, what do folks do with the deeper bowls on the newer model WSM? A single sheet won't cover the pan, and I understand that joining two is risky.

Thanks in advance,
Brian
Click to expand...

I crunch a foil pan from Costco (steam pans, 30 for $5.99) against the bottom of the water tray; it lasts about 10 uses. If I'm not using water in the tray, I put foil over the top with a slight depression to catch drips. Anything that manages to run over the sides (nothing has yet) will get caught in the foil pan below. Easy cleanup and I'm not going through foil like crazy.
 
Like Mr. Lampe, I foil the bottom of my (older 18.5") water pan and also cover the top of the empty pan with foil in a bit of a "concave" setup to catch drippings. Changing a piece of foil is easier than scrubbing out the water pan...I am a truly lazy person. :D
 
I foil the top of water pan with a few pieces to catch the drippings because it's just easier to clean. I don't get too precise with it, just cover the pan. I have some ceramic briquettes in the water pan and I definitely have not interest in the cleaning those. I'm also lazy! :D
 
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I usually don't mess with the bottom of the pan on my 22". I cover the tops with two pieces and make it slightly concave as others have said - no water, ever. I just got a small 14.5 wsm, and its water pan is small enough I may wrap the whole thing just to keep it a little more clean, since it will be traveling in a camper.
 
I don't use water in the pan. But I use one of these, to help with clean up. I don't bother foiling the whole water pan.

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Just buy them a tad larger than the water pan. Cheap as chips!!
 
Thanks everybody for getting back to me.

By "risky", I guess I meant getting water dripping over the edge onto the coals or dripping into the pan. Obviously, not something I need to be concerned about.

I appreciate the tips on protecting the bottom of the water pan (or not!), as I did a full bone-in turkey breast this past weekend for our Canadian Thanksgiving. Left the water pan dry, and the WSM ran at a steady 245 for the whole cook. Turned out absolutely great, although I think next time I will go without dry rub. I don't think the turkey needs it.

BTW, i put a foil baking dish below the turkey breast on the lower cooking grate to catch the drips. I like the idea of using foil with a concave depression.

Thanks again!
 
Another little tip I learned here. If not using the lower cooking grate, remove it. One less item to clean!
 
I made a Piedmont Pan for my 18.5" because I didn't feel like wasting all that foil every cook. The upper pan catches the drips and keeps the drippings from burning on high heat cooks. I just scrape the majority of the crud out after each cook. I hardly ever really clean the pan cause I'm lazy and I figure it just gets dirty again anyway lol. I even use it for water cooks, I think it uses a bit less water due to the lower pan shielding the upper pan.
 
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